Nutter abolishes Clerk of Quarter Sessions post

County court system now performs duties of longstanding Philadelphia row office. The change has resulted in greater efficiency.

With the stroke of a pen, Mayor Michael Nutter Tuesday put a end to the Clerk of Quarter Sessions, abolishing the longstanding Philadelphia row office.

When Clerk of Quarter Sessions Vivian Miller retired earlier this year, the duties of her office were immediately shifted to the Philadelphia County court system. Judge Pamela Dembe says that since then, the city has tracked bail money and fines much more effectively.

“With everybody working together, it’s really been a terrific process,” said Dembe. “We have really been producing good things for the city, good things for the employees … it’s been a success all around.”

Joe Evers, who has been responsible for most of the work involving the transition, said collections are up almost 30 percent.

“We actually didn’t save money initially,” siad Evers. “We brought more people in to do a better job of what was a problem in the past.”

The office is being computerized and old paper files are being digitized to help make things more efficient.