Clerk, Civil District Court

League of Women Voters^®
of New Orleans

Dale N. Atkins

NAME: Dale Nick Atkins, Incumbent
CONTACT INFORMATION FOR PUBLICATION:
Address: 1515 Poydras Street; Suite 2330
Phone: 504-525-7086
FAX: 504-525-4991
e-mail: da2002dna@aol.com
Website: http://www.orleanscdc.com (website for the Clerk's Office)
PARTY AFFILIATION: Democrat
PROFESSION: Attorney
PRESENT EMPLOYER/POSITION (if self-employed, what type of business): Clerk of Civil District Court
HIGHEST LEVEL OF EDUCATION (include graduation date): Juris Doctorate from Southern Methodist University School of Law, December 1983. B.A. from University of Notre Dame, May 1980.
APPLICABLE TRAINING: I have been the Clerk of Court for 16 years and an attorney for 23 years.
CIVIC EXPERIENCE: Volunteer, Covenant House. Member, Louisiana Recovery Authority. Former Member, YWCA Board of Directors. Chairman, 1990-1991 United Way and Nonprofit Groups. Former Member, American Red Cross Advisory Board. Member, Southern University Board of Supervisors.
POLITICAL EXPERIENCE: I was elected Clerk of Civil District Court in February, 1990.
POLITICAL ORGANIZATION MEMBERSHIPS:
1. What significant challenges does this office face after Katrina?
The significant challenges faced by the Clerk's Office after Hurricane Katrina are:
1. To locate and hire enough staff to return the Clerk's Office to its pre- Katrina personnel numbers.
2. To continue to provide effective and efficient service to the public with a two-third reduction in our pre-Katrina personnel numbers.
2. How could the responsibilities and funding of this office be effectively combined with the duties of the Clerk of Criminal District Court?
The Clerk of Civil District Court's Office is self-financed by filing fees. This office does not receive any money from the State of Louisiana or the City of New Orleans for its operation and employees' salaries. The Clerk of Criminal District Court is financed by the City of New Orleans and the State of Louisiana for its election responsibilities. It would take a change in legislation to combine and/or change the funding sources of the two offices.
It would also take a change in legislation to combine the responsibilities of the two offices that are now separate and distinct.
3. What information or services in this office could go on the Internet and do you have plans to increase on-line access to your office?
The Clerk's Office records database is currently available on-line through our CDC Remote Access Service. Our office is currently going through an updating and conversion of our computer system. The conversion was to be completed by December 2005. Since Hurricane Katrina, we are now scheduled to complete our computer conversion by May 2006. This conversion will allow expanded access to our records database through the Internet.

Comments, suggestions, questions? Contact our webmaster. Last revised: August 26, 2008 04:56 PDT.