<p>ABOUT FRANKLIN COUNTY MUNICIPAL COURT</p> <p>The Franklin County Municipal Court is the largest and busiest municipal court in the State of Ohio. The Court has fourteen judges in the General Division and one judge in the Environmental Division. Judges preside over civil, criminal, and traffic cases and conduct both jury and court trials. The Court's jurisdiction includes traffic cases, misdemeanor criminal cases, and civil cases where the amount at issue is $15,000 or less. The Environmental Division has exclusive jurisdiction to enforce local codes and regulations affecting real property, such as fire and building codes. The geographic jurisdiction of the Court is all of Franklin County and those portions of the City of Columbus that extend beyond the boundaries of Franklin County. Despite its jurisdiction and name, the Franklin County Municipal Court is the judicial branch of the City of Columbus government.</p> <p>JOB PURPOSE AND OVERVIEW</p> <p>The Pretrial and Probation Services Department consists of approximately 120 employees. The mission of Pretrial Services is to promote community safety and pretrial success through research-informed recommendations and supervision services that maximize court appearance, remove barriers to fair and efficient justice, and promote harm reduction. The mission of Probation Services is to promote community safety by reducing recidivism, changing offender behavior, and fostering accountability through the effective use of evidence-based practices. Department functions include pretrial, investigation, and supervision services. Supervision structures are determined by risk and need and include all types of cases that the judges of the Court refer to the probation Department. The staff operates specialized caseloads, including domestic violence, sexual offenses, soliciting, mental health, work release, and electronic monitoring. The probation staff strives to stay current and relevant with the ongoing goal of being an evidence-based organization.</p> <p>A Probation Officer within the Investigations Unit is under the general direction of a Chief Probation Officer and the immediate direction of a Probation Officer Supervisor. The Officer's primary responsibilities are to investigate, interview, and assess cases for Presentence Investigations (PSI) and Record Sealing requests to promote public safety and reduce recidivism. Probation officers routinely communicate a defendant's supervision compliance with the assigned judge and work closely with criminal justice partners and community resources.</p> <p>ESSENTIAL DUTIES AND RESPONSIBILITIES OF THE POSITION</p> <ul> <li>Promote, model, and abide by the Vision, Mission, policies, and procedures of the Probation Department </li><li>Administration of the Ohio Risk Assessment System (ORAS) and other identified assessment tools to ensure appropriate supervision placement, intervention, and programming. </li><li>Conduct investigations for the Court and prepare written reports to assist judges in determining appropriate sentences, release conditions, or the sealing of criminal offense records, as assigned. </li><li>Complete, thorough, well-written reports detailing an individual's criminal history, details of the incident offense(s), and compliance with supervision, including thoughtful and informed recommendations to the Court. </li><li>Conduct pre-and post-sentence investigation interviews and evaluations of defendants. </li><li>Conduct interviews at the jail or in an office setting. </li><li>Investigate information on defendants, including current offense information, victim impact statements, criminal history, prior common control history, and social history for education, employment, family, substance abuse, and mental health information. </li><li>Investigate, conduct, and respond to criminal record sealing requests. </li><li>Develop and utilize interviewing skills that prompt open dialogue. </li><li>Maintain accurate, current, and thorough documentation and records. </li><li>Provide positive reinforcement and build rapport with defendants. </li><li>Appear in Court as needed. </li><li>Conduct criminal history checks on defendants. </li><li>Contribute to a strong, supportive, and productive team environment. </li><li>Maintain sensitive and confidential information of the Court and Probation Department. </li><li>Ability to exercise sound judgment, decisiveness, and creativity in difficult situations. </li><li>Conscious of and sensitive to the diversity within the Court's jurisdiction and able to interact professionally with this diverse population of people from many different geographic, socioeconomic, religious, racial, and ethnic backgrounds on a regular basis. </li><li>Excellent time-management skills, ability to prioritize work, ability to work independently, and ability to work under time constraints. </li><li>Professional appearance and demeanor, particularly a positive attitude appropriate for the position and the work environment as a representative of the Court </li><li>Utilize the Court's case management system to enter data and case details. </li><li>Ability to work collaboratively with criminal justice partners. </li><li>Monitor and/or collect urine specimens from defendants. </li><li>Respond to inquiries that are sometimes controversial or adversarial. </li><li>Participate in required training and professional development events around evidence-based practices in community corrections and behavioral health issues, per department standards and as deemed appropriate. </li><li>Perform other tasks assigned and may fulfill the roles of other positions in other departments of the Court as needed. </li></ul> <p>QUALIFICATIONS