Public won’t feel changes, Noland says, and services will stay open until 9 p.m.

The night crew at the Pima County Superior Clerk’s Office is being cut halfway through the fiscal year.

“There will be no change to the public,” Clerk of the Court Patricia A. Noland said.

“We’ve got jobs for everybody,” Noland said. “We’re putting them in different places.”

Two employees will be transferred to the Sheriff’s Department.

Noland, an elected official, called the move a “reorganization” that “should have been done after we moved legal records to the second floor” in 2002.

At night, staff members did routine filing because foot traffic was so light, Noland said.

A few of the 17 staff members will continue offering services until 9 p.m. weekdays, including processing bonds.

Because of shift differentials, some employees will have to take a pay cut, Noland said.

Noland said the move has nothing to do with the hiring of Toni Hellon last week to fill a vacant associate clerk position that pays $80,000.

“We might get a little bit of savings,” Noland said. “But it’s not that much, and that wasn’t the rationale.” She did not have a figure available on cost savings.

Hellon’s ex-husband sits on the county’s Merit System Commission, which hears employee grievances. Mike Hellon said he believes the clerk’s employees appeal to a separate board. Even if they came before his panel, Hellon said, he could still hear their grievances.

“(Toni and I) haven’t been married for seven years,” he said. “Strictly speaking, there’s no reason to recuse myself.

“Having said that, I think what I will do is disclose that information to both parties and ask, ‘Does anybody have a problem with me hearing the case?’ and honor their consideration,” Hellon said.

Last year, Toni Hellon helped raise funds for Mike Hellon’s failed congressional bid. Toni Hellon was unseated as a state senator in September.

In May, Noland gave some employees raises after being turned down by the county for additional funds.

County Administrator Chuck Huckelberry questioned where the funds came from and said he would “inquire” about the night crew cuts.

County supervisors gave a 10 percent raise to Noland’s clerks in November.

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