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D. Responsibility of Hiring

The judge should decide who will participate in the hiring process, which can be lengthy and time-
consuming. The judge may not have time to handle the entire process. Therefore, enlisting the help
of other judges, court staff, tribal council, and tribal members may be necessary. However, the judge Part III. Selecting a
should make the final decision.
Judicial Law Clerk

1. The Judge

If the judge has sole authority to hire the judicial law clerk, then the hiring process likely depends on
what law governs, if any. There may be tribal employment regulations including:

Tribal/Native American or Alaska Native preference Selecting a judicial law clerk should be

Veteran preference
a thorough process. “Not only must
Merit-based employment (hiring based on ability to perform) you be comfortable with the selection,

Standardized position descriptions
but the court staff must feel at ease
Internal versus external hiring 82

Eligibility for employment benefits with the person selected.”

Even if there is no applicable regulation, the tribe’s governing body may have adopted a hiring policy.
An external funding entity may require a drug-free workplace, a criminal background check, and The candidate must be a good fit
minimum education and work experience.
with the tribal court staff because the

2. Human Resources or another agency clerk will interact with the staff daily.
Therefore, the judge should choose the
Some tribes use an Human Resources (HR) department to oversee hiring. The department manages
the relationship between the employee and the employer. These departments often develop appropriate person very carefully.
standardized job announcements, position descriptions, and applications. Other tribes may have
administrative officials in charge of hiring. While the judge may make the final hiring decision, the
nuts and bolts of the process are handled by the HR team or the administrative official. The judge
should ensure that any funding requirements or other conditions are met.
This section offers tips on interviewing
During the hiring process, HR sends the judge the list of applicants and may identify which applicants
satisfy hiring-preference criteria and meet the minimum qualifications. The judge should review candidates, narrowing the applicant
each application carefully to identify the most suitable candidates. When the judge has selected pool, selecting a candidate, and the
one or more candidates, HR may reach out to contact references and to set up interviews. This is a
good stage of the process to assign applicants a research and writing project with a firm deadline. final steps of the hiring process.
Candidates who miss the deadline may not be invited to an interview.

Prior to the interview, HR may present standardized questions and ask the judge for a list of job-
specific questions. Examples of these questions are located in Appendix C. There may be an interview
panel of one or more judges, an HR representative, and/or a tribal official who works with the tribe’s
justice system. Even though HR facilitates the hiring process, the judge or the panel decides who to
hire. HR works with the judge on the start date, time, and location.

82 Case & Tompkins, supra note 1, at 42.
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