Court Clerk II

About the Role

Under minimal supervision, performs highly responsible work 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. Serves as a conduit for the flow of work to and from assigned court.

Responsibilities

• 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.
• Performs 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 a judge's signature.
• Reviews orders signed by a judge to determine further action required and follows through on action.
• Receives and processes exhibits to be filed; follows through on orders for consolidation, severance, or transfer.
• Coordinates mental health commitments with other agencies and officers of the court.
• Reviews legal documents submitted, including those submitted electronically, determines legal and factual issues, and dockets filings into the case tracking system with appropriate codes.
• Organizes, barcodes, and scans documents into the document imaging system; indexes each document by entering appropriate category codes and descriptions.
• Performs quality verification procedures on scanned documents prepared by co-workers.
• Inspects proposed orders and court records for correctness before submitting to a judge.
• Prepares appeals, including accepting bonds, and submits them to the Appellate Court.
• Processes, executes, and distributes judgments, opinions, and mandates from the Appellate Court.
• Maintains bond forfeiture lists, submits files to court for certification by a judge, processes warrant requests, and issues warrants.
• Prepares, assembles, processes, or maintains reports, logs, forms, and official documents generated from court proceedings, such as minutes, abstracts, rulings, orders, criminal commitments, statistics, and reports.
• Makes certified copies, ensures all necessary paperwork is available, submits orders for a judge's signature, files, and distributes documents as required.
• Acts as a liaison between departments, courts, other agencies, and the public.
• Maintains assigned courtroom schedule, tracks cases submitted to the court, and acts as custodian of exhibits.
• Reviews orders and filings; operates electronic courtroom equipment under the direction of a judge.
• Assists the judge in the jury selection process, maintains jury records, and records excuses and strikes.
• Establishes and manages communication systems with jurors assigned to court.
• Develops data quality internal controls, monitors and audits data, and analyzes changing business needs and their impact on processes.
• Develops and designs statistical reports to track data.
• Trains subordinate staff in court operations, procedures, and policies; develops, coordinates, and conducts employee training and career development courses.
• Supervises, monitors, prioritizes, and makes decisions on workload distribution; reviews employee work for timeliness and accuracy.
• Serves as a liaison or primary point of contact with defendants, plaintiffs, families, judges, court personnel, constable’s officers, attorneys, county and district attorney’s offices, law enforcement agencies, and the general public regarding case status, disposition, and pending actions.
• Assists the public and departments on office policy and procedures; responds to legal and administrative inquiries.
• 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 them to the County/District Clerk’s office.
• Reviews documents submitted in court, 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.
• Reviews and verifies case documents, makes appropriate notations, processes documents, and files for data entry and issues.
• Enters case dispositions into the computer to ensure proper tracking by affected agencies.
• Determines the number of cases requiring payment agreement preparation; negotiates contract/pay agreements with individual parties to determine court costs.
• Assesses fees, receives payments, and performs cashier duties; makes daily and monthly reports to reconcile receipts.
• Works with representatives of the Sheriff’s Department, County Attorney’s Office, and officials in other counties, court masters, attorneys, and hospital representatives in processing mental health commitment cases.
• Creates court hearing dockets; attends commitment and other mental health hearings to record proceedings and issue court legal documents for release or to authorize commitment or treatment.
• Performs other job-related duties as assigned.

Requirements

• Associate’s degree in Criminal Justice, Public Administration, Business Administration, or a directly related field AND four (4) years of responsible administrative and clerical experience, including working knowledge of legal procedures, terminology, the court system, and customer service, and including some experience working in and supporting a court system.
• Any combination of education and experience that provides the required knowledge, skills, and abilities sufficient to successfully perform the duties and responsibilities of this job.

Skills

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.
• Federal and state laws requiring the confidential handling of certain health information (if required).

Skill in:

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

Ability to:

• Compile and generate reports.
• Effectively monitor workflow.
• Interpret and process legal data.
• Operate complex databases.
• Work under minimal direction and make independent decisions based on statutes, policies, and procedures.
• Handle high volumes of detail-oriented work and delegate tasks.
• 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 essential functions. Extended periods of time at the computer entering data. Subject to heavy workloads, time schedules, deadlines, and office interpersonal management duties, and walking to the courtroom and outside. Transporting file folders to the courtroom.

Schedule

8:00 AM – 5:00 PM, Monday–Friday.

Location

501 W. 11th Street, 2nd Floor, Room 2.300, Austin, Texas 78701