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Paula S. O' Neil

Pasco Clerk’s Office upgrades website, online features

May 19, 2020 By Kevin Weiss

The last time Pasco Clerk & Comptroller Nikki Alvarez-Sowles spoke with the East Pasco Networking Group (EPNG), she vowed to make various technological and customer service upgrades to the agency’s website and operations.

Less than a year later, some of those goals have been achieved.

A recent addition to the clerk’s website is e-Notify, a new statewide alert system to stay informed about upcoming hearings, trials and other criminal court events.

Pasco County Clerk and Comptroller Nikki Alvarez-Sowles (File)

Users who sign up for the service receive email or text alerts on upcoming events, with options to get reminders 14 days, seven days or a day ahead of time.

The program works similar to the way individuals receive electronic reminders for upcoming doctor’s appointments “except it relates to cases,” said Alvarez-Sowles, who led a virtual video presentation with the networking group last month.

The e-Notify system is not just for parties and attorneys, but the public and media, as well. “It is open to the world,” she quipped.

In addition to providing information on an appearance date, time and location, it also alerts when a defendant or witness doesn’t show for a particular event, said Alvarez-Sowles, who became the eighth Pasco County Clerk & Comptroller last August, filling out the balance of term for the retiring  Paula S. O’ Neil.

There is no limit to the number of cases users can sign up to get notifications, and users can manage their alert subscriptions and make changes to the number of followed cases and frequency of alert.

In addition to e-Notify, the clerk’s office also has installed bolded tabs at the bottom of its website for “highly sought after information,” such as marriage licenses, property auctions, juror information, e-Filing and legal resource center services, to ease in searches.

Alvarez-Sowles also talked about the agency’s online property fraud alert system.

That alert system helps protect a person’s property from fraud by monitoring documents, such as liens, deeds and mortgages that are recorded in Pasco County.

It provides peace of mind because property owners know that their property is being monitored against the filing of fraudulent documents in their name.

Alvarez-Sowles put it like this: “If someone records a document in the official record with my name on it, I am going to get an email or phone call telling me that a document was recorded with my name on it, and give me the information so that I can go and look.”

The clerk explained there’s “a lot of fraud going on in our official record” — detailing how many fraudsters file quitclaim deeds on someone’s property then sell it to another party “so you no longer own your property on public record.”

To drive the point home, the speaker shared a heart-wrenching story about a Miami area woman who was homeless for seven months after swindlers used forged quitclaim deeds to sell her home to an investment firm, leading to her eviction.

“Our home or business we own is probably the largest asset that we will own, and we need to protect it,” she said.

All sorts of information available online
The website also offers online searches for court records.

The public can do anonymous criminal background checks on Pasco County-based businesses and residents. There’s also specific lookups for animal abuse cases, high-profile cases, mental health cases and others.

For example, you can search a person or business name and see lawsuits and criminal and civil charges, among other court records.

Alvarez-Sowles explained the database provides a way for citizens to vet doctors, lawyers, building construction, housecleaning, landscaping and other service providers.

It also can be used to research a new neighbor moving in, to see if they have a prior record in the county, she said.

To underscore the feature’s significance, Alvarez-Sowles shared a news story of two maids who’d been charged with stealing electronics and a firearm from a Cape Coral area home they were hired to clean.

A simple court records search in Lee County likely would have revealed each of the individuals criminal history, she said.

“Just think of any services people are providing, you can go and protect yourselves by going and looking at our records online,” she told the networking group.

On a related note, Alvarez-Sowles said she’s collaborating with other county clerks to get permission from the Florida Supreme Court to consolidate court records statewide for public consumption. That would allow for individuals to search a person or business name and see all court records cases from all Florida counties simultaneously and not require individual searches of each county.

Such a system currently is only accessible by the courts, law enforcement, state attorneys and public defenders.

Alvarez-Sowles said one her next big initiatives will be to expand online payments through the clerk’s website. Currently, citizens can pay traffic tickets and child support online, but she’s working to make it possible to pay court fines, fees and infractions online.

“I want it so that you can pay anything that you owe online, without having to come in (the office),” she said.

She’s also looking to contract with Amscot to accept payments on behalf of the clerk’s office, to assist individuals who don’t have bank accounts.

