300-25 Court Attendance and Compensation

Question 1

Employees shall appear in court when subpoenaed unless an ________ or _______ them from reporting as scheduled.

Answer 1

incapacitating illness or an emergency prevents

Question 2

Once a citation or case is completed and turned over to the courts, the final disposition of the citation or case is the exclusive ______ and the employee’s role is to ________.

Answer 2

purview of the court, serve as a witness.

Question 3

On a _______ employees shall log on to CSMART to receive any subpoenas they may have.

Answer 3

regular basis

Question 4

Employees shall obey all subpoenas and notifications to attend court, including those______________ as
well as any __________, _______, or _________ personnel. Employees shall arrive on time for all required court appearances and be prepared to testify.

Answer 4

conveyed by computer, verbal summons received directly from a court official, police supervisor, municipal or county court liaison

Question 5

Employees relieved of duty or temporarily suspended shall _________.

Answer 5

obey all subpoenas and notifications.

Question 6

Employees on injured-on-duty leave or transitional duty shall honor all subpoenas and notifications unless the _______________.

Answer 6

nature of the injury or illness makes court appearance medically unadvisable.

Question 7

Unless an employee is disregarded from a court subpoena by ________ or ________ or __________ the employee shall appear as ordered.

Answer 7

the judge or designee of the issuing court,

• by an on-duty supervisor with a valid excuse
• (Municipal Court only),

Question 8

Unauthorized absences from court, ALR hearings, or parole hearings are subject to disciplinary action.

An employee being on a regular day off is ____________.

Answer 8

not a valid reason for the employee to be absent from court.

Question 9

An employee receiving a non-computerized subpoena shall _______________.

Answer 9

contact the Municipal or County Court Liaison Office to have an electronic subpoena generated.

Question 10

If supervisors experience a problem with the subpoena system, they shall _____________.

Answer 10

document the incident and ensure the Municipal Court Liaison Office is notified.

Question 11

Supervisors shall follow these procedures, which include, but are not limited to, the following. Supervisors shall:

Answer 11

Immediately notify employees, regardless of shift or days off, of subpoenas or disregard notices.

Process disregard requests by completing the disregard procedure for computerized subpoenas.

Require documentation from employees verifying reasons given for absences if the validity of an excuse for missing court is questionable.

Monitor employee court attendance and check for patterns of abuse.

Conduct audits of court attendance for their employees and investigate all absences.

Ensure the accuracy of Court Overtime Request forms they sign. Overtime requests may be returned to employees for explanation or correction. All court overtime denials shall comply with General Order 300-07, Overtime Compensation.

Question 12

Employees with multiple subpoenas for the same date shall attend each court if possible. Should court circumstances prohibit honoring all subpoenas, employees shall __________.

Answer 12

attend the highest court and handle absences from the lower courts according to normal disregard procedures.

Question 13

When an employee is notified of a subpoena for a date on which the employee has previously scheduled an absence or is otherwise unable to honor the subpoena, the employee shall ___________.

This does not absolve the employee of the responsibility to honor the subpoena unless the ___________.

The name of the ________ shall be documented by the employee.

Answer 13

personally contact the prosecutor handling the case to advise of the need to be absent.

judge in that court disregards the employee.

prosecutor contacted

Question 14

Employees shall notify _________ when they need to be disregarded from court.

Employees are required to be disregarded from court when they have a valid excuse for not attending court.

Examples of valid excuses for missing court include, but are not limited to, _____, ________, and ________.

Answer 14

an on-duty supervisor

the employee being sick, on pre-planned time off, or on duty and preempted by a call for service.

Question 15

Off-duty employees without a __________ or _______, _____, or _________ (e.g., a continuance) shall have the prosecutor or judge complete and sign the Substitute for Court Subpoena field printed on the back of the Court Overtime Request form.

Answer 15

without a subpoena or notification to attend court, return to court, or attend meetings with prosecutors for any day not specifically stated in the subpoena

Question 16

If there is no liaison office at the court, then employees shall __________.

