Legal Assistant (Legal Access Officer) - Bureau of Prisons

Responsible for maintaining and addressing legal access for legal visits, legal phone calls, legal correspondence, access to discovery, legal access in emergent situations and access for populations with specific needs.

Support the implementation of policies, programs, and procedures related to legal access and will have a significant impact on the formulation or execution of institutional decisions on legal access.

Independently handles inquiries regarding legal access and serves as a resource to staff at their location, and to the public concerning legal access in the facility. This includes supporting the facility in providing a consistent process for communication around unexpected cancellation of legal visitation or scheduled legal calls by the facility.

Elevate legal access as an operational priority in the facility, improve legal access during the detention process, including access to counsel under the constitution, and may involve direct assistance to institutional staff by performing a segment of their work to achieve that goal.

Along with all other correctional institution employees, incumbent is charged with responsibility for maintaining security of the institution. The staffs correctional responsibilities precede all others required by this position and are performed on a regular and recurring basis.

Requirements

Conditions of Employment

• U.S. Citizenship is Required.
• See Special Conditions of Employment Section.
• Selective Service Requirement: http://www.sss.gov

Interagency Career Transition Assistance Plan (ICTAP). The ICTAP provides eligible displaced Federal competitive service employees with selection priority over other candidates for competitive service vacancies. If your agency has notified you in writing that you are a displaced employee eligible for ICTAP consideration, you may receive selection priority if: 1)this vacancy is within your ICTAP eligibility; 2) you apply under the instructions in this announcement; and 3) you are found well qualified for this vacancy. To be well qualified, you must satisfy all qualification requirements for the vacant position and rate equivalent to the Highly Qualified category using established category rating criteria. You must provide proof of eligibility with your application of ICTAP eligibility or a copy of your separation personnel action form. Additional information about ICTAP eligibility is at: Click Here

The Career Transition Assistance Plan (CTAP) provides eligible surplus and displaced competitive service employees in the Department of Justice with selection priority over other candidates for competitive service vacancies. If your Department of Justice component has notified you in writing that you are a surplus or displaced employee eligible for CTAP consideration, you may receive selection priority if: 1) this vacancy is within your CTAP eligibility; 2) you apply under the instructions in this announcement; and 3) you are found well qualified for this vacancy. To be well qualified, you must satisfy all qualification requirements for the vacant position and rate equivalent to the Highly Qualified category using established category rating criteria. You must provide a copy of your written notification of CTAP eligibility with your application. Additional information about CTAP eligibility is at: Click Here

Qualifications

To be considered for the position, you must meet the following qualification requirements:

Education:

As a general rule, education is not creditable above GL-05 for most positions covered by this standard; however, graduate education may be credited in those few instances where the graduate education is directly related to the work of the position.

OR

Experience:

You must have at least one year of specialized experience equivalent in difficulty and complexity to the next lower grade level in federal service. To be creditable, this experience must have equipped the applicant with the particular knowledge, skills, and abilities necessary to successfully perform the duties of the position, and must typically be in or related to the position to be filled.

Some examples of this qualifying experience are:

• Experience with independently analyzing and interpreting information or sources relative to legal access and making appropriate recommendations to stakeholders.
• Experience understanding criminal trial process as it relates to legal access and distinguishing between a variety of legal instruments including court order, petitions and complaints, Habeas, Bivens, Tort, Mandamus and various injunctive relief requests.
• Experience serving as liaison between a facility and external stakeholders for legal access.
• Experience with public speaking and communication, related to navigating complex legal access situations, and identifying ways to improve processes.

If applicable, credit will be given for paid and unpaid experience. To receive proper credit, you must show the actual time (such as the number of hours worked per week) spent in activities.

**Your eligibility for consideration will be based on your responses to the questions in the application.**

Education

See Qualifications Section for education requirements, if applicable.

ONLY if education is a requirement/substitution for specialized experience, applicant MUST upload legible transcripts as verification of educational requirement. Transcripts MUST be uploaded and electronically linked from USAJOBS at the time you apply and MUST include identifying information to include School Name, Student Name, Degree and Date Awarded (if applicable). All academic degrees and coursework must be completed at a college or university that has obtained accreditation or pre-accreditation status from an accrediting body recognized by the U.S. Department of Education. For a list of schools that meet this criteria, Click Here.

Foreign Education: For information regarding foreign education requirements, please see Foreign Diploma and Credit Recognition at the U.S. Department of Education website: Recognition of Foreign Qualifications.

If you are selected for this position and qualified based on education (i.e. basic education requirement and/or substitution of education), you will be required to provide an OFFICIAL transcript prior to your first day on duty.

Additional information

This position IS included in the bargaining unit.

In accordance with 5 U.S.C. 3307, a maximum entry age of 36 has been established for initial appointment to a position in a Bureau of Prisons institution. If you are above the maximum entry age and have prior federal law enforcement coverage, you MUST submit an SF-50 to verify prior coverage. 

Qualified Preference Eligible Veterans may be exempt from meeting the maximum age. Please refer to the Required Documents Section for the appropriate documentation to submit to validate veteran eligibility.

Special Conditions of Employment Section:

Appointment is subject to satisfactory completion of a pre-employment and panel interview, urinalysis, physical, and background investigation.

All applicants are subject to, and must satisfactorily pass all screening requirements in relation to National Crime Information Center (NCIC) and credit check.

All applicants not currently working in an institution will be required to complete a qualification inquiry regarding convictions of misdemeanor crimes of domestic violence in order to be authorized to carry a firearm.

The Core Value Assessment (CVA) is an in-person assessment that must be facilitated at a Bureau of Prisons Human Resource Servicing office. On the day of the scheduled interview, a CVA will be administered. The applicant assessment must be completed within a 70 minute time period and a passing score of 68 must be obtained. Further employment consideration will not be extended if the applicant fails to complete the examination or fails to achieve a passing score. Note: The Core Value Assessment will not be administered to current BOP employees.

Successful completion of the "Introduction to Correctional Techniques", three-week training course at Glynco, Georgia is required. 

Additional selections may be made if vacancies occur within the life of the certificate.

This position has a three-year tenure limitation.  At the end of the third year, incumbent is subject to geographic relocation to meet the needs of the agency.  Tenure limit requirements do not prohibit the incumbent from seeking promotional opportunities of higher graded positions or reassignments before the end of the three years.  Once the incumbent fulfills the tenure limit agreement, the Agency, at its’ discretion, will place the employee into an alternative position (same grade) with probability of a geographic relocation.

• NOTE: A 25% RECRUITMENT INCENTIVE WILL BE PAID TO SELECTEE(S) WHO MEETS THE CRITERIA FOR RECRUITMENT BONUSES. The selectee who meets the criteria for the recruitment must sign a service agreement for a period of 12 months.

• NOTE: A 35% RETENTION INCENTIVE WILL BE PAID TO SELECTEE(S) WHO MEETS THE CRITERIA FOR RETENTION BONUSES. The selectee who meets the criteria for the retention must sign a service agreement for a period of 24 months.

As the federal agency whose mission is to ensure the fair and impartial administration of justice for all Americans, the Department of Justice is committed to fostering a diverse and inclusive work environment. To build and retain a workforce that reflects the diverse experiences and perspectives of the American people, we welcome applicants from the many communities, identities, races, ethnicities, backgrounds, abilities, religions, and cultures of the United States who share our commitment to public service.