Salary: $52,755.01 – $54,886.31
Job Type: Full-Time
Department: Criminal District Attorney
Reports To: Elected
Classification: 8
Location: Boerne, Texas
Job Number: CDA – SLC2
Opening Date: 00/00/00
Status: Non-Exempt
Job Description Date: 00/00/00
Legal Clerk II
The Kendall County Criminal District Attorney’s office is a small to mid-sized office with jurisdiction over felony and misdemeanor criminal cases. We are located in the beautiful Texas Hill Country, with nearby access to San Antonio. This Office welcomes employees who conduct themselves according to the highest ethical standards, those who work to seek justice by developing their skills and abilities to the high level owed to the community we represent, and who carry out their assigned duties with a focus on safety in the community as a whole. We strive to promote a positive work/life balance where employees are not expected to sacrifice family fulfillment in order to be effective public servants.
Summary
Under direct supervision of the Legal Operations Director and general supervision of the Criminal District Attorney, the purpose of the position is to assist prosecutors in all aspects of prosecution. Perform moderate to complex administrative support duties to include preparing correspondence and legal documents, greet visitors and respond to or refer questions, answer and route telephone calls to the appropriate person, prepare files for both jury and non-jury dockets, and ensure incoming documents are received by the appropriate prosecutor.
Essential Duties and Responsibilities
• Jail reports – Run and print current inmate jail reports daily, notify CJIS and jail of discrepancies requiring corrections; determine the type of case, prepare preliminary offense report and record in appropriate database.
• Bond filing – Create and record bond information and notification alerts, review weekly updates with the arresting agency.
• Intake – Match cases and related materials with jail records, request priors on enhanced offenses, order and review rap sheets on cases, accept or reject all TRNs in the DPS CJIS reporting site.
• Transfer video files onto individual disks, enter cases in software program, scan offense report into database, and create files.
• Order necessary paperwork (Rap Sheets), and coordinate with the prosecutors for witness lists.
• Prepare indictments, complaint & information, motions, and other legal documents for prosecutors to review and file with the court. Receive complaints signed by investigators, and obtain prosecutors review and signature for documentation.
• Prepare, coordinate, and assist prosecutors with Grand Jury preparation and presentation.
• Prepare dismissals, non-prosecution forms on JP cases, and motions and settings, for assigned attorney. Update database and file hard-copies in the file room.
• Enter additional information from new cases into database; Fact-check all information entered from booking such as spelling of name, date of birth, DL number, date of offense, offense code, etc.
• Print out plea offer and waivers for the case; enter attorney information into database when receiving court appointed attorney information or letter of representation.
• Probation Cases/Evidence/Appellate – Prepare and file paperwork for Motions to Revoke Probation and Motions to Adjudicate; Prepare witness lists and subpoenas.
• Request evidence from investigating agency and give it to the attorney with case.
• Receive appellate notifications from the Court of Appeals and schedule appellate deadlines on the calendar and provide files to prosecutors.
• Jury Docket – Check jury lists for prior criminal history of jurors, prepare judgments, assist the investigator with incoming calls regarding jury trial, assist prosecutors prepare for trial with paperwork and/or witnesses.
• Court Preparation and Coordination – Receive updated dockets, print plea documents, print and update judgments for cases that have plead guilty, update calendar with contested hearings, draft subpoena applications for the Clerk’s office, and accompany prosecutors to court. Coordinate with victim services.
• Apply for bench warrants for non-county defendants to attend upcoming court dates and request translators as required.
• Contact attorneys prior to court date to confirm court attendance, hearing and trial status, and anticipated length of time for hearings. Coordinate bond forfeiture, remittitur hearings, and capias pro finum dockets. Coordinate special dockets for probation revocation hearings, pleas, open pleas of guilty, jail dockets, and all pretrial matters not set on scheduled court dates.
• Receive applications to the Judge for occupational driver’s license and prepare checklist for attorney to approve before sending to the Judge.
