3. a. Every county clerk shall be eligible, on January 1, 1995 and for a period up to and including the date the incumbent county clerk must declare candidacy for re-election as county clerk, to apply for the position of deputy clerk of the Superior Court and to resign as county clerk. Any county clerk who applies to become a deputy clerk of the Superior Court as provided herein and who resigns as county clerk shall become a deputy clerk of the Superior Court on the date of his resignation in the county in which he is serving at the time of his resignation.

b. The deputy clerk of the Superior Court shall be an employee of the judiciary and the position of deputy clerk of the Superior Court shall be included in the budget of the State Judiciary. Any county clerk becoming a deputy clerk of the Superior Court pursuant to this section shall be in the permanent service of the Superior Court with tenure and shall retain any accumulated sick leave, longevity or vacation time that he has earned as county clerk.

L.1989,c.296,s.3; amended 1993,c.275,s.18.