Court Clerk II Sr

Job Summary

Under limited direction, performs highly responsible work in coordinating and carrying out responsibilities involving assigned causes of action. Makes independent decisions, organizes and prioritizes workload and performs detailed and complex legal procedures associated with the receipt, review, and filing of court documents. Functions as a team leader. Reviews work of others. Assigns work to co-workers and reviews work output for quality control. Provides technical assistance in completing work assignments. Serves as conduit for flow of work to and from assigned court. Serves as a subject matter specialist. Trains other clerical staff. Assists judges in jury selection and other court activities. Assists in recommending policies and drafting procedures. May function as County/District Clerk/Justice of the Peace representative directly supporting the judges. Reviews and analyzes legal documents, indexes documents by applying appropriate category codes and scans documents into electronic imaging systems. Prepares and issues a variety of legal documents. May assess fees and perform cashier duties. Assists the public and acts as a liaison between the departments, courts, other agencies and the public.

DISTINGUISHING CHARACTERISTICS:

This is the fourth in a series of four court clerical-related job classifications within the Administrative Support job family. Incumbents perform duties of advanced complexity. This classification is distinguished from Court Clerk II in that the primary responsibility is that of supervisor and incumbents frequently act as subject area experts.

Duties and Responsibilities

• Serves as a lead worker for all court clerks. Answers staff questions related to processes and procedures. Supervises, monitors, prioritizes and makes decisions on workload schedules. Schedules substitute coverage when needed. Trains permanent and temporary staff. May assist in preparing, updating training manuals, work guides and community resource information. Reviews employee work for accuracy and adherence to deadlines and performance standards. May assist the division manager in the hiring process and advise on performance appraisals and other personnel actions.
• Coordinates with division manager to develop, monitor and evaluate team's operational plans within established guidelines. Keeps division manager informed of issues within the work unit. Makes recommendations to division manager regarding improvements to department policies and workflow. Directs problem-solving efforts for team in complex case management issues. Responds to customer complaints. Serves as subject matter expert and resource person relating to state rules, regulations and requirements.
• Independently processes court documents, such as petitions, indictments or complaints initiating a court case in accordance with statutory requirements and enters data into the case tracking system with the appropriate codes. Notifies appropriate authorities of filing when required by law.
• Prepares and issues citations, writs (attachment, habeas corpus, execution, sequestration, supersedes) abstracts of judgment, capiases, warrants, injunctions, protective orders, subpoenas, restraining orders, and notices according to statutes, rules or court orders. May perform accounting related duties, such as calculating judgment amounts, preparing bills of cost, issuing writs of execution and abstracts of judgment.
• Responds to legal and administrative inquiries by clients. Prepares legal documents in the adjudication and disposition of cases for judge's signature. Reviews orders signed by judge to determine further action required. Follows through on action. Receives and processes exhibits to be filed, follows through on orders for consolidation, severance or transfer. May coordinate mental health commitments with other agencies and officers of the court.
• Conducts review of legal documents submitted, including those submitted electronically. Determines the legal and factual issues presented and dockets the filing into the case tracking system with the appropriate code structure. Organizes, bar codes and scans documents into the document imaging system. Indexes each document by entering the appropriate category codes and descriptions so that documents can be retrieved quickly using a variety of data elements. Performs quality verification procedures on scanned documents prepared by co-workers. Directs resolution of problems with documents that are rejected in quality control. Inspects proposed orders and court records for correctness before submitting to judge.
• Prepares appeals, including accepting bonds, and submits them to the Appellate Court. May process, execute and distribute judgments, opinions and mandates from Appellate Court. May maintain bond forfeiture lists, submit files to court for certification by judge, process warrant requests and issuance of warrants. Maintains bond forfeiture lists for missing case files, including continuing to research location of missing case files.
• Prepares, assembles, processes or maintains a variety of reports, logs, forms and official documents generated from court proceedings, such as minutes, abstracts, rulings, orders, criminal commitments, statistics and reports. Makes certified copies, uses appropriate legal terminology and format, ensures all necessary items/paperwork are available, submits orders for judge's signature and/or copies, files and distributes documents, as required. Acts as liaison. Maintains assigned courtroom schedule. Tracks cases submitted to the court. Maintains control of and acts as custodian of exhibits. Reviews orders and filings. May operate electronic courtroom equipment under direction of judge.
• Assists the judge in the jury selection process. Maintains jury records and records excuses and strikes. Establishes and manages communication system with jurors assigned to court.
• May work with cashiers to appropriately assess, collect, and receipt fees based upon the application of established rules, laws and policy. Makes sure that cash, checks, vouchers and credit card balances are accurate and balanced. Completes deposit slips and prepares deposits.
• Serves as primary contact and works with County Courts at Law, Probate Court, Sheriff's Office, Community Supervision, Austin Police Department, Texas Department of Public Safety, defense attorneys, County and District Attorney's Office, defendants, executors, administrators, guardians, interested parties and the general public regarding status, disposition, pending actions, warrant status, etc. of individual cases and defendants' actions. Keeps judge abreast of case changes.
• Attends docket call, court hearings and trials, as required by the court. Routes daily scheduled assigned causes of action on the docket to the courtroom and returns same to the County/District Clerk/Justice of the Peace office. Reviews documents submitted in court and determines case impact and makes appropriate notations. Reviews and verifies orders signed by a judge to determine required action and follows through on actions such as orders for consolidation, severance, or transfers and conducts research on cases, as required by the judge.
• Reviews and verifies case documents, makes appropriate notations, processes documents and files for data entry and issues. Enters case dispositions into computer to ensure proper tracking by affected agencies. Reviews additional court case documents to determine and follow through on action.
• Prepares and issues subpoenas, writs, capiases, commitments, bench warrants, summons, bond forfeiture set asides, release/recall cards, posted notices, citations, writs, letters testamentary, letters of administration, letters of guardianship, and other related documentation in compliance with statutes, rules, case law and customer requests.
• Prepares post-judgment documents such as, writs of habeas corpus and writ of attachment. Locates and amends commitments, as required. Issues jail commitments to Out-of-County agencies and electronic monitoring to ensure compliance with court sentencing orders and execution of commitments, and obtains fingerprints of defendant on court orders, as required.
• Coordinates and assists courts in the impaneling of jurors, preparation of jury lists, certification of list, issuance of lists of interested parties, administration of oaths, and determination and submission of payment vouches.
• Prepares appeals and appeal transcripts to Appellate Court, prepares actions on requests from Appellate Court, including opinions, mandates and supplemental transcripts. Delivers lower court appeals to County Court and takes appropriate action. Executes opinions and judgments in municipal.
• May maintain bond forfeiture lists, submit files to court for certification by judge, process warrant requests and issuance of warrants. Maintains bond forfeiture lists for missing case files, including continuing to research location of missing case files.
• Performs other job-related duties as assigned.

