The Best Places to Work and Spirit of the Family Awards recognize companies in Polk County who are taking the lead in developing quality workplaces.  These award winning companies are the most innovative in the areas of motivating employees and demonstrating commitment to improve the quality of life for workers and their families. 

The Clerk of Courts has established many new policies and programs by listening to their employees.  Employee surveys, focus groups, and committees recommended changes that have been implemented.  There is a pilot project allowing alternative work schedules to include 4 ten hour work days, flexible work schedules and telecommuting.  The Clerk's Office offers PTO and allows employees to roll excess PTO days into a sick leave bank for a long-term need.  An initiative implemented at the recommendation of the "Best Practices" committee is the awarding of 16 paid hours for volunteer services in the community. 

Richard Weiss says, "Winning these awards is a result of creating a work culture that values and supports the professional and personal needs of our employees.  My goal is to create an environment in which people want to come to work and contribute their best efforts to provide quality customer service to the citizens of Polk County."

These competitions are modeled after the annual Fortune 500 listing of the 100 best companies to work for, and are open to Polk's public and private organizations.

 
The National Association of Counties has awarded Clerk of the Circuit Court, Richard Weiss, the 1999 NACo Achievement Award for the "Families Without Violence" program developed and provided by the Clerk's Family Mediation and Education Department.

The "Families Without Violence' program addresses the escalating incidents of violence among family members by building awareness, teaching family members new skills, and modeling non-violent interventions. The premise of the program is that violent behavior within families can decrease or be eliminated when family members commit to learning new skills and living violence free.

The Certificate of Achievement for Excellence in Financial Reporting has been awarded to Richard M. Weiss Clerk of the Circuit Court, Polk County FL, by the Government Finance Officers Association of the United States and Canada for its comprehensive annual financial report. The Certificate of Achievement is the highest form of recognition in the area of governmental accounting and financial reporting, and its attainment represents a significant accomplishment by a government and its management.

Richard M. Weiss, also received the award for outstanding achievement in Popular Annual Financial Reporting for Polk County from the Government Finance Officers Association. This is a prestigious national award recognizing conformance with the highest standards for preparation of state and local government popular reports. In order to receive this award, the report must conform to program standards of creativity, presentation, understandability and reader appeal.

The partnership between the Clerk and the Department of Juvenile Justice has resulted in reducing Juvenile Court and Domestic Violence case dockets and has helped reduce Juvenile Justice caseloads and recidivism.