Full-time Clerk of Court personnel who work the entire year at the Clerk's office will need to take sixteen hours of COJET-accredited training per calendar year. At least six (6) hours must consist of facilitated learning. This commonly means live classroom instruction, but can also be fulfilled through interactive webinars, in-person college courses, etc. The remaining hours may consist of non-facilitated learning (videos, books, non-interactive webinars, etc.)

These sixteen (16) total hours must include:

• One (1) Computer Security class. The Clerk's Office's "Introduction to Computer Security" program will meet this requirement. Other programs may also do so. Check with Training and Staff Development should you desire to fulfill this requirement with some other course of study.
• One (1) class that is coded as an ETH (Ethics) class. The Clerk's Office offers a class entitled "A Higher Calling: The Code of Conduct for Judicial Staff" (Part 1 or 2), which is mandatory for all staff every year, and which will fulfill this requirement. If you completed either one for the year, we offer numerous other Ethics classes, as do the other judicial agencies. The class may be facilitated or non-facilitated, within the limits detailed above. Please note: if an employee completes both parts of "A Higher Calling" in the same year, they will still be required to complete one of the parts the following year.

In addition to these COJET requirements, the Clerk's Office also requires the following:

• Newly-hired individuals are required to watch the "Equal Access to Justice" training video (available on-line) within six months of their date of hire.
• Courtroom clerks, exhibits personnel, and any other individuals whose work may require them to come in contact with exhibits or other potentially infectious materials are required to take annual Biohazard Refresher Training. The most current program is available on-line.
• Individual staff, particularly in supervisory positions, may be required to take other programs appropriate to their position and responsibilities. These can include Minimum Accounting Standards, HR Basics, Defensive Driving, Customer Service training, and many other programs. Speak with your supervisor, or contact Training and Staff Development, if you need assistance determining precisely what standards apply to you.

Staff who begin employment part-way through the year, staff who work on a part-time basis, and staff who are absent for an extended period of time for valid reasons may have their required hours reduced on a pro-rated basis. Please the Learning and Development team for further details, as each case will vary based on the period of time involved. Temporary employees have no COJET requirement, although may still be required to take individual programs such as NEO, Biohazard Refresher Training, or Equal Access to Justice, at the organization's discretion.

In order to remain in a "good faith" status, which enables an employee to be eligible for exemptions of their COJET hours for special circumstances, most employees must complete no less than 25% of their annual requirement per quarter actively worked, or as otherwise necessary to complete the year successfully. This standard is altered for courtroom clerks, as well as for employees with different hourly requirements.

Contact your supervisor or Learning and Development staff for details applicable to your position.

 

Educational programs and materials can be accredited for COJET hours by COJET itself, or by Training Coordinators working under the direction of the COJET guidelines. To be accredited, a program must have significant intellectual or practical content, the primary objective of which is to increase the participant's job-related professional competence and skills. It must be at least 30 minutes in length. The educational materials and activities must be prepared and conducted by an individual or group qualified by practice or academic experience in a setting physically suitable to the educational activity of the program. Unless it is clearly inappropriate for a particular course, participants attending a program must receive manuals, study guides, flowcharts, or substantial written outlines that pertain to the subject matter of the program.

All courses offered by the Clerk of the Court's office, or which appear in the Clerk of Court catalog are accredited for COJET credit. Courses offered by outside agencies or organizations may or may not be eligible for this credit. If you have questions or concerns, please contact your Training Coordinators for further information.

Your hours will be prorated based on the number of hours you work annually. Please contact your Training Coordinator for details.

As a temporary employee, you are exempt from compliance with the COJET educational guidelines unless directed otherwise by your chief or presiding judge.

No. COJET credits cannot be carried forward into the next calendar year. Your accumulated COJET hours are zeroed out and you start fresh each year.

No. Credits acquired prior to employment by the courts may not be counted towards COJET requirements.

Before attending any outside training activities, employees should contact the Learning and Development team to determine if the training can be approved for COJET credit. Before attending the training, employees should complete the Application for COJET Accreditation Form (found in our Training Forms and Documents section). Submit the completed form to the Organizational Development team, mail code AS-TRN, along with appropriate documentation, or email us at COCTraining@maricopa.gov

To receive credit, you must submit the completed Outside Credit Request form, along with each of the following items:

1.  A certificate or transcript proving the requestor completed the training in question
2. A syllabus or class description that goes into detail concerning what was taught in the class
3. A schedule from the training facility that states the actual dates and hours of training involved, minus breaks or meal.
4. The description "Monday October 20th through Friday October 24th 2024, 8 AM to 5 PM, with a one hour lunch break each day" would be acceptable, although providing information on breaks may be necessary as well.
5. An example of any materials used. This could be copies from the handouts, a copy of the table of contents and index of a longer book, etc.

Completing 16 COJET-accredited hours of training this calendar year is a mandatory requirement for maintaining employment with the Clerk of the Superior Court. Those who fail to meet this requirement, or who fail to remain in a Good Faith status, are subject to disciplinary action up to and including loss of pay and benefits or termination of employment. The specific action taken remains at the discretion of the local judicial authorities.

COJET requirements in these circumstances may be prorated to take into account the amount of time that you were absent from your position. Contact your local Training Coordinator to determine the exact amount of hours you will need to achieve in your personal situation.

Employees may earn up to eight hours of their total training requirement through "faculty hours" for developing and presenting COJET approved classes. Individuals may earn 3 for 1 credit for the initial presentation of an educational program, and 2 for 1 credit for subsequent presentations of the same program.

Additional requirements exist to be approved for facilitated hours.

The following guidelines apply:

• Program presentation must be at least 30 minutes in length. Support materials such as an outline, agenda, or handouts must be supplied to the Training Coordinator.
• Facilitators may earn 1 for 1 credit for facilitating group discussion or participating on a panel.
• Facilitators can also receive up to three (3) hours of credit for course development in the production of e-learning products, etc. Please contact your Training Coordinator for more details on receiving Development Credit.

 

You can indeed! As long as the classes that you are taking would meet the standards for COJET accreditation listed above, you will receive two (2) hours of COJET credit for every one (1) credit or semester hour of college.

For pre-approval, you will need to submit the Application for COJET Accreditation Form (available under the Training Forms and Documents section of this website), along with a copy of your transcript (showing your grade), a reasonable sampling of any handouts and materials use, and a course description or syllabus to Learning and Development. The class can then be accredited for COJET purposes.

Certain college courses (known as "special status" classes) can be accredited on an hour-by-hour basis, instead of by credit or semester hour. These classes have a special applicability to the judicial system. For more information on them, please contact the Learning and Development team.

You may only accumulate eight (8) total COJET hours from college courses in each calendar year.