Clerk of Court office names three Employees of the Month

St. Tammany Parish Clerk of Court employees Bridget Hickman, Kristie Couch and Mary Venezia were named 2008 third quarter employees of the month.

Hickman, a civil/criminal clerk, began her career July 1, 1993, moving from processing new civil suits to a minute clerk and most recently becoming Judge Donald Fendlason’s minute clerk.

Hickman is responsible for what is known as “court clean-up.” This is the typing of court minutes, cataloging of evidence, re-scheduling cases on the docket, and the issuance of subpoenas, all of which must be done timely.

Couch, a non-support minute clerk, began her career in 2002 as civil docket clerk, where she learned the process of all civil litigation. With that background, Couch volunteered for more training and learned how to process protective orders, drug court and eventually felony minute clerk duties. She now records minutes of court involving paternity, collections, modifications and judge appeals for as many as 200 cases in a day.

Couch has also made herself available to assist the Clerk’s Election Department by working as an information agent and on election days as a receiver of precinct documents on election nights.

Venezia, a land records deputy clerk, was selected as the September Employee of the Month. Venezia joined the clerk’s team in 2002 as a scanning deputy clerk, where she assists the general public, abstractors, lawyers and title company personnel with inquiries concerning St. Tammany Parish land documents. Often, when customers arrive in the land records department they have little understanding of how to locate the property documents they are researching. Venezia often demonstrates how to use the computer programs and will show displays of their property by using maps, original land mortgages and deeds.