Legal Processing Assistant III

Description

WHAT WE OFFER

The County of Ventura offers an attractive compensation and benefits package that includes:

• A general salary increasesof 4.0% effective December 24, 2023 and 3.5% effective December 22, 2024.

• Merit Increases

• New employees are eligible for an initial 5% merit increase within the pay range upon completion of at least 1,040 hours (approximately 6 months) assuming work meets satisfactory standards. Subsequent merit increases within the pay range will be upon completion of each additional 2,080 hours (approximately one year) from the initial merit increase.

• Educational Incentive

• An educational incentive of 2.5% for completion of an associate degree, 3.5% for completion of a bachelor's degree, OR 5% for completion of a graduate degree.

• Bilingual Incentive

• Based on agency need,proficiency levels by exam are $.69 per hour (Level I), $1.00 per hour (Level II), or $1.32 per hour (Level III).

• Flexible Workweek/Telework Schedule

• We support work life balance by offering compressed work (e.g., 9/80 or 4/10 workweek) and remote hybrid telework schedules for some positions subject to organizational needs and satisfactory performance.

• Vacation Accrual

• New regular, full-time employees shall accrue approximately 14 days of vacation a year for the first 10,400 hours or 5 years of service; vacation accruals increase at 5, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15 and 20 years of service topping out at 26 days a year and 400 hours of vacation hours banked.

• Annual Leave Redemption

• After 14,560 hours of continuous County service an employee may elect to "cash in" or redeem up to 80 hours of vacation accrued in the same year after using 80 hours of vacation in the preceding 12 months.

• Sick Leave

• Full time regular employees accrue 3.08 hours of sick leave per bi-weekly pay period with an advance at hire of 40.04 hours which will be balanced at the completion of 13 bi-weekly pay periods.

• Deferred Compensation

• Eligible to participate in the County's 401(k) Shared Savings Plan and/or the Section 457 Plan. This position is eligible for up to a 3.00% match on your 401(k) contributions.

• Health Plans-Full time employees are given a flexible credit allowance of up to $23,530 annually to offset the purchase of medical, dental, and/or vision insurance for you and your dependents.

• Employee only - $502 per biweekly pay period

• Employee plus one dependent - $730 per biweekly pay period

• Employee plus family - $905 per biweekly pay period

Flexible Spending Accounts-Pre-tax benefit towards eligible medical, dental and vision care and/or dependent care expenses.Pension Plan-Participation in the County's defined pension plan, which has reciprocity with CalPERS.Holidays- 12 paid days per year which includes a scheduled floating holiday.Additional Benefits

• Tuition Reimbursement, Disability Plans, Employee Assistance Program, Life Insurance, Wellness Program.

OUR COUNTY AND COMMUNITY

Ventura County is located on California's "Gold Coast," approximately 35 miles northwest of Los Angeles and 20 miles southeast of Santa Barbara. The County includes 42 miles of coastline which is home to the following cities and points of interest: Camarillo, Fillmore, Moorpark, Ojai, Oxnard, Port Hueneme, Santa Paula, Simi Valley, Thousand Oaks, and Ventura as well as national protected areas such as parts of the Angeles National Forest, Channel Islands National Park, and the Santa Monica Mountains National Recreation Area.Ventura County's beauty and weather combined with a wonderful quality of life are among the many reasons our residents choose to call Ventura County "home."

THE POSITION

Under direction, performs specialized clerical and/or secretarial duties in support of specialized law enforcement or legal defense/prosecution activities; and performs related duties as required. Legal Processing Assistant III provides advanced journey level support to professional and paraprofessional staff in legal prosecution/defense case management; or serves as lead person over lower-level Legal Processing Assistant activities. Incumbents providing direct staff support are expected to gain familiarity of overall case content in order to anticipate and complete needed procedural activities on behalf of assigned staff members. Incumbents of lead work positions are expected to demonstrate thorough understanding of and coordinate legal document preparation and processing through the assigned office, the Courts and/or other areas of the justice system.

