Gun permit fees go down, Prince William Court budget goes up

The cost to get a concealed carry gun permit in Prince William County went down. But the amount of funding for the offices that process the applications is going up.

Members of the Prince William County Board of Supervisors in February negotiated a deal with the County’s Sheriff Glen Hill to lower the cost of obtaining a concealed carry permit from $50 to $15. Hill agreed for drop his $35 portion of the license fee in exchange for getting more money for additional staffing in his department.

With the deal, Hill will get two new sheriff’s deputies and a new patrol car in 2017 and 2018, respectively. The Prince William County Board of Supervisors agreed to fund the new positions if Hill agreed to the permit fee reduction — something he didn’t have to do as he is an elected official and is not bound to follow the direction of the Board of Supervisors, as the county’s police chief is required to do.

Prince William Board of Supervisors Chairman Corey Stewart wanted to slash the permit fee altogether. But state law dictates the Clerk of the Court must collect $10 to cover the cost of processing the licence, and the Virginia State Police must obtain $5 per application as that agency assists with the criminal background check that is administered during the application process.

The Clerk of the Court and Sheriff’s offices both work to process the applications.

While the Clerk of the Court’s Office fee remains in tact, it too will see its budget increased over the next year. An interim position added to the office in February will be made permanent, and the new job created all to help the agency process paperwork and make court case records and information available online.

Officials maintain the $10 is not enough to cover the actual cost of processing the fees, but it’s what the law allows.  They also said this new funding boost is something that has been needed for a long time.

“Gun permits overwhelm us,” said Bob FitzSimmonds, an assistant Clerk of the Court in Prince William.

Coles District Supervisor Marty Nohe made the budget addition to the county’s 2017 fiscal budget, expected to pass May 6. The new funds will amount to about $300,000 a year for the Clerk of the Court and Sheriff.

“The Clerk of the Court office needs the additional fees whether the concealed carry permit fee goes down or not,” said Nohe.

FitzSimmonds said the increase in budget spending in his office has nothing to do with lowering the concealed carry permit fee. Last year, his office received 5,000 concealed carry permit applications.

“In some rural counties in Virginia, concealed carry permits are not very common…but it’s a big deal for us,” said FitzSimmonds.

Out of all of the paperwork processed by his office for divorces, name changes, petitions for legal guardian, and other civil matters, concealed carry gun permit applications amounted to 50% of the work. The new staff member will mean nine people work in the office processing paperwork.

Prince William County became the first county in the Commonwealth to reduce its concealed carry permit fee. It was an idea championed by the conservative Stewart, who is eying a run for governor next year.

At the time, some called the move “politically motived.” Woodbridge District Supervisor Frank Principi still does.

“Yes, and we – the entire Board – were made aware of the expected cost increase when the Chairman brought this issue forward. It is the primary reason why I did not approve the change; especially at a time when there are far greater priorities that we need to address. Moreover, adding more personnel and capital equipment in order to satisfy this change always struck me as a byproduct of a political motivation and not good and sound policy rationale,” Principi stated in an email.

The time it takes to process a concealed carry gun permit application varies between 40 minutes to an hour, said FitzSimmonds. The Clerk’s office averages about 40 applications per day.

Mass shootings like ones at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Conn. in 2012 and San Bernadino, Calif. in December 2015 spark an influx of concealed permit applications. The Prince William County Clerk’s office did not see an increase in permits following the move to lower the fee.

“We asked people “hey, it looks like the few is going to be lowered, do you want us to wait and process your application then? The majority told us “no, go ahead and do it now,'” said FitzSimmonds.