Court Clerk

Position Summary

The City of Bozeman is now accepting applications for a Municipal Court Clerk who thrives in a fast-paced, customer-focused environment, and in performing a variety of administrative, paraprofessional, and public-service tasks for the City’s court system.

This is your opportunity to make a meaningful difference in your community by joining the City of Bozeman! You will be part of a passionate team driving positive change while enjoying a fantastic benefits package. Full-time City of Bozeman employees receive top-tier benefits including 15 vacation days, 12 sick days, 12 holidays, 8 weeks of paid parental leave, bilingual pay, excellent retirement options, comprehensive health, dental, and vision plans, discounted ski tickets and gym memberships, and much more!

• Performs tasks related to opening, maintaining, tracking, and closing cases and other court papers within the work assignment, including updating court records on the computer and in the legal files;
• Performs courtroom related activities, including checking people in for court, preparing documents for daily calendar, filing state and court referral forms, taking court notes, operating the court recording system, and checking people out of court, serving as a bailiff for trials;
• Provides assistance to attorneys, paralegals, and the general public on court matters;
• Prepares summons, complaints, warrants, and related documents;
• Performs various cashier functions, including completing financial transactions for fines, bonds, bail, and penalties, maintaining records of receipt or delinquency, and reconciling all monies received with transactions posted;
• Provides information as requested and available to the general public, including providing customer service by phone or in person, maintaining payments received, and maintaining a record of calls received;
• Provides needed information and demonstrations concerning how to perform certain work to new employees in the same or similar class of positions;
• Keeps immediate supervisor and designated others fully and accurately informed concerning work progress, including present and potential work problems and makes suggestions for new or improved ways of addressing such problems;
• Attends meetings, conferences, workshops and training sessions and reviews publications and audio-visual materials to become and remain current on the principles, practices and new developments in assigned work areas;
• Responds to citizens' questions and comments in a courteous and timely manner;
• Communicates and coordinates regularly with appropriate others to maximize the effectiveness and efficiency of interdepartmental operations and activities;
• Performs other duties consistent with the role and function of this classification.

Minimum Required Qualifications

• Associate's Degree in a related legal field; and
• Some (1-3 years) experience in legal or general office work; or
• Any equivalent combination of experience and training which provides the knowledge, skills and abilities necessary to perform the work.

Required Knowledge, Skills, and Abilities

• Substantial knowledge of office practices, procedures, and etiquette;
• Substantial knowledge of specialized language used in the court system;
• Substantial knowledge of court regiment, policies, procedures, and activities;
• Substantial knowledge of court-related documents;
• Substantial knowledge of laws and rules that govern the court system;
• Some knowledge of bookkeeping or accounting procedures;
• Ability to understand confidentiality rules and to abide by them;
• Ability to communicate effectively with others, both orally and in writing, using both technical and non-technical language;
• Ability to understand and follow oral and/or written policies, procedures and instructions;
• Ability to prepare and present accurate and reliable reports containing findings and recommendations;
• Ability to operate or quickly learn to operate a personal computer using standard or customized software applications appropriate to assigned tasks;
• Ability to use logical and creative thought processes to develop solutions according to written specifications and/or oral instructions;
• Ability to perform a wide variety of duties and responsibilities with accuracy and speed under the pressure of time-sensitive deadlines;
• Ability and willingness to quickly learn and put to use new skills and knowledge brought about by rapidly changing information and/or technology;
• Ingenuity and inventiveness in the performance of assigned tasks;
• Consistently performs assignments in accordance with the City's Core Values of Integrity, Leadership, Service and Teamwork.

Required Special Qualifications

• Must have word processing experience, preferably Word/Windows;
• Must have data entry or data base management experience;
• Must have knowledge of basic bookkeeping practices, mainly in counting monies;
• Offers for employment are conditional upon satisfactory responses to appropriate post conditional offer process including a criminal background check, reference checks, a credit check, and NCIC/CJIN and Local Records Check.