Court Operations Specialist

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.

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.

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. Court 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.

• 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…