About Nikki Alvarez-Sowles, Esq.

2019 - Headshot white jacketNikki Alvarez-Sowles, Esq.

Pasco County Clerk & Comptroller

A lawyer with experience in the efficient, effective operations of public institutions, Nikki Alvarez-Sowles, Esq., was elected without opposition to her first, full term as Pasco County’s Clerk & Comptroller in November 2020, assuming the role of elected official in January 2021. Previously, she served as Clerk & Comptroller as appointed by Gov. Ron DeSantis in August 2019.

Joining this Office in 2007, Nikki had served as Chief Operations Officer since 2010. In that capacity, she guided the adoption of numerous taxpayer-friendly initiatives that improved customer service, boosted efficiency, drove down costs, and enhanced transparency, including:

  • Implemented the Clerk & Comptroller’s Legal Resource Centers in 2016 to provide legal resources and assistance to unrepresented parties and attorneys.
  • Managed and directed implementation of assorted technical improvements, among them: eFiling in civil and criminal courts; public access to online court records; tax-deed sales online; civil and criminal case maintenance system; and electronic juror-management system.
  • Oversaw conversion of a legacy financial software program to Tyler Munis, used by the Clerk & Comptroller’s Finance Department to manage more than $2 billion in annual transactions.
  • Coordinated conversion of the Clerk & Comptroller’s case-management system from a legacy mainframe that contained more than 40 million records. 

Tampa-born and -reared, Nikki played soccer at the University of South Florida (where she was a member of the Scholar-Athlete 3.0 Club and a Student Government Senator) before earning her Juris Doctor at Thomas M. Cooley Law School in Lansing, Michigan. 

From 2000-2005, Nikki practiced real estate law with the Tampa firm of Echevarria, Codilis & Stawiarski, P.I., and spent a year as Real Estate Development Manager for nonprofit Housing & Education Alliance, Inc., before joining the Palm Beach Clerk & Comptroller’s Office as Director of Branch Court Services. 

Examples of her pursuits include:

  • Leadership Pasco, board member and past president
  • West Pasco Bar Association, member and past president
  • Rotary Club of New Port Richey, member
  • Member of various committees and workgroups devoted to performance excellence in government work, such as:
    1. Florida Clerks & Comptrollers’ Best Practices Workgroup
    2. Supreme Court workgroups
    3. Florida Bar Small Claims Rules Committee
    4. Pasco-Hernando State College Technical Advisory Committee for Paralegal Studies
    5. Pasco County School District and Success Plan Committee

In tireless pursuit of nurturing excellence, Nikki served as a Florida Governor’s Sterling Examiner and was awarded the Certified Public Manager designation from the Florida Center for Public Management at Florida State University.

Nikki is married to Kevin Sowles, and they have two children: daughter Lexi and son Soren. The family lives and thrives in Land O’ Lakes.