Thursday, Jan. 18, 2007 | 7:06 a.m.
On the surface, Tuesday's transition of about 225 clerks from the Clark County clerk's office to the court system appeared uneventful.
The clerks will do the same jobs, filing District and Family Court documents, setting hearings and trial dates for judges and scanning documents for Internet viewing. They will be paid the same, they've been told. Their paychecks will continue to come from Clark County coffers.
But on a deeper level, concerns have been expressed about the future of the clerk's office - including whether it will continue to be as efficient as it has been, and whether, as an arm of the courts, officials would be willing and able to rebuff attempts by judges to alter court records.
The transition plan was approved by 27 of 33 District Court judges and was ratified in December by the Nevada Supreme Court. The plan was advocated by Chief District Judge Kathy Hardcastle.
Clark County Clerk Shirley Parraguirre has been critical of the plan from the beginning, and that hasn't changed with its implementation.
In part, that's because her office now has far fewer duties; she and about 65 deputy clerks will issue marriage licenses, process passports and handle other noncourt functions. Before, she managed 270 deputies.
But Parraguirre's main concerns revolve around the independence of the clerk's office, and whether it will still be able to provide needed "checks and balances" against judges who sometimes have demanded that court records be changed or even expunged. Her post is an elected office; the new overseer of the court clerks is appointed.
In her eight years as county clerk, Parraguirre said, she has been asked an average of once per year to "alter or change" court minutes, which are summaries, written by clerks and posted electronically, of what happened at court hearings. She said she has always denied the judges' requests.
"I will always believe that an independent clerk is needed," Parraguirre said. "Checks and balances are important in any institution, but especially in one as important as the courts."
A couple of deputy clerks also expressed concerns that the smoothly functioning District Court clerk's office could deteriorate under the leadership of the courts. They point to the Justice Court clerk's office one flight below in the Regional Justice Center, which for months has been backlogged with unprocessed court filings.
Court Executive Officer Chuck Short, who assumed temporary oversight of the clerks' offices from Parraguirre while he looks for two permanent replacements, said these criticisms are off-base.
First, he said, he simply would not give in to any judges' request to alter court records in ways that would distort what took place, and that he would instruct his subordinates to follow the same rule.
"The court record has to represent the reality of what occurred," said Short, who met with deputy clerks Tuesday to answer questions.
Regarding concerns about efficiency, Short said, clerk office managers are eager to make changes to improve the effectiveness of the office's operations, not the opposite.
He pointed out that despite the criticism, the Justice Court clerk's office has in fact become increasingly efficient in recent months. Short said that when he took the court executive officer's job 16 months ago, the Justice Court clerk's office was badly understaffed, with virtually no middle management or procedures in place to direct the office.
That has changed, he said. The Justice Court office has taken great strides to improve efficiency, he said, and in recent months has whittled down 42 boxes of unprocessed filings and documents to six.
If anything, Short said, court officials' experience overseeing the Justice Court clerk's office will only improve their understanding of how to manage their new offices. "We've learned a lot in turning it around," he said.
Ultimately, Short and other officials argue that the new structure will make for a streamlined system - saving taxpayers money and making for a more efficient clerk's office.
Although deputy clerks will receive the same pay and benefits, it is unclear what will happen in the long run to their union representation. They are represented by the Service Employees International Union, which is currently negotiating a new contract with the county.
Although the clerks will be paid by the county, they might be considered "quasi-state" employees. State employees aren't entitled to union representation under the 1969 state law that gave city and county workers the right.
Short says court officials are promising to abide by the SEIU contract currently under negotiation. But after that expires, it's unclear whether the workers will be covered by the union.
According to Tina Hurd, a longtime deputy court clerk and the SEIU shop steward for the clerk's office, that is troublesome news - something she and the union might try to address during this upcoming legislative session.
"There's a very serious concern that we might be stripped of our bargaining rights," Hurd said.
Other deputy court clerks contacted by the Sun were reluctant to speak on the record about the transition.
Some said it's simply too early to tell how well things will work.
"Come on, it's Day 1, so nobody knows what's going to happen," said one deputy clerk who asked that his name not be mentioned. "It's wait and see for now."
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