Court Clerk I

Job Summary

The Travis County Clerk is hiring for Court Clerk I positions within the Civil, Probate, and Misdemeanor Divisions. This is the first level in a series of clerk positions. Under moderate supervision, performs a variety of legal clerical duties in response to actions of the courts. Uses independent judgment interpreting and applying procedures and precedents to specific misdemeanor cases. Coordinates and carries out duties involved in assigned causes of action. Performs detailed and complex legal procedures associated with the receipt, review, and filing of court documents. 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. Assesses fees and performs cashier duties. Assists the public and acts as a liaison between the department, courts, other agencies and the public. May function as a Court Clerk II alternate in supporting the court.

DISTINGUISHING CHARACTERISTICS:

This is the second in a series of four court clerical-related job classifications within the Administrative Support job family. Incumbents perform duties of moderate complexity. This classification is distinguished from Court Clerk Assistant in that incumbents routinely review the work performed by the Court Clerk Assistant, perform fewer general clerical duties and require greater independent judgment. This classification is distinguished from Court Clerk II in that incumbents do not regularly perform the majority of their work in a court setting and do not function as lead workers or have regular supervisory duties.

Duties and Responsibilities

• Assists and answers questions from the public received in person, by phone or by email regarding the status, disposition, pending actions or other aspects of court cases. Directs customers to the appropriate court clerk. Processes incoming faxes and faxes document confirmation returns. Sorts, logs and distributes incoming mail and legal documents. May date-stamp incoming documents. Performs filing duties. Makes copies when appropriate. May schedule wedding appointments. May provide notary services to public.
• Serves as liaison or primary point of contact with defendants, plaintiffs, families, judges, court personnel, Constable's Officers, attorneys, County and District Attorney's Office, law enforcement agencies, interested parties, and the general public regarding status, disposition, pending actions of individual cases and parties' actions. Assists public and departments on office policy and procedures. Responds to legal and administrative inquiries. Takes initial steps to resolve citizen complaints and ensures department policies and procedures are met. Provides technical advice and assistance regarding legal documents of all types.
• May assess fees and fines, receive payments, and perform as cashier for the office on a daily basis. Accepts monies in the form of cash, money orders and cashier checks and issues signed receipts. Receives payment from public for fees and lower court appeal bonds. Conducts cash transactions as payments for warrants including entering credit card transactions and mail payments. Prepares bank deposits. Makes daily and monthly reports to reconcile receipts.
• Receives and processes petitions, indictments, tickets, affidavits, complaints, applications or information instituting a cause of action and makes appropriate notations in computer system including data element codes. Notifies appropriate authorities of filing when required by law. 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. May process emergency protection orders, peace bond applications, school cases, property hearings, animal cruelty seizures, unlawful towing of vehicles and writs of re-entry. May research and verify petitions and orders for expungement. Maintains a tracking system for processing acquittal expungement orders. Routes assigned causes of action to court, as required. May determine nature of suit and assess fees and fines. Reviews documents submitted in assigned cause of action and determines case impact. Makes appropriate notation on case docket, and on computer system.
• Initiates new cases and updates the status of existing cases in the automated case management system. Determines the category and description of each document or transaction by reviewing event logs and case dockets. 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. Uses scanning software to input case information. Captures images and performs quality assurance. Scans incoming legal documents. Performs quality verification procedures on scanned documents prepared by co-workers. Assesses scanned electronic images for legibility, blank documents and missing records.
• Prepares or issues summons, capiases, warrants, commitments, subpoenas, citations, writs, injunctions, protective orders, restraining orders, judgments, notices and executed commitments by statute, rule, order of court or request by customer. May accept pleas, pleadings, and motions and records all documents. Maintains up-to-date docket detail retrieval to provide accurate information to judge and interested parties. May prepare extensions, deferred dispositions, defensive driving requests and determines if conditions are met. May review and verify license suspension orders and submit documentation to law enforcement agencies. Reviews and may interpret 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. Prepares post-judgment documents, such as writs of habeas corpus, abstracts of judgment, order of sale, and writs of execution in compliance with statutes, rules, case law and customer requests. Inspects proposed orders and court records for correctness before submitting to judge.
• Sets cases for trial and notifies parties of scheduled settings. Files pleadings and records docket information. May schedule criminal and civil bench and jury trials. Prepares and issues subpoenas, judgments and orders. May coordinate with jury office to ensure adequate availability of jurors. Assists judge in courtroom with jurors and other parties during trial. Issues notices, prepares documents and files for court, and ensures equipment and materials are prepared daily for courtroom. Checks in parties arriving for trial and assists judge in courtroom. May schedule interpreter if needed. May prepare commitments and assist judge with jail call. May assist inmates who have limited English skills. May prepare appeals, including accepting bonds and determining due dates to be filed with Appellate Court. May process, execute and distribute judgments, opinions and mandates from Appellate Court.
• May provide radio and telecommunications services to deputies in the field. Receives, evaluates and responds to radio traffic. Maintains radio or phone contact and monitors deputies. Processes information received from field deputies and updates deputies with research.
• May calculate judgments and writs at multiple interest rates. Prepares public notices of property sales and postings. Prepares and files documents of sale, including deeds. Prepares legal notices of eviction. Maintains inventories of seized property and funds and arranges for storage, as required.
• Works closely with division managers on special projects. Conducts research inquiries in multiple databases. Updates legal files with pertinent information. May coordinate for off-site storage of records. Performs statistical analysis and produces activity reports.
• May receive warrants and processes warrant information into computer system. Conducts research on parties named in warrants and updates files. Prepares and mails notices to individuals with outstanding warrants. Notifies deputies of outstanding warrants. Tracks warrants currently bring worked. Works with deputies in clearing outstanding warrants. Closes outstanding warrants when obligations fulfilled.
• May notify law enforcement authorities and other essential parties when a protective order becomes final. Assists customers with Legal Ease payments and receives approval information from bank. Coordinates files going to off-site storage and docketing of civil case files and civil bond forfeitures cases.
• 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 two (2) years of responsible clerical experience, including familiarity with legal procedures, terminology, the court system, and customer service; 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: As part of the duties for this role, the employee will have access to Criminal Justice Information (CJI) and must meet all CJIS Security Policy requirements, including fingerprint-based background screening and adherence to data handling protocols 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.
• Litigation procedures.
• Appeal process from lower courts.
• Warrant process.
• Criminal justice procedures to handle bond forfeiture cases.
• 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.