Job Description
Position Overview
The Judicial Clerk provides administrative support to ensure smooth case flow and daily operations for the Judicial Branch.
Positions may be assigned based on availability and locations may vary throughout Maricopa County in the following departments:
Criminal - The Criminal Department of the Superior Court of Arizona in Maricopa County is responsible for the adjudication of all felony offenses charged by the State of Arizona that are alleged to have been committed within Maricopa County. There are currently twenty-seven (27) judges and twenty-eight (28) commissioners assigned full time to the Criminal Department. This is accomplished through a number of unique calendars and assignments that have been developed to improve the efficient and just resolution of criminal cases in this Court.
Family - The Family Department has jurisdiction over dissolution, legal decision making (custody), child support, parenting time, paternity, maternity, and other domestic relations matters. The judicial officers assigned to Family Court adhere to the Rules of Family Law Procedure and Title 25 of the Arizona Revised Statutes. Family Court offers several innovative programs to assist parties in resolving disputes.
Juvenile - The Juvenile Department has exclusive original jurisdiction over children and youths, seventeen (17) years of age and under, who violate any federal, state or municipal law, and any child who is abused, neglected or dependent. Some of the matters heard in Juvenile Court include delinquency cases in which a youth is charged with a crime or a status offense; dependency cases in which a child has been abused or neglected by a parent or other person with care, custody or control of the juvenile; guardianship cases to determine legal guardianship of a child and severance and adoption cases.
Civil/Tax - The Civil Department has jurisdiction over cases that involve legal conflicts among individuals, businesses, corporations, partnerships and governmental entities. Most civil cases are the result of personal injury, property damage, medical malpractice and contract disputes. The Tax Department has jurisdiction over disputes anywhere in the state that involves the imposition, assessment or collection of a tax. The Court adjudicates cases involving state taxes, municipal sales taxes and property taxes as well as appeals from the Property Oversight Commission.
Probate/Mental Health - The Probate and Mental Health Department has jurisdiction over trusts, estates, and protective proceedings. The Probate department oversees the informal and formal administration of decedent's estates. The judges and court commissioners are responsible for a broad variety of matters in addition to decedents' estates, such as guardianships and conservatorships to protect a person's wellbeing and financial assets when the person is found to be incapacitated. The Mental Health department is responsible for civil commitments, where an individual with symptoms of severe mental illness is court-ordered into treatment in a hospital. Orders are established for those found to be a danger to themselves or others, or persistently or acutely disabled or gravely disabled. Petitions for court-ordered treatment are heard at Desert Vista Behavioral Center and the Arizona State Hospital.
Jury - The Jury Department is the most common contact with the justice system that the general public will have. The Jury Office is a demanding, high volume, fast-paced environment. We serve nearly 600,000 jurors annually, from the point of summons through the term of service. We provide jury services to the Superior Court as well as twenty-six (26) Justice Courts, nineteen (19) municipal courts, and the State and County Grand Juries.
Court Interpreter & Translation Services (CITS) -The Court Interpretation and Translation Services (CITS) Department provides language assistance to Limited English Proficient (LEP) court users in all judicial branch matters. To accomplish this CITS staff not only interpret for Spanish and American Sign Language (ASL) but coordinate Lesser Used Languages (LUL's) interpreters for the ninety (90) plus languages that come before the Superior Court.
Law Library/Service Center (LLRC) - The Law Library Resource Center provides direct customer service to litigants in various situations within a self-service environment; handles a variety of requests, inquiries, and complaints from litigants and general public and provides community resources to customers as needed. The Law Library Resource Center is a demanding, high volume, fast-paced environment.
Minimum education and/or experience:
High school diploma or GED and two (2) years of general clerical experience. Other combinations of post-secondary education and job related experience may substitute for the required experience on a year for year basis.
Knowledge, skills, and abilities:
Knowledge of:
- Court policies and procedures, legal terminology, customer service standards and procedures, particularly those that relate to the preservation of the court records.
- Superior Court and Justice Courts Programs.
- Case-flow management.
- Arizona Constitution and Arizona Revised Statutes specific to the assigned divisions.
Skill in:
- Computer software such as iCIS, MS Office software such as Outlook, Excel and Word.
- Effective written and verbal communication.
- Providing excellent customer service.
- The preparation of statistical reports.
Ability to:
- Multitask and cope with high volume and a time critical work environment.
- Establish and maintain working relationships with others.
- Understand and accurately brief oral and written instructions.
- Make sound decisions in accordance with regulations, policies and procedures.
- Work independently with little supervision.
Preferred education and/or experience:
Bilingual in Spanish/English. Experience in a legal/court environment. Experience with MS Office. Experience taking phone calls.
Working conditions:
Some assignments may require working in close proximity with inmates in a courtroom or in a secure environment. Some assignments may require travel to Superior Court locations throughout Maricopa County.
Essential Job Tasks
- Provides administrative support to the department, which includes scheduling administrative conferences and court hearings based on petitions, minute entries and other legal documents.
- Directs public to appropriate court programs, resources, facilities and outside agencies.
- Responds to inquiries regarding court cases, answers questions from the public, attorneys, judicial officers and judicial branch staff.
- Performs a variety of case management functions, which may include reviewing case status reports and researching cases.
- Coordinates services with other departments.
- Trains new and existing staff on department policies, procedures and processes.
- In accordance with minimum accounting standards, performs direct cash handling, including entering codes into the Cash Management System, receipting transactions, balancing cash drawer and making daily deposits.
- Uses ICIS, Domestic Violence Computer Prompt System, ezCourtForms and other court software to assist customers with case information.
- Initiates all new cases into the Integrated Court Information System (iCIS/iCISng), setting hearings, reviewing and reconciling minute entries from divisions to ensure compliance with court orders.
- Sets meetings, review Administrator calendars, setup meetings, office clerical work (copies, creation of binders, errands)
- Performs other special projects.
- Receives and distributes incoming and outgoing mail.
- Reviews and processes minute entries and court orders.
- May act as bailiff in court, depending on department assignment.
The Maricopa County Human Resources Department performs recruitment, assessment and other personnel functions on behalf of the Judicial Branch and its departments. The Maricopa County Human Resources Department reserves the right to admit to the selection process only those candidates considered to be the most highly qualified. Those selected will be assessed based on evaluation of listed education and experience. The hiring authority will interview and select the successful candidate from a pool provided by Human Resources.
External candidates are hired at the minimum of the salary range. Exceptions may be made on a case-by-case basis for current Judicial Branch or County employees depending on current classification and related experience.
All Judicial Branch offers of employment and continued employment are contingent upon passing a thorough background/fingerprint check. Applicants must completely and fully answer any questions regarding felony and misdemeanor convictions including any convictions that have been expunged or set aside. Failure to include criminal history information is grounds for termination of an offer and employment. A conviction may not automatically disqualify an applicant.
Judicial Branch facilities are located throughout Maricopa County. This position may be reassigned to other locations. Assignments will be made based upon the needs of the department.
Employment for anyone hired or promoted into a Superior Court Classified position will be governed by the Classified Personnel Rules (CPR). This does not apply to positions in Adult Probation, Juvenile Probation or the Justice Courts.