Bailiff enjoys variety of job minus the TV drama
Jacqueline “Jaye” Ware considers herself a traditional bailiff. 
“I could be defined as an old fashioned bailiff in that I take courtroom conduct and decorum seriously,” Ware said. “It is rare for me to joke or kid around with lawyers or parties in the courtroom as I believe it is essential that the court maintain every appearance of fairness, even more so if there are spectators.”
But she also realizes that putting jurors at ease is an important part of her role.
“I am more relaxed around the jurors, as I think it is important to put them at ease and help them feel valued and appreciated, particularly when they are essentially volunteering their service and time at $10 a day. I make every effort to avoid partiality and to do what is within my power to ensure members of the public contacting the court have a positive encounter and experience,” Ware said.
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Department of Retirement Systems Updates
Benefits, Payroll and Retirement Operations wants to ensure our employees are notified of some important changes regarding their pension plans.
New DRS Employee Rates in 2015
Based on an actuarial review of the state pension plans, the Washington State Pension Funding Council approved a graduated approach to increasing member and employer contributions. This approach will spread out the impact of increased contributions over a number of years while still ensuring the impacted pension plans remain stable and robust. For employees participating in the Public Employees’ Retirement System (PERS), the rate will increase on July 1, 2015, from 4.92% to 6.12%. For the Public Safety Employees’ Retirement System (PSERS), the employee rate will increase on July 1, 2015, from 6.36% to 6.59%. No changes are anticipated for LEOFF. For more information on these rate changes, please click on http://www.drs.wa.gov/news-announcements/.
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Kudos! Detective Edward Christian and Deputy Michael Cavell, King County Sheriff’s Office
A huge thank you to Detective Christian and Deputy Michael Cavell for their concern and prompt response when my cell phone was stolen at Century Link event center before the WSU game on August 28th. These two gentleman jumped right in to help me, and actually figured out who the thief was by doing a quick, intelligent investigation on the spot. Within 90 minutes, they were able to identify the thief, confront her and arrest her; and I got my phone back that evening… Deputy Cavell and Detective Christian… went above and beyond to locate the thief (it was a woman who worked at the event center) and make sure it was returned to me in time to make it to the airport and return to Spokane that evening. All I can say is THANK YOU! Without Detective Christian and Deputy Cavell, I would have lost a $600 iPhone and this thief would continue to burglarize people at the event center. I am so grateful for their willingness to get involved and their intelligence to figure it out. Thank you to the King County Sheriff’s Department–your employees are the BEST!
– Kelly S
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Get matching funds for your Giving Drive events
The Employee Giving Program is getting healthier this year.
Health Match, created in partnership with Healthy Incentives, rewards those who host healthy events during the Annual Giving Drive. 
The two award-winning programs put their heads together to create something that has possibly never been done before in the public sector.
The program promotes healthy EGP events by offering a match pool, where every dollar raised during the event will be stretched. Now, those who host healthy events for the Employee Giving Drive have a reason to host “health approved” events — free money to donate.
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WTD named a Diversity Leader
King County’s Wastewater Treatment Division was recognized as a 2014 diversity leader in engineering and information technology by the magazine Diversity/Careers, joining organizations like IBM, the U.S. Navy and Microsoft.
The woman-owned publication is targeted to women and minority groups interested in careers in engineering and information technology. The magazine asked its online readers to look at a list of companies and organizations to identify which ones exemplified workforce and supplier diversity. Participants had an option to add or delete organizations from the list. 
WTD was one of the five organizations selected under the Engineering, Construction & Infrastructure category. The other organizations under the category were Baker Hughes, CH2M Hill, HNTB, Turner Construction Company and URS Corporation.
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Benefit changes for 2015
Dear Fellow Employee/Union Member:
Recently the Joint Labor and Management Insurance Committee (JLMIC) agreed to modest changes in 2015 benefits that will lower the County’s costs and protect the health of employees and their families.
Last year the County and labor announced a new way of negotiating benefits that allows us to adjust benefits more regularly so we can be more responsive to market conditions. To keep you updated the JLMIC created a website with background on who we are, how we negotiate and what’s happening with health care costs.
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Meet the two newest Superior Court Judges
Meet the two newest Superior Court Judges, Judge Chad Allred and Judge Samuel Chung
Judge Chad Allred
Judge Chad Allred – On May 9, 2014, Governor Jay Inslee appointed Chad Allred to the King County Superior Court bench. Judge Allred assumed the position previously occupied by Judge Trickey, who was appointed to the Washington Court of Appeals.
Judge Allred spent 15 years in private practice, where his litigation experience included trade secrets, tortious interference, securities fraud, racketeering, trust and probate disputes, serious injuries, and some criminal defense. He also developed expertise in the Hague Convention on International Child Abduction and in complex judgment collection. From 1999 forward, Judge Allred volunteered with and supported Open Door Legal Services, which provides free legal help to the homeless in Seattle. He is also an officer in the U.S. Coast Guard Reserve.
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New tool for Mobile Device Management
If you are one of the over 4,000 employees who connect to King County email on a mobile device (mobile phone or tablet) we’d like tell you about a new service coming your way. This service is called Mobile Device Management (MDM) and it is designed to protect both your information and County information on your mobile device. 
You can benefit from this service whether you are using a County-owned or a personal device. Enrollment in the MDM system only takes a few minutes, and with it you get peace of mind by knowing we can help you locate your device if it’s lost or stolen, selectively remove County information from your device which helps to protect King County’s data and network, and even remotely reset the device to factory defaults (upon your request only) should you lose it, which protects your personal information from exposure.
The system will not infringe on your privacy. We don’t track your location, what apps are installed on the device, phone calls, texts, or any personal information.
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Five Questions with Jimmy Hung, Senior Deputy Prosecuting Attorney
1. What was your first role at King County? Ironically (see below), I was a Rule 9 Summer Intern with the Juvenile Unit at the Prosecutor’s Office handling misdemeanor cases.
2. What do you do as Senior Deputy Prosecuting Attorney? I am currently the Chair of our Juvenile Unit and oversee the prosecution of all juvenile criminal matters in King County.
3. What do you like most about your job? The wonderful, dedicated employees of the PAO that I have the privilege of working with every day.
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Nonprofits help to launch Employee Giving Program’s Ambassador Rally
The Seattle nonprofit, Teen Feed, provides meals for homeless youth in the University District 365 days a year, something it is able to do with help from King County’s Employee Giving Program.
Representatives from the Cascade Bicycle Alliance Education Foundation helped to inspire Ambassadors
“You are helping provide [homeless teens] what they need 24 hours a day,” Suzanee Sullivan the Development and Communications Director said at the EGP Ambassador Rally.
The August 26 rally was held in preparation for the Annual Giving Drive that kicks off on September 24, 2014, and to encourage ambassadors to invite non-profit speakers from the thousands of nonprofits connected to EGP into the workplace.
Employee News 