Make an impact:
The City of Salem Municipal Court is seeking a Court Operations Specialist to join our team. The Municipal Court is a separate arm of City government. The presiding judge is elected by the public every four years. There are approximately 63,000 parking and traffic violation cases filed annually, 350 to 500 emails received each week, 500 to 750 pieces of mail weekly, 150 telephone calls per day to complete entry of defendant’s plea, adjudicate traffic and parking citations based on judicial authority and driving history of a defendant or parking history. In addition, there are a variety of administrative and operational duties to support court processes. Court employees are required to initiate, maintain, and preserve defendant records of court actions and maintain confidential records for financial, personal, medical, and law enforcement information.
The role and purposes of Salem Municipal Court is to do individual justice in individual cases, provide a neutral forum for the resolution of legal disputes within the scope of the court's limited jurisdiction, and provide a formal record of legal status. The vision of the Municipal Court is to serve the enduring goal of fair and impartial justice through innovation and education, and by empowering individual and community solutions. If you are an individual that is interested in the court as a career choice and possess the attributes of multitasking, being detail oriented, dependable, enjoys working in a fast-paced environment that is very challenging with a variety of job duties and responsibilities, then consider this position as a profession.
Learn and grow:
As a Court Operations Specialist, you will be a part of a fast-paced team that provides service and assistance to members of the public at the Violations Bureau and performs a variety of operational duties to support the Municipal Court.
In this position you will learn about legal processes that include but not limited to entry of pleas, adjudication of violations, access defendant’s driving history utilizing Law Enforcement Data Systems to determination qualification for traffic diversion, eligibility for reduction of fines, issuing payment plans, initiating Community Service contacts, and various other duties to support court operations.
What you will do:
The Court Operations Specialist is a critical position to support the Violations Bureau in the Municipal Court. The successful candidate must be adept, resolute, and unaffected, working in an environment that is considered hectic, stressful, fast paced, and ever changing. This is a front facing position working with the public in-person, by telephone, fax, correspondence, and email with constant interruptions throughout the day. Court staff must remain calm and professional in situations when defendants appear to be in crisis, emotionally charged, or even aggressive and in the event a member of the public or defendant is escorted from the court by law enforcement in restraints. Multitasking skills are necessary to manage the daily workload for all incoming public contacts and documents. Staff must review each document received by the court and determine the nature of the document received as critical, urgent, or important. Duties will vary daily according to the needs and priorities of the court.
You will check in defendants and prepare records for their court appearance verifying driver history or parking case history, process mail and emails received by the court, accept an entry of plea, set violation trials, adjudicate citations within judicial authority, initiate and monitor payment plans, initiate community service when ordered by a judge, import electronic parking, traffic, and photo radar citations filed with the Municipal Court, initiate and complete exception reports, issue notice to defendants for “Guilty by Default” judgments, reinstate driver licenses, and research financial transactions.
To learn more about Salem Municipal Court please visit our website at: https://www.cityofsalem.net/government/municipal-court/city-of-salem-municipal-court.
Additional job duties and responsibilities:
- Act as the first point of contact assisting defendants in resolving violations in-person, by phone, by email, and fax, using informed knowledge of court policies, procedures, and special programs.
- Provide support to the Municipal Judge during violation arraignment dockets on a rotational basis.
- Perform real-time data entry of courtroom proceedings into the computer system.
- Perform a variety of clerical and operational duties involving data entry, filing, arithmetical calculations, review and comparison of forms and citations against established standards and judicial authority.
- Schedule violation trials for in person or trial by affidavit, coordinate with appropriate parties, schedule interpreters, and assure proper notification is made regarding the date and time of appearance.
- Develop and maintain accurate and timely record-keeping and databases; ensure recording of all pertinent information, compliance with court records requirements; maintain security and custody of court records.
- Perform other essential duties as assigned.
What can we offer you for all your hard work?
- 5% Bilingual incentive for qualifying candidate.
- Medical, dental, and vision coverage for you and your family.
- Paid vacation and sick time in accordance with City policies.
- Competitive pay.
- Employer-paid PERS contribution of 6%.
- Opportunity for voluntary pre-tax contributions to a 457b account.
