Maricopa County Clerk Of The Court

Salaries For Top Appointed Officials In County Are Up $200000 From '06

By Tammy Gray-Searles–

Navajo County spends $221,882 more on salaries for top officials than it did five years ago, for a total of $1,115,417, not including benefits, stipends and take-home vehicles.

The spending increase includes the addition of two new positions, an assistant county manager and a government affairs director, as well as a large pay raise for the chief deputy position in the sheriff’s office.

Positions noted in the total are not elected ones, and include the county manager, assistant county manager, chief deputy county attorney, finance director, human resources director, public works director, chief deputy sheriff, government affairs director, chief deputy clerk of the court, chief deputy treasurer, chief deputy recorder, chief deputy assessor, chief deputy superintendent of schools and clerk of the board of supervisors.

According to information provided both by the county and the League of Arizona Cities and Towns, the pay rate for Navajo County’s manager is higher than six other counties, including Apache, Gila, Graham, Greenlee, La Paz and Yavapai, and lower than seven others, including Cochise, Coconino, Maricopa, Mohave, Pima, Pinal and Yuma. Santa Cruz County did not report a salary, noting the position as vacant at the time of the league’s survey.

The county manager salary is currently $144,415, which does not include an $850 per month vehicle stipend received by the manager. Comparisons with other counties are based on only the salary, and do not include stipends or other benefits. The manager was receiving a $120 per month cell phone stipend for the first five months of the fiscal year, but it has since been discontinued, according to the county.

The $144,415 salary is an increase over the $134,348 salary paid five years ago, but is a decrease from the high of $148,118 that was paid during fiscal year 2008-09 before an across the board salary cut was instituted at the county.

An assistant county manager position was created in fiscal year 2008-09, and the salary was set at $110,840, the second highest among non-elected officials at the county. The position is partially funded by the Arizona Department of Emergency Management, and the assistant county manager functions as the emergency management director when needed.

The current salary for the assistant county manager position is $108,069 after the two-percent decrease. A $62 per month cell phone stipend has been discontinued, but the position includes use of a take-home vehicle. No similar positions were listed on the League of Arizona Cities and Towns survey for comparison with other counties.

E-filing: Exceptions to the Rules « The Legal Nexus

AZTurboCourt is being phased in for attorneys who file pleadings in civil cases in the Superior Court in Maricopa County.

By May 1, 2011, all attorneys who file in civil cases will have to electronically file through AZTurboCourt, unless an exception applies. Arizona Supreme Court Administrative Order 2010-117 explains the details of the implementation of AZTurboCourt, including the attorneys and filings that are exempt from e-filing.

Applicability Although electronic case-initiation is being tested, it is not yet available. Cases must still be initiated on paper at a Clerk’s facility. Clerk staff will cashier the filing fee and apply the file stamp and case number before scanning the paper into the Clerk’s Electronic Court Record (ECR).

Mandatory e-filing through AZTurboCourt applies exclusively to post-initiation civil case documents filed into the Superior Court in Maricopa County by attorneys filing on behalf of a client. Any attorney for whom e-filing through AZTurboCourt is not-yet mandatory may choose to e-file through AZTurboCourt. Attorneys must e-file through AZTurboCourt in civil cases according to the schedule defined in the Administrative Order. In this early stage of implementation, AZTurboCourt is limited to general civil cases in the adult court. The following case types must still be filed with the Clerk on paper: most family court cases, probate, mental health and related case types, tax, juvenile, special actions, transcript of judgment, lower court appeals and the Gila River General Stream Adjudication case. Cases in adult criminal court can be e-filed through the Clerk of the Superior Court’s eFiling Online website, as well as Family Court documents in a limited number of judicial divisions.

Exceptions for Documents For various reasons, the following documents cannot be e-filed and must be filed on paper, even under mandatory e-filing: case initiation documents and their accompanying issuance or service documents, default judgment packets, garnishment and other execution documents, any document the Clerk has to issue, injunctions against harassment and workplace harassment, motions to file documents under seal and documents filed under seal and applications for waiver or deferral of any fee or cost.

Exceptions for PeopleAdministrative Order 2010-117 allows a party to seek a waiver from the Court from compliance with the e-filing mandate, which would allow the party’s attorney to file documents in the case on paper. Administrative Order 2011-10 subsequently exempted attorneys working as an employee of an approved legal service organization representing a litigant who is unable to pay the AZTurboCourt user fee. The attorney has the choice of filing on paper or paying the applicable user fees to file electronically through AZTurboCourt.

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