Paralegal Manager jobs in Saint Cloud, MN

This posting will remain open until filled. 

Performs complex administrative support for, and assistance to, the County Attorney and the Assistant County Attorneys by performing mandated duties and providing appropriate, efficient legal services to the County in all civil, criminal and administrative matters wherein Todd County has an interest. Perform all duties herein with much discretion and under heavy time constraints.

Basic Performance Expectations of all Todd County Staff

• Serves as a positive example to other County personnel with regard to workplace actions, decisions, work skills, attitude and adherence to workplace policy and procedures.
• Has strong communication and interpersonal skills, is honest, fair and dependable.
• Embodies teamwork and cooperation within and across County departments and with the public.
• Communicates effectively with the Department/Division leader and keeps management apprised of important matters ongoing in the department.
• Respect all colleagues, co-workers, board members and the public and lead those around you to do the same.
• This position requires regular and timely attendance in accordance with the department schedule.
• Performs other duties as assigned or apparent under the general supervision of the County Attorney.

The following duties are normal for this position.  These duties are not to be construed as exclusive or all-inclusive. Other duties may be required as assigned. To perform this job successfully, an individual must be able to perform each essential function satisfactorily. The requirements listed below are representative of the knowledge, skill and/or ability required. Reasonable accommodations may be made to enable an individual with disabilities to perform the essential functions.

• Prepares, proofreads, and edits legal documents for attorney signature, service upon parties and filing with Court Administration and uploads all documentation into appropriate customized database.
• Performs highly complex specialized legal duties and responsibilities in sensitive and complex child protection and juvenile cases which require a high degree of confidentiality including drafting and filing Court Petitions, Orders and documents, creating, editing and formatting digital audio and visual media for court presentations, preparation and filing of sensitive disclosure documents while adhering to confidentiality and compliance with data practices laws, and assist prosecutors in court preparation and presentations. Ability to draft criminal complaints, juvenile petitions, determine MOC coding, and submission to law enforcement and Court for filing.
• Ability to utilize and operate the various computer programs and platforms associated with different criminal justice agencies while maintaining confidentiality and security of various applications including: Bureau of Criminal Apprehension (BCA) e-Charging, Minnesota County Attorney’s Practice System (MCAPS), CentralSquare, Law Enforcement & Records Management System (LETG), GovQA, MParc, MNDes, WatchGuard, LiquidFiles, ECM Portal, MGA, Odyssey file & serve, MN Appellate E-Filling Application, Portals XL, ProofPoint, Evidence.com, DOC Portal, AppXtender.
• Maintain and update office template library of forms, letters, pleadings.
• Ability to be certified and operate as a Terminal Agency Operator with the Bureau of Criminal Apprehension (BCA) for running criminal histories and driving records on suspects/witnesses.  Requires finger printing with the BCA. Recertification testing every year.
• Performs other related duties as required, including office manager duties.
• Performs paralegal duties relating to disclosure of discovery and other legal documents for court proceedings, as well as scheduling hearings and perfecting proper service of documents.
• The ability to collect reports from law enforcement on in-custody personnel and determine time requirements for that individual to be heard in Court.
• Drafting of criminal complaints and juvenile petitions and referring to attorneys for review.
• Coordinate with Corrections Agency regarding charges, reports, and bond study requirements; a time-sensitive requirement.
• Collection of information and preparation of commitment/guardianship/conservatorship/child protection documents for Attorney to review and file with Court -- time sensitive requirements.
• Preparation of diversion documents in criminal files to various County Diversion Programs and assisting with the new TIDA (Todd Integrated Dispositional Alternatives) program.
• Assists crime victims and witnesses by providing notification of charging decisions; notice of court hearing dates and times; notification of victim rights and support service referrals. Assist and Direct victims with collection of documents relating to restitution procedures, reparation request, obtaining retraining orders and victim impact statements.
• Serve as a liaison between victims and prosecuting attorneys.
• Assists attorneys in preparing victims and witnesses for court appearances, schedule meetings in preparation for court testimony, and sending hearing and trial notices. Locate and subpoena victims and witnesses.
• Assist Attorneys in trial preparation including preparing, serving and filing subpoenas, collection of exhibits, reserving necessary equipment and venue, obtaining certified copies of scientific tests, state records and court documents needed.
• Prepares and serves subpoenas for medical/investigative records for hearing and facilitates interviews with witnesses.
• Assists Office Manager with tasks related to real estate transactions, contracts, MA lien perfection via Probate, and other new civil tasks that have been assumed by this office since 2022.
• Communicate with inside and outside County Court Agencies, Probation Agents, Social Services and other legal counsel to gather information and documents on cases and disclose on numerous platforms.
• Responds to questions, concerns and other inquiries from victims, attorneys, other county agencies and departments, the public and the Court personnel regarding status of cases, hearing dates, negotiations, and a broad range of requests for information.
• Prepare, review and redact confidential information of documents to be sent to defense counsel in criminal and civil matters.
• Due to recent, substantial shifts of work from court administration to the parties in a given case, we now must process a high volume of electronic cases on MN Court Information System (MNCIS), Odyssey e-file and e-Serve (eFS) System.
• Download and process videos and evidence from various agencies with multiple software applications for case files and disclosure.
• Assists the Attorneys with child protection, child support, criminal, juvenile, commitments, guardianship, probate, planning and zoning matters and preparation, processing and disclosure of all documents.
• Notarize documents for attorneys, law enforcement, or other departments and their clients, and the public.
• Compiles, updates, tracks and analyzes statistical data in the County Attorney’s Office for comparison/trends, year-end and budgeting purposes.
• Ability to maintain records of spending and assist County Attorney in development of annual budget and the preparation of billings for various offices and cities.
• Assists in developing and implementing office policies and procedures for the department consistent with best practices and legal requirements to ensure most efficient use of County Attorney’s staff/resources and to ensure compliance with statutes, court rules, and discovery deadlines.
• Ability to assist County Attorney in confidential personnel matters and perform confidential secretarial duties for supervisory staff.
• Ability to exercise independent judgment to apply facts and principles for a variety of procedures, policies, and precedents with skilled analytical ability in adapting standard methods to fit facts and conditions of generally prescribed procedures.
• Perform a wide and ever-changing variety of office duties including all scheduling for attorneys of court dates and appointment, phone duties, processing bulk and electronic mail, maintaining office supplies, copying, faxing, and drafting documents.
• Coordinates computer training and repair needs, answering and directing staff questions and concerns about software, oversees modification and improvement of existing case management and requesting updating of office program software.
• Attend yearly training with the Minnesota County Attorney’s Association and MCCC and provide training to our attorneys on new updates.
• Develop and maintain brochures for the County Attorney’s Office.
• Preparing court forms and documents when no template exists.
• Reviewing and researching applicable statutes at the direction of attorneys.
• Requesting necessary information from all involved agencies and types of information, including electronic statements, criminal histories, driving records, bank account information, medical records, psychologist reports, county agency intakes and requesting and receiving court documents.
• Preparation of cases for trials including processing juror profiles, preparing and serve subpoenas, exhibit preparation and filing, witness scheduling, and courtroom assistance during trials.
• Receive, review, and process all office mail, orders supplies, processes invoices, creates billing statements, open & close files, answering phones, serving as a notary, and answer questions from the public.
• Administer the bad check program for the county.
• Administer the collection process for restitution for victims.
• Administer the criminal forfeiture process for the county.
• Assist the County Attorney in developing the department budget and training new staff and Attorneys.
• Act as Victim Assistant per Minnesota law, dedicated to ensuring that victim’s rights are enforced, and victims and survivors have a meaningful voice within the state correctional system. Provide explanation of the complexities of the criminal justice system, referral to services to assist with physical & mental health needs, and information and direction in applying for services available, including benefits from the Minnesota Crime Victims Reparations Board.
• Attend all trainings required to stay up-to-date on various programs utilized by the county attorney’s office and provide necessary training to attorneys.
• Coordinate and participate in meetings as directed by the County Attorney.
• This position requires regular and timely attendance.