Examples Of Duties

Depending on assignment, duties may include, but are not limited to the following:

• Processes legal documents and records through the office to which assigned as well as through the Courts and/or other offices based on established legal procedure or special instructions in case files; examines documents for conformance with established rules, standards and/or legal requirements.

• Maintains reference materials, records systems, status logs and/or workload statistics; sorts and stores information based on alpha, numeric, content, or other classification method; searches for and retrieves information stored in manual and/or automated systems; purges files in accordance with established procedure.

• Prepares a variety of legal documents, (e.g., summons and complaints, motions, briefs, declarations and jury instructions) or staff reports from dictation and/or verbal instructions, handwritten, typed or voice recorded draft; consults with document originator and independently determines format, distribution and preparation priority; proofs and/or corrects copy for grammar, spelling, punctuation and conformance to established procedure or other guidelines; develops forms and standardized correspondence language.

• Ensures the service of legal process; requests, receives, evaluates, and files information on prior legal actions and professional reports related to current cases as well as documents resulting from or in support/defense of legal action; conducts case research involving use of specialized automated data bases and/or case citation search/verification and other activities requiring the application of routine legal research methods.

• Gives the public, clients, law enforcement officials and/or other employees procedural and/or case information which requires distinguishing between, and consideration of, sensitive/protected and public information and may require understanding or interpretation/explanation of legal documents (e.g., subpoenas), legal/court procedure or specific file notations regarding case/processing and status.

• Coordinates the preparation of files scheduled for court ensuring that all needed documents are included and presented in proper form and order; maintains current status of court calendars.

• Prepares correspondence and/or legal forms and documents using standard word processing applications from prepared drafts, special file notations or from standard procedural guidelines.

• Accompanies attorneys and/or other professional staff to court as required; makes notations to case files and draws the attention of the attorney to case or procedural detail.

• Coordinates court appearances for witnesses or defendants by updating appearance times, scheduling/postponing/canceling appearances; maintains case status information and contact with interested parties; notifies witnesses and/or other involved parties of case disposition.

• May compute fees or credit for time served or other circumstances affecting length of custody; may collect fees, issue receipts, and prepare bank deposits or statement of cash received; may prepare work unit reports and/or workload statistics.

• May lead the work of legal processing staff and/or provide guidance to general clerical support staff within a legal office; prepares work unit reports.

• Performs other related duties as assigned.

Typical Qualifications

These are entrance requirements to the examination process and assure neither continuance in the process nor placement on an eligible list.

EDUCATION, TRAINING, AND EXPERIENCE:

Three (3) years legal clerical or legal secretarial experience which has included legal document preparation and processing and the application of specialized law enforcement/legal court procedure in support of a legal specialty area (e.g., criminal defense, criminal prosecution, or witness liaison)

OR

One (1) year as a Legal Processing Assistant II with the County of Ventura.

NECESSARY SPECIAL REQUIREMENTS:

Depending on the assignment, any one or combination of the following may be required:

• A valid California driver license.

• Knowledge of Microsoft Office applications such as Word, Excel, PowerPoint, etc.

• Bilingual skills.

KNOWLEDGE, SKILLS, and ABILITIES

Thorough knowledge of: general office practices and procedures; legal terminology, procedure and processes applicable to the office to which assigned; legal and general record keeping systems and file maintenance methods; available office resource reference materials; specialized typing formats and legal documents used in area of assignment; grammar, spelling and punctuation.

Skills in basic math.

Ability to: understand, interpret and apply laws, regulations, policies and procedures governing clerical processing operations; prepare final documents from handwritten, typed and voice recorded draft; format specialized documents, and reports; determine proper wording and phrases from garbled, recorded or illegible written draft copy; research regulations, case status, procedures and information from a variety of sources; prepare routine procedural documents; coordinate and perform clerical activities in support of legal processes and/or services; problem solve; communicate effectively both verbally and in writing; proofread; lead the work of others.

