Northern District seeking new clerk as Trgovich to retire

The U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Indiana is accepting applications for a new clerk of court in anticipation of a vacancy in the post this summer.

The court announced an opening Monday for a permanent clerk of court position based in the Hammond or South Bend courthouses following the expected retirement of Robert N. Trgovich. He was appointed clerk in 2012.

As the most senior nonjudicial officer of the court, the clerk will work closely with the chief judge in assuring that administrative and operational needs of the court are effectively and efficiently met. The clerk will also work closely with the court’s five active district judges, four senior district judges, four full-time magistrate judges, and two recalled magistrate judges.

The clerk is also responsible for providing administrative support services in the areas of human resources, systems technology, space, facilities, budget and court staff. Additional duties and responsibilities include working with other federal and local governmental agencies, various bar associations, the public and the media, as well as the statutory duties detailed in 28 U.S.C. § 751.

Applicants must have a minimum 10 years of “progressively responsible” public service or business administrative experience, with at least three of those years having been in a position of substantial management responsibility.

Based on qualifications an experience, salary for the position ranges from $189,427-$216,400 in Hammond and from $170,807-$198,043 in South Bend, according to the court.

Trgovich, who decided to retire after more than 40 years of public service, previously worked in the U.S. Attorneys Office for the Northern District, where he spent nearly 23 years serving in the Fort Wayne and Hammond offices in a wide variety of duties, including supervision. Prior to that, Trgovich worked in the Department of Justice and Internal Revenue Service as a trial attorney and served as a naval officer. He graduated from the Notre Dame Law School in 1979.

“I was going to retire at the end of 2020, but offered to stay an extra (six) months to help the Court work through the impact of the pandemic,” Trgovich told IL in an email.

Trgovich will officially retire on June 30, 2021. Those interested in applying for the position must do so by 5 p.m. ET on Jan. 22 in a single PDF document.

Qualified applicants must submit a cover letter, resume, Application Form AO 78, and contact information for three professional references to [email protected]. More information can be found here.