Sarah Couture

Florida State Director and Senior Research Strategist

Sarah Couture is the Florida State Director and Senior Research Strategist at the Fines and Fees Justice Center (FFJC) where she works with community organizations, legislators, and justice system stakeholders to advocate for and advance state and local campaigns for fines and fees reforms. As Senior Research Strategist on the National team, Sarah provides technical assistance regarding research and data to advocates working in states that are pushing for reform.

Before joining FFJC, Sarah was the Community Outreach Manager for Feeding Tampa Bay where she managed the SNAP Outreach Team that assisted clients with applying for SNAP benefits. Prior to joining Feeding Tampa Bay, she was an employee of the State of Florida Courts System for over six years.

She began her career as a case manager for family law self-represented litigants in the 13^th Judicial Circuit. She next served as the paralegal to the Legal Department of the 13^th Judicial Circuit where she worked with and assisted staff attorneys, general counsel and judges. In her last position with the Florida Courts System, Sarah was a Court Operations Manager with the 5th Judicial Circuit assigned specifically to Hernando County.

Sarah was an active member of the National Association for Court Management and previously served as a Director on the Board of Directors until leaving the court system.

Sarah holds a Master’s in Judicial Administration from Michigan State University, an Advanced Technical Certificate in Paralegal Studies from Hillsborough Community College and a Bachelor of Science Degree in Business Administration from Southern Nazarene University.