“To be honest, in Pasco County there’s a lot of people that don’t have bank accounts and they just live on cash, so having a place like Amscot for them to go is also very helpful, so that is a work in progress,” the clerk said.

For additional information about the clerk’s services, visit PascoClerk.com.

Office of the Pasco Clerk & Comptroller
By the numbers — for 2019

  • 220,000 official documents recorded
  • 88,000 cases filed
  • 31,000 jurors summoned
  • 6,500 passports issued
  • 2,500 marriage licenses issues

Published May 20, 2020

Filed Under: Local News Tagged With: East Pasco Networking Group, Florida Supreme Court, Nikki Alvarez-Sowles, Pasco Clerk & Comptroller, Paula S. O' Neil

Nikki Alvarez-Sowles named county clerk & comptroller

August 14, 2019 By Special to The Laker/Lutz News

Gov. Ron DeSantis has named Nikki Alvarez-Sowles to serve as the Pasco County Clerk & Comptroller.

She will serve in that role through January 2021, filling out the balance of term for the post vacated by Paula S. O’ Neil, who retired on July 1.

Nikki Alvarez-Sowles

Alvarez-Sowles is the county’s eighth clerk & comptroller. She was named an interim successor by Sixth Judicial Circuit Chief Judge Anthony Rondolino, upon O’ Neil’s retirement. She received DeSantis’ appointment on Aug. 9.

“I am humbled and honored to have Governor DeSantis’ and Chief Judge Rondolino’s appointments,” said Alvarez-Sowles, in a news release from her office.

Alvarez-Sowles has served as the chief operations officer since 2010, guiding the adoption of numerous taxpayer-friendly initiatives, boosting efficiency, enhancing transparency and reducing costs, the release says.

Florida Sen. Wilton Simpson, whose district includes most of Pasco County, speaks highly of Alvarez-Sowles, in the release.

“Nikki’s commitment to serving the hardworking people of Pasco County shines brightest through her steady leadership and unwavering work ethic,” Simpson said. “On behalf of the people of Pasco County, I want to thank Gov. DeSantis for ensuring an honorable public servant takes the reigns here in Pasco.”

Born in Tampa, Alvarez-Sowles played soccer at the University of South Florida (where she was a member of the Scholar-Athlete 3.0 Club and a student government senator) before earning her law degree at Thomas M. Cooley Law School in Lansing, Michigan.

From 2000 to 2005, she practiced real estate law with the Tampa firm of Echevarria, Codilis & Stawiarski P.I., and spent a year as real estate development manager for the nonprofit Housing & Education Alliance Inc., before joining the Palm Beach Clerk & Comptroller’s Office as director of branch court services.

A chance meeting with O’ Neil and several members of her executive team during a statewide conference luncheon led to further discussion and, ultimately, Alvarez-Sowles joined the Pasco Clerk & Comptroller’s Office.

Examples of her involvement include:

  • Immediate past president, Leadership Pasco
  • West Pasco Bar Association, member and past president
  • Rotary Club of New Port Richey

She also has been a member of various committees and workgroups devoted to performance excellence in government work, such as:

  • Florida Clerks & Comptrollers’ Best Practices Workgroup
  • Supreme Court workgroups
  • Florida Bar Small Claims Rules Committee
  • Pasco-Hernando State College Technical Advisory Committee for Paralegal Studies
  • Pasco County Schools Success Plan Committee
  • Advisor to board of directors for Housing and Education Alliance Inc.

This year, Alvarez-Sowles served as a Florida Governor’s Sterling Examiner and joined Florida Center for Public Management, Certified Public Manager Program, based at Florida State University, as an adjunct instructor.

She is married to Kevin Sowles, and they have two children: daughter Lexi and son Soren. The family lives in Land O’ Lakes.

Published August 14, 2019

Filed Under: Local News Tagged With: Anthony Rondolino, Echevarria Codilis & Stawiarski, Florida State University, Housing & Education Alliance, Leadership Pasco, Nikki Alvarez-Sowles, Pasco County Clerk & Comptroller, Paula S. O' Neil, Ron DeSantis, Rotary Club of New Port Richey, Thomas M. Cooley Law School, University of South Florida, West Pasco Bar Association, Wilton Simpson

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February 23, 2021 By Special to The Laker/Lutz News

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