Employees shall be able to report to court within 30 minutes or as ordered by a court official or by a liaison office employee to avoid having their cases dismissed.

If no contact number is provided, then the employee shall ________.

Answer 16

report directly to the subpoenaing court.

remain in the liaison office or the courthouse.

Question 17

________ shall certify their arrival time by inserting a Court Overtime Request form into the time-stamp machine located inside the Municipal Court Liaison Office or, if not available, in the courtroom.

Answer 17

Off-duty employees

Question 18

Off-duty employees shall have the Courtroom Dismissal field of the Court Overtime Request form completed and certified by a ________ or ________.

Employees shall then personally deliver the completed Court Overtime Request form to the Municipal Court Liaison Office for final dismissal time certification.

Answer 18

court prosecutor or other competent court authority.

Question 19

Off-duty employees who find the Municipal Court Liaison Office closed shall note _______ and _________ in the Employee’s Final Dismissal Time field.

Answer 19

“liaison closed” and the time the office was found closed

Question 20

If, in response to official notification, an employee is required to appear prior to the scheduled court time to meet with prosecutors to review a case, the employee shall __________.

Answer 20

first go to the County Court Liaison Office for arrival time certification.

Question 21

Upon arrival in court, _________ shall have the Courtroom Arrival Time field of the Court Overtime Request form completed and certified by the court clerk, prosecutor, or judge.

Answer 21

off-duty employees

Question 22

When employees arrive at an off-site location for a legal proceeding (e.g., federal court, contiguous county court, deposition, hearing), employees shall________.

Liaison personnel shall log the arrival and related subpoena information and enter the information into the CSMART.

Employees shall _________.

Answer 22

telephone either the Municipal or County Court Liaison office to register their attendance.

also call a liaison office to check out.

Question 23

When attending court or judicial proceedings out of town or away from the municipal or Harris County court complexes while off duty, employees shall _________ .

Employees shall ________ in the Employee’s Final Dismissal Time field.

Answer 23

have their arrival and dismissal times certified by the court clerk, prosecutor, or judge of the court or office attended

note “off-site/no liaison”

Question 24

Court ordered breaks requiring employees to return on the same day shall count as time actually spent in court when calculating court attendance compensation.

An employee on a court ordered break shall not use this time to ________.

Answer 24

conduct personal business.

Question 25

Court overtime compensation shall also be authorized for off-duty employees who serve as witnesses or are required to give depositions for private litigants provided
the testimony is the result ___________.

Employees must be officially subpoenaed to attend as a witness or to give a deposition before court overtime compensation is authorized.

Answer 25

of a service rendered in the employee’s official capacity

Question 26

Employees on ________ are eligible for court pay at their straight time rate.

The _______ shall be noted in the Additional Details field of the Court Overtime Request form.

Answer 26

temporary suspension

temporary suspension status

Question 27

Compensation for off-duty employees shall begin at the time the employee is ________________________unless the employee is entitled to the minimum compensation as described in section 6, Minimum Compensation, of this General Order.

Answer 27

scheduled to appear in court or when the employee arrives in court, whichever is later, and shall end at the time documented by the court liaison office,

Question 28

Employees shall clock out with the court liaison office as soon as possible following the courtroom dismissal time. Exceptions to the above provisions include the following:

When attending court at the downtown Harris County Courthouse complex, court overtime compensation may begin
up to, but no more than, _______prior to the scheduled appearance time. This is provided the employee was stamped in by court liaison personnel at least _____ prior to the scheduled appearance time.

An off-duty employee required _________ shall be compensated for the amount of time necessary to complete the tasks.

The appropriate __________ shall be attached to the Court Overtime Request form.

The employee shall document ____________.

Answer 28

15 minutes, eight minutes

to obtain evidence from or return evidence to the Property Division

Authorization for Temporary Checkout of Property (or Evidence) form (available on the department’s Intranet Portal)

in a supplement report the handling of evidence in accordance with General Order 700-01, Property/Evidence Control Regulations.

Question 29

Read

Answer 29

Sections 6-18 300-25