AND REQUIREMENTS</p> <ul> <li>A bachelor's degree from an accredited college or university with core coursework in areas related to criminal justice, criminology, corrections, psychology, social work, or a related field. </li><li>The ability to demonstrate and apply basic knowledge of mental health, trauma, and substance abuse issues. </li><li>Become trained and certified to perform the ORAS and other department risk and need-assessment tools within six (6) months of hire if not currently certified. </li><li>Successful completion of the state probation officer certification and training process within one (1) year of hire if not currently certified </li><li>Meet the required eligibility requirements and pass the tests required to become certified to use Law Enforcement Automated Data Systems (LEADS), National Crime Information Center, Bureau of Criminal Identification and Investigation, Federal Bureau of Investigation, and Interstate Identification Information Systems computer information systems. </li><li>Willingness and ability to be trained and maintain certification in the department's field-safety training program, including but not limited to defensive tactics, verbal de-escalation techniques, and first aid/CPR, to engage with defendants in the community. </li><li>Ability to assess and supervise defendants effectively (e.g., assess and resolve problems, motivate defendants toward prosocial support and activities, and facilitate interventions that assist defendants in changing their thinking and behavior) </li><li>Ability to appropriately respond to both pro-social and non-compliant behavior in a way that promotes public safety, accountability, and behavior change. </li><li>Effective oral and written communication and interviewing skills (e.g., ability to listen effectively, obtain sensitive information, explain complex issues in a comprehensible manner, prepare accurate and logical reports relevant to a defendant) </li><li>Ability to make informed and thoughtful recommendations and decisions. </li><li>Knowledge of the criminal justice system and current research trends in the field of community corrections to work effectively within the court and community corrections field. </li><li>Ability to appropriately receive and follow supervisory feedback, coaching, and direction. </li><li>Demonstrate resilience and flexibility in a high-paced, dynamic work environment. </li><li>Proficiency in operating a personal computer and using, or learning, Microsoft Office products such as Word, Outlook, and Excel, as well as the court's case-management software. </li><li>Pleasant personality, ability to deal with potentially difficult people, ability to interact and maintain effective working relationships with judges, employees, attorneys, litigants, law-enforcement officers, and others conducting business with the Court. </li><li>Ability to work effectively in a team environment. </li><li>Demonstrated dependability, punctuality, and excellent attendance record. </li><li>Skilled in the art of interviewing and assessment </li><li>Willingness to become familiar with the Court's community resources. </li><li>Maintain a valid Ohio driver's license. </li></ul> <p>PREFERRED QUALIFICATIONS</p> <ul> <li>One (1) year of experience involving the community supervision of defendants (probation or parole) or a related field. </li><li>One (1) year of experience completing investigative report writing. </li><li>Experience as a licensed social worker, professional counselor, and/or chemical dependency counselor. </li><li>Successful completion of the state's probation officer certification standard. </li><li>Additional consideration will be given to individuals who are fluently bilingual in Spanish and English with a college-level vocabulary in both languages, the ability to communicate complex information in both English and Spanish, and who speak a language commonly used by people of Somalia for whom English is a second language or who are proficient in American Sign Language </li></ul> <p>BENEFITS</p> <p>The Franklin County Municipal Court offers an excellent benefits package that includes medical, prescription, vision, dental, and life insurance; short-term disability; generous vacation, sick and personal leave; 11 paid holidays; longevity service payments; sick-leave reciprocity; employee assistance and deferred-compensation programs; tuition reimbursement; and credit-union membership.</p> <p>Court employees are members of the Ohio Public Employees Retirement System, which provides retirement, disability, and survivor benefits for public employees. The Court pays the required employer's share of 14 percent of the employee's salary. Court employees do not have Social Security taxes withheld from their paychecks because they are members of OPERS.</p> <p>COURT EXPECTATIONS OF EMPLOYEE</p> <p>The Court expects employees will adhere to all court policies, guidelines, practices, and procedures; act as role models both inside and outside the Court; perform duties as workload necessitates in a timely, accurate, and thorough manner; be conscientious about meeting department productivity standards; and communicate regularly with supervisors about department issues.</p> <p>AT-WILL EMPLOYMENT</p> <p>Employees of the Court are at-will employees and serve at the pleasure of the Court; they are not in the classified civil service system and are not members of bargaining units.</p> <p>EQUAL OPPORTUNITY EMPLOYER</p> <p>The Court is an Equal Opportunity Employer and does not discriminate on the basis of age, gender, religion, race, color, national origin, ancestry, sexual orientation, disability, military status, or genetic information.</p>