Public Information Specialist

Pay Range: $22.02 - $27.52/hr.

Job Posting Closing on: Friday, July 12, 2024

Workdays & Hours: The normal hours for this position are Monday through Friday, 8 a.m. – 4 p.m., with weekends and holidays off. When necessary, work hours may require flexibility in order to process large public information requests in a timely manner.

Benefits for this position include: 11 Paid Holidays, Medical, Dental, Vision, Paid Time Off, Pension Plan, Professional Development Opportunities, and much more.

The City of Fort Worth is one of the fastest growing large cities in the U.S. Our employees serve the needs of nearly 1,000,000 residents, promoting our values of exceptional customer experience, mutual respect, embracing our diversity, continuous improvement, ethical behavior, and accountability.

A Public Information Specialist position is available with The City of Fort Worth Police Department – Legal Liaison Section. The incumbent will coordinate with the City Secretary’s Office and City Attorney’s Office as they process open records requests. This position will contribute to the City’s strategic goals, mission and vision by processing public information requests involving Police Department records. The incumbent will also act as liaison to the City’s Legal Department and withhold records considered not releasable to the public.

Strong computer skills are required to handle the heavy workload, as the Police Department is one of the largest Departments in the City with more than 2,000 sworn and civilian employees. The majority of the assigned duties are completed in GovQA, Microsoft Excel and Word.

Minimum Qualifications

• Associate’s degree from an accredited college or university PLUS;
• Two (2) years of directly related experience in records management, paralegal, processing records requests or related field preferably in a local government environment.
  
  

Preferred Qualifications

• Training or experience in open records/FOIA and/or paralegal services, such as processing subpoenas and Court Orders.
• Training or experience in Records Management in a Local Government setting.
• Working knowledge of the Texas Public Information Act procedures.
• Proficiency with Microsoft Office and Adobe Professional software, and the ability to learn and use multiple other software programs.
  
  

The Public Information Specialist Job Responsibilities Include

• Process public information requests, which includes locating records from various areas of the Police Department utilizing multiple software programs, redacting confidential information from those records, and preparing business records affidavits and affidavits of no record.
• Process subpoenas for department records, and appear in court as the Custodian of Records for the City of Fort Worth Police Department.
• Respond to phone calls from the public, Police Records and Records and Information Management (RIM) concerning public information requests; respond to phone calls from the City Legal Department relating to matters involving the Fort Worth Police Department.
• Direct outside attorneys, process servers and private investigators to proper location for subpoena service.
• Assist outside law firms with scheduling depositions of officers.
• Arrange for personnel records to be viewed in person by outside agencies and monitors the viewing process.
• Handle records retention and destruction of documents (IAD investigation records).
  
  

Working Conditions

Final candidates selected for hire in the Police Department will be subject to a fingerprint/criminal history background check and polygraph examination. Applicants must not have used marijuana during the previous two (2) years, nor illegally used any controlled substances within the last five (5) years.

Applicants for this position must pass a Criminal Justice Information Systems (CJIS) fingerprint-based background check and maintain CJIS eligibility. Due to CJIS requirements related to system access, the following will result in being disqualified for this position: Felony Convictions, Felony Deferred Adjudication, Class A Misdemeanor Conviction, Class B Misdemeanor Convictions in the last 10 years, Class A Misdemeanor Deferred Adjudication, Class B Misdemeanor Deferred Adjudication in the last 10 years, an Open Arrest for Any Criminal Offense (Felony or Misdemeanor), and ALL Family Violence Convictions regardless of class.

Environmental Conditions

The work environment characteristics described here are representative of those an employee encounters while performing the essential functions of this job. Reasonable accommodations may be made to enable individuals with disabilities to perform the essential functions.

Depending on assignment, positions in this class typically require touching, talking, hearing, seeing, grasping, standing, stooping, kneeling, crouching, reaching, walking and repetitive motions.

Physical Demands

The physical demands described here are representative of those that must be met by an employee to successfully perform the essential functions of this job. Reasonable accommodations may be made to enable individuals with disabilities to perform the essential functions.

Essential and other important responsibilities and duties require maintaining physical condition necessary for sitting for prolonged periods of time; may exert up to 10 pounds of force occasionally, a negligible amount of force frequently and/or constantly having to lift, carry, push, pull or otherwise move objects; manual dexterity required.

Conditions of Employment

The City of Fort Worth is proud to be an Equal Employment Opportunity employer. It is the policy and practice of the City to recruit, hire, train and promote a diverse workforce without regard to race, color, religion, sex (including pregnancy and gender identity), national origin, political affiliation, sexual orientation, marital status, disability, genetic information, age, membership in an employee organization, parental status, military service, or another non-merit factor.

The City of Fort Worth is committed to full compliance with the Americans with Disabilities Act. Reasonable accommodations may be made to enable qualified individuals with disabilities to participate in the job application or interview process and to perform essential job functions.

Candidates who do not meet the Education requirement, may be considered if they have more relevant work experience than the position requires. Those selected for employment will be required to pass Pre-Employment checks depending on the position requirements. Those could include, but are not limited to: criminal background check, drug screen, education verification, etc. criminal convictions will be considered on a case-by-case basis. Employees are paid by direct deposit only.