Minimum Requirements

Education and Experience:
Associate's degree in Criminal Justice, Public Administration, Business Administration or a directly related field AND four (4) years of responsible clerical experience, including familiarity with legal procedures, terminology, the court system and customer service, and including some experience in supporting a court system, and including two (2) years of supervisory experience;

OR,

Any combination of education and experience that has been achieved and is equivalent to the stated education and experience and required knowledge, skills, and abilities sufficient to successfully perform the duties and responsibilities of this job.

Licenses, Registrations, Certifications, or Special Requirements:
None required.

Knowledge, Skills, and Abilities:

Knowledge of:

• Criminal justice system policies and procedures.
• Legal terminology, principles, procedures, documents and forms.
• Office procedures and protocol.
• Scanning equipment and document control.
• County Court at Law Systems.
• Warrant process.
• Criminal justice procedures to handle bond forfeiture cases (County Attorney's Office).
• Relevant statutes and rules of court.
• Litigation procedures.
• Appeal process from lower courts.
• Workflow management.
• Personnel management.
• Business letter writing, grammar and punctuation, and report preparation.
• May be required to develop knowledge of and adhere to federal and state laws requiring the confidential handling of certain health information.

• Monitoring, scheduling and assigning work.
• Communicating with attorneys or judges related to case information.
• Drafting correspondence.
• Data entry and computer systems.
• Analyzing legal documents.
• Coordinating the review and processing of legal documents.
• Calculating and collecting money.
• Operating a variety of modern office equipment, including a computer.
• Both verbal and written communication.

• Supervise, train, assign and monitor work assignments.
• Compile and generate reports.
• Effectively monitor workflow.
• Interpret and process legal data.
• Operate complex databases.
• Work under minimal direction.
• Make independent decisions based on the requirement of statutes, policies and procedures.
• Handle high volumes of detail-oriented work and delegate.
• Handle multiple tasks simultaneously.
• Effectively deal with dissatisfied customers.
• Prioritize and work independently.
• Establish and maintain effective working relationships with County employees and officials, judges, attorneys, representatives of outside agencies, and the general public.

Work Environment & Other Information

Physical requirements include the ability to lift/carry up to 20-50 pounds occasionally, visual acuity, speech and hearing, hand and eye coordination and manual dexterity necessary to operate a computer and office equipment. Subject to sitting, client/customer contact, standing, walking, vision to monitor, repetitive motion, stooping/kneeling, squatting, bending, and reaching to perform the essential functions. Subject to extended periods of time at the computer entering data, heavy workloads, time schedules, deadlines and office interpersonal management duties, and walking to courtroom and outside walking.

Travis County employees play an important role in business continuity. As such, employees can be assigned to business continuity efforts outside of normal job functions.

This job description is intended to be generic in nature. It is not necessarily an exhaustive list of all duties and responsibilities. The essential duties, functions and responsibilities and overtime eligibility may vary based on the specific tasks assigned to the position.

Work Hours: 2:00 pm to 11:00 am, Sunday-Saturday. Works all holidays, Works all nights, Works all weekends.

Department: District Clerk

Location: 501 W. 11th Street, Austin, Texas 78701

Criminal Background Checks Required.

For updates or questions about this posting, contact: Laura.Jimenez@traviscountytx.gov