Court Officer Exam: Clerical Ability

Court officers are required to maintain thorough records, including a daily activity log, a record of money collected, and narrative incident reports. Court officers also complete court-approved forms that document service of civil process, evictions, and writs of execution.
With advances in technology, many forms have become available in software formats or over the Internet at state court sites. The results are professional-looking forms with legible content.
Documentation is vital in court proceedings. Excellent clerical ability produces solid documentation.
Court officers in supervisory or management positions are required to schedule personnel, prepare employment evaluations, complete equipment service schedules, and oversee and approve submitted forms and reports.
Once you begin your position as a court officer, it is important that you are able to read, understand, and integrate several data sources simultaneously. To see if you can perform this job duty, there will be questions on the exam that relate to tables and charts. They may contain specific information such as names, codes, and dates; it is your responsibility to be able to explain what the data represents. The exam will challenge you to do this through specific questions directly related to the chart or table presented.
There is no need to worry if reading charts and tables is not your best skill—remember, practice makes perfect.

Here are some tips for helping you along:

1. Read the chart very carefully. Determine the nature of the information that is being presented.

2. Read the question carefully to determine what to look for in the chart or table. If you read the question too quickly, you may misinterpret the information the question wishes to ascertain.
For example—'Which one of the following is least true?' If you read this too quickly, you might miss 'least' and just pick the first answer you see that is true. These are common mistakes test takers make —your ability to read carefully and do well on these types of questions will prove to your future employer that you are diligent, dedicated and meticulous, imperative qualities for the court officer position.

3. Make notes on the table or graph to help you. Even if a question appears to be really simple, take your time and jot down some notes. It may not be as simple as you originally thought. Take note of 'keys' or 'legends' which may provide additional information about the data.

4. If you are completely stumped on a question, try using the process of elimination. If you know the answer has to be around 10%, but the four choices given are 5%, 15%, 30%, and 50%, you can eliminate the last two answers. Now your chances of picking the right choice are 50% rather than 25%. Remember, there is no penalty for guessing. It is better to answer the question than to leave it blank.

Record Keeping
Study the following form and answer questions 1 through 5 based on the form content and its use. Carefully examine numbers that are aligned in the grid. Numbers that appear similar can throw your focus and result in errors.

Court Officer Pistol Qualifications Results
Rangemaster: Walton
Group 1
Date: July 6, 2010
Stage Score

Officer - 1 - 2 - 3 - Total - Rating
Amos - 68 - 75 - 81 - 224 - Qualified
Baker - 87 - 84 - 94 - 265 - Marksman
Carter - 78 - 89 - 98 - 265 - Marksman
Cullen - 85 - 98 - 89 - 272 - Expert
Daniels - 85 - 87 - 95 - 267 - Marksman
Edwards - 89 - 75 - 75 - 232 - Sharpshooter
Ford - 68 - 88 - 88 - 231 - Sharpshooter
Hanley - 87 - 85 - 85 - 259 - Marksman
Henderson - 98 - 97 - 97 - 290 - Distinguished Expert
Howard - 86 - 67 - 67 - 237 - Sharpshooter

1. How many court officers are rated Sharpshooter? a. two b. three c. four d. five

2. The court officer with the lowest score in Stage 3 was a. Amos. b. Baker. c. Edwards. d. Howard.

3. What is the number of court officers whose score increased between Stage 1 and Stage 2? a. five b. six c. seven d. eight

4. What is the number of court officers whose score decreased between Stage 2 and Stage 3?

5. The rangemaster is a. Walton. b. Watson. c. Williams. d. Winston.

Answer questions 6 through 10 based on the following charts.

