Evidence Custodian Assistant

County of San Juan (NM); New Mexico; On-site; USD 32,000 - 45,000; Full time

Job summary

County of San Juan (NM) is seeking an Evidence Custodian Assistant under general supervision to provide pre-trial discovery support and maintain chain of custody for property and evidence. Responsibilities include redacting video evidence and assisting with compliant collection, documentation, and storage of evidence.

The role involves clerical duties, potential handling of hazardous materials, and use of the county ERP system, with a work environment spanning an office, evidence room, and

Qualifications

• High School diploma or GED and 1 year of clerical experience and demonstrated customer service experience.
• Valid State of New Mexico Driver's license or able to obtain within six months.
• Office/evidence room work with potential lifting and repetitive tasks; outside yard may be required.
• Ability to handle bio-hazard materials, sharps, weapons, narcotics in a controlled environment.
• Work may include holidays for religious observances.
• Experience using the county ERP system as needed.

Responsibilities

• Process discovery demands for court, copying pertinent evidence to involved parties.
• Receive property and evidence from law enforcement, document receipt, and maintain chain of possession.
• Redact images and information from body-worn camera footage.
• Operate devices used in redaction to meet public information requests.
• Maintain custody and handling procedures for evidence, including photos, paperwork, and videos.
• Document handling, maintain logs, generate reports, and update evidence status.
• Provide customer service to patrol, detectives, attorneys, and the public; provide copies of relevant evidence.
• Dispose of evidence per policy; handle bio-hazard materials according to statutes.
• Prepare documentation for discovery demands.
• Handle difficult situations professionally while releasing evidence as allowed.
• Prepare evidence for court and testify if required.
• Follow procedures to collect fees from the public.
• Conduct inter-office evidence runs using Sheriff's Office vehicle.
• Assist in organizing evidence storage area.
• Perform other related duties as assigned.

Education

High School diploma or GED

Tools

ERP system

Job description

Under general supervision of the Property and Evidence Manager, provides pre-trial disclosure for discovery demands. Assist with maintaining chain of custody for property and evidence seized, including preserving and securing of evidence; including redacting video evidence. The Evidence Custodian Assistant provides technical assistance to ensure a compliant process with the collection, documentation, redaction, and storage of evidence.

• High School diploma or GED equivalent; and a minimum of one (1) year of relevant clerical experience and demonstrated customer service experience.
• Valid State of New Mexico Driver's license or able to obtain within six (6) months of employment.
• Work is generally performed in an office environment, and evidence room; sometimes requiring work in the outside impound yard; may be subject to repetitive motion such as typing, data entry and vision to monitor; may be subject to extended periods of intense concentration in the review of documents and reports, lifting moderately heavy items to move and place on shelves.
• At times will handle Bio-hazard material, sharps containers, weapons, narcotics and other potentially hazardous substances in a controlled environment.
• Work schedule for this position may include working on religious holidays.
• Utilize, process, and navigate the County's electronic ERP system as necessary and appropriate based on the needs and requirements of this position.

The list that follows is not intended as a comprehensive list; it is intended to provide a representative summary of the major duties and responsibilities. Incumbent(s) may not be required to perform all duties listed, and may be required to perform additional, position-specific tasks.

• Processes discovery demands for court which includes the copying pertinent evidence to one or both parties to a legal action or proceeding.
• Receives property and evidence from law enforcement officers; documents receipt of items; maintains the chain of possession from intake to final disposition; log and enter evidence of all pertinent information into system.
• Redact images and information from body worn camera footage that will intermittently possess graphic audio and images.
• Operate other electronic devices as part of redaction processes to meet public information requests.
• Maintains procedures for the custody and handling of evidence, including photos, paperwork, interviews, in-car camera footage, videos, and/or other digital evidence.
• Documents all handling of evidence and property; maintains activity logs and generates reports as needed; update status of evidence.
• Provides customer service assistance to patrol, detectives, attorneys, and the public by phone, email, mail and in person; provides copies of relevant evidence for a particular case.
• Disposes of evidence items in accordance with State and Sheriff's Office policies and procedures; disposes of Bio-Hazard material according to statutes and policy.
• Prepares, distributes, and assist with processing paperwork and documentation related to discovery demands.
• Able to handle difficult situations in a diplomatic manner with angry citizens while still maintaining procedures on releasing evidence which sometimes requires telling people they can't have their property back.
• Prepares necessary documentation and evidence for court; may be required to testify in court.
• Follows procedures in collecting fees from the public.
• Performs inter-office evidence runs to retrieve items stored off-site utilizing a Sheriff's Office vehicle as needed.
• Assists in maintaining the organization of the evidence storage area.
• Performs other related duties as assigned.