- Health care and dependent care flexible spending accounts.
- Voluntary long-term care.
- Employee wellness program.
- Employee assistance program.
- Employee health clinic.
- Position schedule is in person Monday-Friday, between the hours of 8:00 a.m. – 5:00 p.m. and 7:30 a.m. - 4:30 p.m.
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The City of Salem offers a comprehensive and equitable base salary within the listed range based on your experience, skills, and education. We encourage you to clearly describe how you meet the minimum qualifications and essential attributes in your application materials.
Learn more about Equal Pay.
What are the minimum qualifications?
- Must pass a pre-employment background check.
- High school diploma or GED, and two years of experience of a general clerical nature, involving high volume public contact, court related work experience or any combination of experience and training sufficient to support the knowledge, skills and abilities required to perform the essential job functions.
- Must pass criminal background check necessary to obtain Criminal Justice Information System clearance and Law Enforcement Data System certification within 30 days of hire (clearance must be maintained throughout employment).
- Hiring managers do not have access to view resumes as part of the application review process, please make sure to give detailed information in your application that includes your experience, knowledge, skills, and abilities as requested in the supplemental questions and job advertisement.
Knowledge, Skills and Abilities:
- Knowledge of, or ability to learn, court documents policies, procedures, legal requirements and terminology relating to Municipal Court or the ability to learn and perform the required duties;
- Familiarity with applicable regulations, statutes, procedures and policies as applicable to municipal court operations, or ability to learn;
- Proficiency in the use of office equipment, scanners, computers, and Microsoft Office suite;
- Knowledge of traffic violations, Department of Motor Vehicle(DMV) regulations, Oregon Revised Statutes(ORS) and correlating processes, or ability to learn;
- Bilingual skills to effectively interact with diverse individuals in a court environment;
- Ability to establish and maintain complex paper and electronic filing and record-keeping systems;
- Demonstrated attention to detail and high-quality, accurate work;
- Ability to work quickly, accurately, and thoroughly with close attention to detail in an atmosphere of frequent interruptions and changing priorities;
- Strong management skills to work within time constraints associated with legal processes and court scheduling;
- Ability to protect confidential information, including sensitive financial, medical and personal identifying information and meeting Criminal Justice Information Systems (CJIS) security requirements;
- Ability to remain composed and adaptable in high-pressure or stressful situations;
- Ability to applying de-escalation principles and practices;
- Excellent Communication Skills.
About us:
Salem is the second largest city in Oregon and the capital city. Centrally located in the Willamette Valley, Salem is 49 square miles in size and extends across to counties, Marion and Polk. The community has well-established neighborhoods and carefully preserved historic buildings with wide diversity and a family-friendly ambiance. The city is home to nearly 180,000 residents. For a full community profile detailing demographics and housing statistics, visit the City of Salem website.
The City of Salem organization has eight primary departments: Community Services, Finance, Fire, Enterprise Services, Legal, Police, Public Works, and Community Planning and Development. Several departments also have functional divisions within their department. The City of Salem employs roughly 1,350 talented and dedicated staff members and works collaboratively with five labor unions.
Where can I find out more about the position?
Go to the menu option for Class Specifications and search for Court Operations Specialist.
How can I apply?
The City of Salem invites individuals of all diverse communities and backgrounds to apply for our available job opportunities as we strive to provide the best service to everyone. The City of Salem is committed to providing equal employment opportunities to all and has a culture that values diversity, equity, and inclusion. We believe that by welcoming differences, encouraging new ideas and views, listening to, and learning from each other, we are better able to serve the community.
To apply, click on the green “Apply” button to complete your application. Make sure that you specify how you meet the qualifications outlined in the class specification and complete the application.
Applicants that meet the minimum qualifications as outlined above but not selected for this position may be placed on an eligibility list, and candidates may be hired from the list. Eligibility lists are valid for six months. The City will send email notifications to eligible candidates about potential hiring opportunities so please ensure your email settings accept our system generated email notifications.
You may subscribe for automatic notification of job openings at the City through the Job Interest Cards – sign up today!
For more information about employment at the City of Salem, please visit our website at www.cityofsalem.net/jobs.
This announcement is not an implied contract and may be modified or revoked without notice.