Arraignments Completed by Judge Forman from 1300 hrs to 1400 hrs on Friday
Defendant's Name - Charge - Bail - Time

Jones, Jim - Larceny - Yes - 1300 hrs to 1305 hrs
Smith, Joy - Burglary* - No - 1306 hrs to1315 hrs
Long, Sam - 1316 hrs to 1321 hrs
Small, Richie - 1321 hrs to 1335 hrs
Big, Lloyd - Assault* - 1326 hrs to 1335 hrs
Little, Rick - Attempted Murder* - 1335 hrs to 1355 hrs
*violent Crime

Arraignments Completed by Judge Forman from 1300 hrs to 1400 hrs on Monday
Fields, Jim - Manslaughter* 1st Degree* - 1300 hrs to 1320 hrs
Jordon, Jill - 1321 hrs to 1329 hrs
Hox, Dan - Possession with Intent to Sell - 1330 hrs to 1335 hrs
Moore, Clinton - 1336 hrs to 1340 hrs
Appel, Ellie - 1341 hrs to 1350 hrs - Josephs, Anthony - 1351 hrs to 1356 hrs

6. In which types of cases does Judge Forman spend the most time conducting her arraignments? a. manslaughter b. possession with intent to sell c. assault d. burglary

7. Which cases are most likely to receive bail? a. burglary b. larceny d. possession with intent to sell

8. Which day did Judge Forman appear to conduct more arraignments for violent crimes? a. Monday b. Friday c. Wednesday d. Monday and Friday had the same number of violent crime arraignments.

9. Which charge below did Judge Forman see on Monday for arraignment that she did not see on Friday? a. larceny b. assault c. possession with intent to sell d. burglary and larceny

10. In descending order, which arraignment takes the most time? a. Manslaughter, assault, possession with intent to sell b. Possession with intent to sell, larceny, burglary c. Manslaughter, assault, larceny d. They all took approximately the same time.

Clerical Recording
Look at the following sets of numbers and answer question 11 based entirely on the information presented.

Docket No.

543262626 -  - 5432562626 -  - 543262626 -  - 543262626
Barbara Walters -  - Barbara Walters -  - Barbara -  - Barbara Walters
Larceny/E Felony -  - Larceny/E Felony -  - Larceny/E Felony -  - Larceny/E Felony

11. In the data presented here, a. all the columns are the same. b. only three columns are the same. c. column 1 and Column 4 are the same. d. all of the columns are different.

Look at the following addresses and answer question 12 based entirely on the information presented.

Pina Caso - Pina Caso - Pina Coso
554 West 59th Street - 554 West 59th Street - 554 West 59th Street
New York, NY 10019 - New York, NY 10011 - New York, NY 10019

12. In the data presented here, b. only two columns are the same. c. column 1 and column 3 are the same

Answers:

1. b. Court Officers Edwards, Ford, and Howard are rated Sharpshooters.

2. d. Howard shot 67 in Stage 3, Amos 81, Baker 94, and Edwards 75.

3. a. Five court officers had scores that increased between Stage 1 and Stage 2.

4. b. Three court officers had scores that decreased between Stage 2 and Stage 3.

5. a. Walton is identified on the first line asthe rangemaster. The other names are not mentioned.

6. a. Out of the options given, the manslaughter arraignment took 20 minutes, which was more time than any of the others.

7. b. Larceny is the answer: Judge Forman granted bail to every defendant charged with larceny.

8. d. On both days during the designated time slot, there were an equal number of violent offenders arraigned. Look at the key under the second chart—the * indicates whether a crime is categorized as being violent.

9. c. 'Possession with the intent to sell' was the only charge listed that was in Forman's courtroom on Monday but not on Friday. Larceny and burglary were both on Friday and assault was seen on Friday and Monday.

10. a. In this question, you are looking for the answer that goes from the highest amount of time to the lowest amount of time. Choice a is the correct answer—manslaughter (20 minutes), assault (nine minutes) and possession with intent to sell (five minutes)

11. c. Column 1 and Column 4 have exactly the same information. Column 2 has a different docket number and Column 3 has a different last name.

12. d. All of the columns are different. Column number 2 has a different zip code and Column 1 and Column 3 spell the individual's last name differently.