• Obtain jail credit for all defendants prior to court dates. Prepare jail dockets, notify the clerk’s office and schedule inmate transfers. Determine if inmates have filed affidavits of indigence and/or been appointed attorneys. Ensure there are no other pending cases in the county and that all cases are disposed of prior to the defendant being transferred to another facility.
• Monitor FTA warrants to create warrant round up lists.
• Discovery responses – Receive and log discovery requests, draft inventory of materials and notify defense attorneys, obtaining signature of receipt. Create 39.14 Discovery Compliance document for submission to court prior to plea or trial.
• Provide coverage for the receptionist.
Note: The duties listed above are intended only as illustrations of the various types of work that may be performed. The omission of specific statements of duties does not exclude them from the position if the work is assigned by the supervisor.
Knowledge, Skills, and Abilities
Knowledge of:
• Excellent secretarial skills and must be familiar with a variety of standard concepts, practices and procedures.
Ability to:
• Demonstrate good public relations skills, communication abilities, and professional demeanor.
• Use of a multi-line telephone, hands-on computer experience and excellent writing skills.
• Ability to read and interpret documents such as statutes, rules, and judicial decisions.
• Ability to draft legal documents, such as briefs, pleadings, motions, and any discovery.
• Ability to communicate effectively with the public and persons in the legal system.
Education and/or Experience
• High school diploma or GED;
• Five (5) years clerical work experience.
• Experience in criminal and civil law would be helpful but not required.
☒ You can qualify by an equivalent combination of education and experience, through EITHER years of education OR years of directly related experience, OR a combination of both
☐ You can qualify with fewer years of experience IF YOU obtained SIGNIFICANTLY MORE relevant experience in criminal prosecution, such as number or types of trials, than one would typically receive within a similar time frame
Certificates, Licenses, Registrations
• Must possess a valid Texas Driver’s License
• Paralegal Certification preferred but not required
Additional Information
LANGUAGE SKILLS: Strong oral and written communication skills. Ability to effectively provide information and positively respond to questions from external and internal customers in person and by phone. Ability to write routine reports and correspondence.
MATHEMATICAL SKILLS: Must be able to add, subtract, multiply, and divide in all units of measure, using whole numbers, common fractions, and decimals. Must be to compute rate, ratio, and percent and to draw and interpret bar graphs.
REASONING ABILITY: Must be able to apply common sense to carry out instructions provided in written, oral, or diagram form. Ability to deal with problems involving several concrete variables in standardized situations. Ability to define problems, collect data, establish facts, draw valid conclusions and attempt assistance. Investigates matters of considerable impact and must routinely deal with emotional and possibly uncooperative individuals.
WORK ENVIRONMENT: The work environment characteristics described here are representative of those an employee encounters while performing the essential functions of this job.
PHYSICAL DEMANDS: The physical demands described here are representative of those that must be met by an employee to successfully perform the essential functions of this job. While performing the duties of this job, the employee is frequently required to stand, walk, use fingers, hands, reach with hands and arms; and talk and hear. The employee is required to sit. The employee may occasionally be required to stand and lift and move up to twenty-five pounds. Specific vision abilities required include close vision. Reasonable accommodations may be made to enable individuals with disabilities to perform essential functions.
TECHNICAL/COMPUTER SKILLS: Proficient in MS Office tools (Microsoft Word, Excel, and PowerPoint), e-mail and Internet. Ability to learn new applications quickly including organization-wide information systems and department-specific software applications.
How to Apply: E-mail your cover letter, resume and application to [email protected].
Kendall County is an Equal Opportunity Employer and maintains compliance with the Americans with Disabilities Act by providing reasonable accommodations to qualified individuals and employees with disabilities.
If you require reasonable accommodation in completing an application, any pre-employment testing, the interview process, or otherwise participating in the selections, please direct your inquiries to Kendall County Human Resources at (830) 249-9343.
Disclaimer: This is an “at will” position with no civil service or other appellate rights. This job description is not an employment agreement or contract. Management has the exclusive right to alter this job description at any time without notice.