ROCK ISLAND, Ill. — Some workers at the Rock Island County Circuit Clerk's office have been laid off due to the coronavirus pandemic.
A worker told News 8 the layoff notice came Friday, May 8. About 15 staff members were included in the layoffs.
Rock Island County Circuit Clerk Tammy Weikert said the layoffs were due to a decrease in services that started back in mid-March. She said the reduction was in an effort to follow guidelines associated with the COVID-19 pandemic.
Weikert said the office has seen more than an 80% drop in court filings and hearings. They saw a drop of about 2,000 cases between April of 2019 and April of 2020.
"Together with reduced collections of fees and fines, I have made the difficult decision to layoff much of my staff," said Weikert. "Currently, there isn’t sufficient revenue or adequate work load to justify maintaining current staffing levels due to the impact the COVID19 pandemic has had on the court system in Rock Island County."
The layoffs were set to go into effect on Monday, May 11. It was not clear how long the workers would be laid off.