Written by Andrea Cardona —
During my time at St. Edward’s so far, I have learned a great deal about topics in politics and government, both internationally and here in the United States. My Global Studies major and Political Science minor have helped me understand almost everything there is to know about the government. I have learned about parties, elections, legislation, foreign policy, and what seems like a million other things. However, I felt like none of my classes had really dived deep into the judiciary system and branch of government. Because of this, I did not know what to expect when I secured an internship at the Travis County District Clerk’s Office.
If you’re like me, the words District Clerk are new to you. I had never heard of this office before this year. I was able to secure this position from a law clerk I personally know and contacted to inquire about internship opportunities. In preparing for my internship, I did a lot of research on the office in order to get a better understanding of its role and responsibilities in our local government. According to the Texas Association of Counties, the District Clerk performs the duties assigned by the Texas Constitution as registrar, recorder, and custodian of all court pleadings, instruments, and papers that are part of any legal cause of action in the district courts.
During my past couple of months at the Travis County District Clerk’s Office, I have been performing the duties of a court clerk assistant. I am working in the Grand Jury division of the office. My day-to-day work usually involves keeping case files up to date, as the office is still mostly paper-based. On Mondays, I catch up on all of the arrests that were made over the weekend when the office was closed. My job is to create folders for each of the arrests and criminal cases. These files usually consist of an order of commitment, an affidavit from the police officers, a warrant of arrest, bond information, and indictment forms. The District Clerk’s office is also currently working on backing up all of their files digitally, so I have been working on this as well.
As I mentioned before, I really did not know what to expect when I started my internship. Apart from being my first internship, it was also my first time doing judicial work. I have been constantly learning new information each week that I have been at my internship. I have gained a greater understanding of topics that my studies and classes did not cover. This internship has taught me the importance of learning through experience outside of the classroom. In addition, I realized the importance of gaining experience so that I can search for a job when I graduate.
I have enjoyed my experience and the work environment at the Travis County District Clerk’s very much. I would definitely recommend for any Global Studies or Political Science students at St. Edward’s to consider this site when searching for an internship in their field of study.
This is so interesting and seems like such a great opportunity!!!
Hey Andrea, I find it incredible that you went into this not knowing what to expect, and coming out with new knowledge to take with you! This internship definitely seems to correlate well with your major and minor but is more specific in the area. I think it is very interesting that your getting hands on experience that involves the judicial system of Austin.
Hello! This seems like an interesting position, and I admittedly had never head of a district clerk! It surprises me that all the filing is done by paper. After doing plenty of filing to you like that everything is on paper, or would you rather file digitally?
Throughout the reading, I felt very related to your position. Once we start taking roles outside the campus and into our fields of study, there is so much that we realize that the classroom hasn’t covered and adaptability and quick learning through hands-on experience kick in. There is so much potential for growth and learning there and I’m glad to see that you’ve been getting some of that. I personally enjoyed learning more about the Travis County District Clerk’s Office! It is an informative piece when considering future internships for the Spring semester.
Hi Andrea! From what I see, this position is great way to start building your expectations as well as networking skills in the system. I find it really interesting, since I had heard about the District Clerk once or maybe twice, but was never ale to pinpoint what exactly they do! I’m glad that you were able to secure it and the fact that you get to experience a side of the political world that we often tend to neglect 🙂