Competitive Advantage
The Allegheny County Clerk of Courts is a portion of Allegheny County government it is becoming one of the best row offices in Pennsylvania.Upon entering the Clerk of Courts office in 1999, we found an office that was in disarray and was in desperate need of leadership and goals and objectives that could make it one of most efficient row offices in Allegheny County and Pennsylvania. The office was in a major need of bringing order and direction to the job. We started by implementing a group of transition teams that would identify areas in the office and functions that needed to be performed on a daily and long-term basis. The areas identified were functions that were mandated by the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania constitution and the Pennsylvania Supreme Court. These transition teams spent many of the upcoming weeks and months identifying areas were we could implement changes in policies and procedures and new directives that could make this office one of strategic efficiency and admiration in county government. The only office to rival ours in size was the Clerk of Quarter Sessions located in Philadelphia County. Their office was one that was larger in size, staff, and initial caseload to the Common Pleas Court level. T
Once we identified our mission and goals and objectives, we needed to address finding individuals who fit the mold to develop and deliver these objectives. The efforts to succeed with streamlined goals and objectives, professional staff, and public and private sector strategies had paid off. The changes would directly affect victims groups, taxpayers, businesses, and local governments. It is only at that point that the public truly understands and appreciates how efficient, responsive and assertive we our in performing the functions. Technology issues have become a key factor in our development in the office becoming so successful. This project will enable the Allegheny County Clerk of Courts office to become the first county in the commonwealth and one of only five in the United States to bring their criminal case files live and accessible. The office has faced obstacles in our endeavors to reach collection records. Mostly because of the type of job we perform in our office, the general taxpayer does not find out the primary functions of an office like the Clerk of Courts until they are introduced to the criminal court proceeding either as a defendant or victim. These case files can range from 20 to 40 pages and are constantly being utilized during a criminal proceeding. We have faced numerous battles with the county administration over budgetary items. The implementation of a highly aggressive collections effort of fines, costs, and restitution resulted in Allegheny County receiving the number one ranking by the Pennsylvania Department of Revenue by the end of our first term. The optical scanning project has enabled our office to become an innovative leader in the criminal courts jurisdiction and we will continue to develop the project. The main technological program we started and are near completion is an optical scanning project. The Clerk of Courts organization soon became a group of individuals who were highly trained people who wanted to help George Matta guide the processes and procedures. Structuring an internal analysis of our office was a blueprint that we could hope to derive from the expertise of our transition team members and staff.
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