• Paralegal Degree with at least 2 years experience or Associates/Technical Legal Assistant or Legal Office Manager degree and considerable experience (3-5 years) as a paralegal, legal assistant, legal office manager, providing victim or witness advocacy services or equivalent combination of education and experience.
• Terminal agency operator certificate within six (6) months.
• Notary public within six (6) months.
• Must possess and maintain a valid driver’s license or access to transportation.
• Must pass a criminal background check.

Preferred Qualifications

• Legal and Victim Advocacy Training and/or experience.
• Bachelor’s Degree and Paralegal Certificate.

• Thorough knowledge of office procedures, ability to operate office machines and various computer applications and platforms.
• Thorough knowledge of the juvenile, criminal, and civil justice system and legal terminology.
• Knowledge of State and local support services for crime victims.
• Excellent computer and organizational skills.
• Excellent communication skills, both oral and written with the ability to effectively communicate with law enforcement, victims, witnesses, other staff, external agencies and the general public. Maintain frequent contact with clients, outside agencies and colleagues on specialized matters requiring detailed or technical responses and explanations.
• Ability to type complex material with above average speed and accuracy, and evaluate and interpret data from several sources.
• Ability to develop and maintain effective working relationships with supervisors, co-workers, other county staff, and members of the public.
• Must be able to maintain confidentiality of privileged information.
• Ability to work under the pressure of constant interruptions and the ability to adapt easily to change.
• Ability to be highly motivated, resourceful, able to work independently and exercise good judgment.
• Ability to operate and maintain the Bad Check Program within the County Attorney’s Office which includes communication with victims, preparation of correspondence and legal documents, and collecting restitution for victims.
• Ability to maintain, monitor, and prepare records in the forfeiture of property in criminal proceedings with time sensitive deadlines and notifying appropriate parties of such.
• Ability to deal with unreasonable demands and/or irate or hostile individuals in stressful situations.
• Ability to train supervisors on new records management system changes and new technology.
• Ability to utilize descriptive data and information, such as laws, ordinances, correspondence and various operating manuals.
• Ability to communicate with law enforcement officers to assist in legal research of criminal statutes for charging purposes, direct officers to prepare charging documents, notification of officers for court hearings, and notification for collection of follow-up investigation.

Physical Requirements

This work requires the occasional exertion of up to 25 pounds of force; work regularly requires sitting, speaking or hearing, using hands to finger, handle or feel and repetitive motions and occasionally requires standing, walking, stooping, kneeling, crouching or crawling, reaching with hands and arms, pushing or pulling and lifting; work has standard vision requirements; vocal communication is required for expressing or exchanging ideas by means of the spoken word; hearing is required to perceive information at normal spoken word levels; work requires preparing and analyzing written or computer data, operating machines, operating motor vehicles or equipment and observing general surroundings and activities; work occasionally requires exposure to outdoor weather conditions; work is generally in a moderately noisy location (e.g. business office, light traffic). The diversity and complexity of this position with its many condensed timetables makes this a highly stressful position. This position is occasionally exposed to angry members of the public and offensive language.