Office Specialist I

Yakima County•Yakima, WA

2d•$21 - $27

About The Position

There is an Office Specialist I vacancy with Yakima County Clerk's Office. This position is responsible for performing specialized support services both in and outside of the courtroom for the County Clerk. Duties include: Jury management pursuant to state law, Court rules and guidelines and the for the coordination, professional and cordial communication and dissemination of information to many different entities either by speech, or written communication; facilitating jury selection, and preparing Clerk paperwork and calendars for use in Court. This position requires a typing test with a minimum of 35 WPM to be taken online. A testing link will be emailed to you, and these tests must be completed within 48 hours of the closing date. Check your email inbox or spam/junk mail for the typing test link from [email protected].

Requirements

High School Diploma or GED AND three (3) years of general office experience; OR an equivalent combination of experience or training which provides the knowledge, skills and abilities sufficient to successfully perform the essential duties of the job.
Successful completion of a general employment verification.
Keyboarding exercise of 35 WPM.

Nice To Haves

Experience related to the law and justice field, such as legal secretary, paralegal or civil or criminal justice work is preferred.
AA in Criminal Justice / Legal Assistant is preferred and may substitute for experience.
Experience working with maintaining complex filing systems both electronic and paper Computer data entry experience preferred.
Bilingual English/Spanish is preferred

Responsibilities

Annually perform the annual ‘data load’ which consists of preparing and obtaining signed court orders, communication and coordination with the jury software vendor, local Technical Services Department and co-workers.
Prepare and disseminate the new yearly calendar with all the Jury Terms highlighted. Update Jury Terms in jury software for new year. Update Jury Sessions and mileage rates in jury software.
Provides input for assessment or reassessment as issues related to compliance are identified, as well as needed updates to forms or procedures.
Electronically summons prospective jurors. Compile electronic files for archival of each of the recurring summoning processes. Prepares duplicate forms for lost summons, receives and organizes documents and electronic files from the summoning process for archival purposes.
Electronically prepare, disseminate and archive various reports and completed trial jury lists.
Provides case management functions for juror appearances related to jury trials. Electronically process daily attendance record of jurors in jury software and Excel software.
Records nightly outgoing phone message to include: juror reporting instructions / times / locations / safety reminders.
Ensures the legal eligibility for Jury service of individuals summoned, in accordance with State Laws. Ensures documentation is received which supports excusal from, or rescheduling of, jury service based on established local Court policies.
Makes personal inquiries either by phone, in person or by mail, as to prospective juror qualifications, requests for excusal or rescheduling; verifies civil rights status through criminal history; inquire about non-answered required questions related to juror qualifications. Processes requests for excusal or rescheduling.
Verifies round trip mileage, performs accurate typing for data entry of mileages, address and name corrections. Professionally and cordially communicates the findings to the Court(s) and prospective jurors informing them of their request status, role and responsibilities.
Performs discretionary decisions to eliminate jurors based on review and interpretation of recommended judicial guidelines.
Maintains, organizes and provides day-to-day liaison functions on behalf of County Clerk, Courts and jurors in compliance with Washington State Law.
Physically performs in-person juror check-in at various courtroom locations, accounts for attendance and conducts public oration of first day welcome / juror video summary to groups ranging in size from 30-150 people. Electronically assigns prospective jurors to specific cases or Court levels.
Generate by printing, Case Reports: Juror Alphabetical List, Juror Random List, Case Cover Sheet, and financial Case Reimbursement Sheet. Daily updates jury software with juror activity, case assignment(s) and case status. Electronically ends juror ‘service’. Electronically re-populates software files for beginning ‘service’ dates / terms.
Communicate professionally, cordially and with tack to relay information and instructions to prospective jurors of what to anticipate, appropriate behavior and/or general instructions / guidelines. Multiple times a month, updates jury software for terms and juror payroll purposes.
Process Jury Payroll Bi-monthly and disseminate electronic copies to other departments. Processing incoming responses to Jury Summons to include electronic data entry of: round trip mileage, phone numbers, name changes, service assignments.
Organize and process in accordance with the established work-flow: returned Jury Summons’ and any attachments which may include sensitive personal data. Prepare additional Juror Notices (post cards) seeing additional information or notifying of jury duty status.
Ensure accuracy of attendance by comparing to In-Court Clerk’s count and print daily financial ‘case reimbursement sheets’ for each day Jurors are reporting in. Shred outdated records pursuant to archival standards set by the State.
Performs other duties as assigned.