Court Supervisor

The Court Supervisor position oversees a wide range of case processing duties and is responsible for clerks in and out of the courtrooms. The Court Supervisor is primarily responsible for overseeing all front desk services, and all in-court services to the judiciary, general public, attorneys, and other government agencies. 

Court Supervisors oversee difficult paralegal work in support of operational functions, requiring the application of policies and procedures and the use of legal rules and codes in one or more specific division of the Clerk of Court’s Office.   

Court Supervisors are assigned specific areas of the Clerk of Court’s Office and are responsible for the unit or team and how the unit/team processes their work. The solicit information from the team on how to improve and enhance efficiency, accuracy, and customer service. While the position requires knowledge for a specific case type (ie. civil, family, paternity, small claims, juvenile, traffic, forfeiture, and/or criminal), it also requires a comprehensive knowledge of court practices and procedures as it relates to other areas.

• Maintain and adjust court calendars, creating and scheduling events, verifying case allotments, and communicate recommendations to the court when conflicts arise.
• Research, provide analysis of pending matters, and provide necessary documents to the Court in a timely manner. 
• Review case pending matters for specific documents; create orders if required and other events to ensure completion/disposition.
• Acts as liaison to private attorneys, District Attorney’s Office, Corporation Counsel for the court to ensure proceedings run smoothly.
• Initiates and prepares notices of court proceedings, written court judgments and ensures execution of court orders, as needed.
• Prepares a variety of complex legal papers such as jury verdicts, commitments, judgments, warrants, orders of transfer, notices of case rescheduling, appeals, bonds conditions, judgment of convictions, compile pre-sentence investigation data, assessments, revocations/suspensions, and civil judgments, as needed.
• Compose correspondence on court issues to appropriate state, county and local agencies to resolve and clarify case information as needed.
• Produces legal documents without supervision or review, which could violate a person’s civil liberties and freedom, which could put the county in jeopardy for civil litigation, as needed.
• Examine complex financial assessments in case management for errors.
• Confers with attorneys, litigants and citizens with inquiries and requests made in person, in writing or by telephone. Explains procedures, court forms and verifies information.
• Oversees maintaining exhibits and receives inventories and disposes of exhibits according to law.
• Remain knowledgeable on changes and enhancements to the eFiling system.
• Assist attorneys and litigants with eFiling questions and troubleshooting.
• Identify software and hardware issues and work with the appropriate vender to resolve.
• Troubleshoots and responds to emergency operational problems.
• Triage telephone calls from the general public, attorneys, police agencies, other governmental agencies responding to inquires accurately and independently or referring as needed to the proper party.
• Respond to incoming requests for services not provided by the Clerk of Courts department by referring court users to other resources, including county agencies, legal aid services, state agencies, and other public and private social services.
• Monitors and executes scheduling of emergency hearings, custodies, and other time sensitive hearings. 
• Carries out supervisory responsibilities in accordance with the organization's policies and applicable laws. Responsibilities include interviewing, and training employees; planning, assigning, and directing work; appraising performance; addressing complaints and resolving problems.
• Checks accuracy of clerk’s work.
• Coordinate divisions’ schedules to ensure all courts are properly staffed.
• Responsible for all reporting requirements of assigned division.
• Assist in determining availability of courtrooms for visiting judges and jury trials.
• Other duties as assigned by the Clerk of Courts.

 
Supervision Exercised: The incumbent gives daily assignments to employees. They are responsible for the daily supervision of clerks (Clerical Support, Support Services Clerks, Court Clerks, Senior Court Clerks) assigned to a specific division. Court Supervisors review samples of clerk’s work periodically.  

Supervision Received: Receives direct supervision by the Deputy Clerk and Clerk of Circuit Court. The incumbent is not given daily assignments by a supervisor. They are trained and cross-trained in duties that they are expected to prioritize and accomplish within statutory deadlines. The incumbent works independently within those parameters. Work product is published in real time immediately. 

• Bachelor’s Degree in Criminal Justice, Business Administration, Public Administration, Management or closely related field. 
• Four (4) to six (6) years clerical experience, preferable in a legal or judicial office.  
• Any equivalent combination of experience and/or post secondary education, which provides the required skills, abilities, and knowledge, will also be considered.
• One (1) year supervisory experience.
• Prompt and regular attendance.
• Appointment will be conditional upon successful completion of a criminal background check. 
• Computer experience, keyboarding and word processing experience is required.

• Ability to understand and follow directions.  
• Ability to follow established work rules, policies and procedures and able to exercise a certain amount of independent decision making in accordance thereof.
• Ability to effectively communicate in both oral and written form to convey information effectively.
• Ability to organize and systematically handle a large volume of information, documents, and files
• Ability to proofread and edit work for accuracy and detail under critical deadlines
• Ability to promote impartial administration of the judicial system
• Ability to work well under stressful conditions
• Ability to take quick, accurate, and legible minutes
• Ability to maintain confidentiality of sensitive, personal, and graphic/explicit materials and information.
• Ability to administer oaths, affirmations and contents of court documents to court partners
• Ability to operate standard office equipment and software programs.
• Ability to work with defendants and parties who may not communicate effectively and might be angry or use other demeaning behavior.
• Ability to communicate in a courteous, effective, and professional manner with other employees and the general public.
• Ability to work the allocated hours of the position, which may include occasional nights, weekends and holidays dependent on the Court’s needs.
• Knowledge of the Circuit Court, court practices, and legal terminology.
• Must be able to perform moderately difficult bookkeeping and record keeping responsibilities. 

Special Considerations

The appointment of an employee to this position is made in accordance to Wisconsin Statute 59.40.  Every Clerk of Circuit Court shall appoint one or more deputies and the appointments shall be approved by the majority of circuit court judges for the County, but shall be revocable by the Clerk at pleasure. The appointments and revocations shall be in writing and shall be filed in the Clerk’s Office.

This description has been prepared to assist in properly evaluating various classes of responsibilities, skills, working conditions, etc., present in the classification. It is intended to indicate the kinds of tasks and characteristic levels of work difficulty that will be required of positions that will be given this title. It is not intended as a complete list of specific duties and responsibilities; nor, is it intended to limit or in any way modify the right of any supervisor to assign, direct, and control the work of employees under his/her supervision. The use of a particular expression or illustration describing duties shall not be held to exclude other duties not mentioned that are of a similar kind and level of difficulty.

Salary : $49,940 - $67,995