When Jasmine arrives at work each morning, she does not start with a report or a computer screen. She starts with her team. She makes her way around the office, checking in with each person. How was your night? How are you doing? What do you need?
Then she looks at the work ahead and asks another question: Where can I help?
After 18 years at the Clerk’s Office, Jasmine understands the work from many different perspectives. She has worked with paper files and electronic records, helped customers through difficult moments, and served in several areas of the Office. Today, she uses those experiences to support the deputy clerks in the Civil division.
“My ultimate job is to support them and make them feel less overwhelmed,” Jasmine says.
From Paper Files to People
Jasmine’s career at the Clerk’s Office began in the civil file room, when filing meant exactly that: filing paper.
Every document that came through the Office had to make its way into a physical case file. Jasmine and her coworkers collected stacks of documents, found the corresponding files and put each piece of paper where it belonged. When judges had court, the team pulled the files and made sure everything needed for each case was there.
“It was an all day, everyday event,” Jasmine says.
From there, Jasmine moved into customer service before working in Family, Injunctions, Probate and eventually the Civil division. Each move taught her something different about the work and, perhaps more importantly, about the people who come to the Clerk’s Office for help.
Seeing the Person Behind the Case
Working with injunctions meant meeting people during some of the most difficult moments of their lives. Some arrived scared or overwhelmed. Jasmine often saw cases from beginning to end, talking with customers, answering questions and hearing about the circumstances that brought them to the courthouse.
“You heard all their fears, you heard all their issues,” Jasmine says.
That experience stayed with her as she moved into other areas.
“We’re all just people trying to navigate through things,” Jasmine says. “People just want somebody to sympathize with them, understand, and just listen to them.”
Over the years, some customers have stayed in Jasmine’s memory. One was a mother desperately trying to locate her adult son. For months, she regularly returned to the courthouse and called for updates as she worked through the legal processes available to her. Eventually, she found him. Afterward, the woman wrote Jasmine a note thanking her for her understanding. She even continued calling occasionally to share updates.
“She was just happy that someone genuinely cared,” Jasmine says.
That perspective also helps Jasmine when someone arrives frustrated or angry. She reminds herself that the emotion is usually about the circumstances, not the person behind the counter.
“They’re not mad at me,” Jasmine says. “They’re mad at the world, they’re mad at the government, they’re mad at their spouse, they’re mad at the situation.”
Finding Where She’s Needed
Today, Jasmine brings that same awareness to supporting her team.
After her morning check-ins, she reviews outstanding work across the division and figures out where employees may need extra help. If someone is in court, Jasmine may work through tasks that would otherwise be waiting when they return. If another area is short-staffed, she shifts her attention there.
“I just try to see what the need is,” Jasmine says. “I don’t want anybody to feel like, ‘I have court today, and when I come down, I’m going to have 5,000 things waiting for me.’”
You Don’t Have to Do It Alone
There is a running joke in the Civil division that Jasmine is the “mom” of the group. It is a role she embraces. She lets the team know what she is working on, what needs to be prioritized and, most importantly, that she is there to help.
“I’m in there too, so don’t think you have to do it by yourself,” Jasmine says.
Jasmine wants her team to feel comfortable speaking up when they need support.
“I think being present and being available makes the difference,” she says.
Life Outside the Office
“I am a true Florida girl,” Jasmine says. “Anything under 70 degrees, I need a sweater.”
Jasmine and her husband have three boys and six cats. Family life includes her son’s sporting events, trips to the beach, movies, four-wheeling and rides on their motorcycle. The couple also shares an enthusiasm for good food. They have been known to turn a restaurant discovered in a YouTube video into a weekend road trip, traveling to places like Georgia, South Carolina and Miami just to try something that caught their attention.
“We will literally, on a Friday after work, zip to South Carolina,” Jasmine says.
Being Present
A lot has changed since Jasmine first walked into the civil file room 18 years ago. Towering stacks of paper have given way to electronic filing, and Jasmine has worked in numerous areas of the Office along the way. But some of the most important lessons from those years have little to do with paper, technology or any particular division. They are about people.
A customer may need someone willing to listen. A coworker may need help keeping up with the day’s workload. A clerk may simply need to know that asking for help is OK.
For Jasmine, being there can make all the difference.