COUNTY EMPLOYEES AS DISASTER SERVICE WORKERS

When a disaster strikes of natural or manmade origin, Ventura County employees may be called upon to provide service to the community by assisting in emergency response efforts. This may require employees to work in other locations, different hours, and out of class. At the time of hire, all County employees will be required to sign an Oath or Affirmation of Allegiance for Disaster Service Workers and Public Employees (Sections 3102 and 3103, Government Code of California)

Recruitment Process

FINAL FILING DATE: Applications must be received by County of Ventura Human Resources in Ventura, California, no later than 5:00 p.m. on Continuous (Previously: Wednesday, January 3, 2024).

To apply online, please refer to our web site at www.ventura.org/jobs. If you prefer to fill out a paper application form, please call (805) 654-5129 for application materials and submit them to County of Ventura Human Resources, 800 South Victoria Avenue, L-1970, Ventura, CA 93009.

Information for Transfer Candidates:NOTE:If presently permanently employed in another "merit" or "civil service" public agency/entity in the same or substantively similar position as is advertised, and if appointed to that position by successful performance in a "merit" or "civil service" style examination, then appointment by "Lateral Transfer" may be possible. If interested, please click here for additional information.

Note to Applicants: It is essential that you complete all sections of your application and supplemental questionnaire thoroughly and accurately to demonstrate your qualifications. A resume and/or other related documents may be attached to supplement the information in your application and supplemental questionnaire; however, it/they may not be submitted in lieu of the application.

SUPPLEMENTAL QUESTIONNAIRE - qualifying: All applicants are required to complete and submit the questionnaire for this exam AT THE TIME OF FILING. The supplemental questionnaire may be used throughout the exam process to assist in determining qualifications for the position. Failure to complete and submit the questionnaire may result in removal of the application from further consideration.

APPLICATION EVALUATION - qualifying: All applications will be reviewed to determine whether the stated requirements are met. Applicants meeting the stated requirements will be invited to continue to the next step in the examination process.

WRITTENEXAMINATION (100%): An un-proctored, internet-based job-related written exam will be conducted to evaluate participating candidates' knowledge of office operations and practices, math, English usage, reading comprehension, proofreading, and basic supervision for successful performance on the job. Candidates must earn a score of seventy percent (70%) or higher to qualify for placement on the eligible list.

Candidates successfully completing the examination process may be placed on an eligible list for a period of one (1) year. The eligible list established from this recruitment may be used to fill current and future Regular (including Temporary, Fixed-Term), Intermittent, and Extra Help vacancies.

NOTE: If appointed at the lower level, incumbent may be promoted to the higher level without further examination upon meeting the minimum requirements, demonstrating satisfactory performance, and in accordance with the business needs of the department. Formal assignment to the higher level is at the discretion and approval of management.

BACKGROUND INVESTIGATION: A thorough pre-employment, post offer background investigation which may include inquiry into past employment, education, criminal background information and driving record is required for this position.

EQUAL EMPLOYMENT OPPORTUNITY

The County of Ventura is an equal opportunity employer to all, regardless of age, ancestry, color, disability (mental and physical), exercising the right to family care and medical leave, gender, gender expression, gender identity, genetic information, marital status, medical condition, military or veteran status, national origin, political affiliation, race, religious creed, sex (includes pregnancy, childbirth, breastfeeding and related medical conditions), and sexual orientation.

It is an objective of the County of Ventura to achieve a drug-free work place. Any applicant for county employment will be expected to behave in accordance with this objective because the use of illegal drugs is inconsistent with the law of the State, the rules governing Civil Service, and the special trust placed in public servants.

CONTACT INFORMATION

For further information about this recruitment, please contact Jennifer Rayner by email at jennifer.rayner@ventura.org or by telephone at (805) 477-5390.