Administrative clerk Kevin Rothermel streamlines Queens’ record-keeping process

Rothermel and another staffer in the records room during one of his first years as a courthouse employee. Photo courtesy of Kevin Rothermel.

By Rachel Vick

For more than three decades, Kevin Rothermel has worked at the Queens Supreme Courthouse, moving from the records room through many of the court’s 15 different departments since he first broke in at age 18.

Rothermel started fresh out of high school after his father, a court officer, suggested he pursue a court job. He expected to move on in six months, but 35 years later, he’s still there.

“It’s the ability to work in multiple departments and constantly learn something different, to do [the work that goes into projects] that’s allowed me to stay for this amount of time,” Rothermel said.

He said that courthouse workers typically stick around for the same reason: change keeps things interesting. People who are motivated to keep learning, stay.

As administrator of the County Clerk’s office, Rothermel oversees various projects including the imaging of court records, an immense undertaking that began in 2000, and the digitization of clerical processes across the department. 

The initiatives involve scanning documents in, file by file, and assigning clerical staff to different roles.

Eventually, the team was able to close the physical record room and maintain an entirely digital record room that allows multiple people to access files at once. Today, every member of the county clerk staff has a scanner to digitize documents. The courthouse also has a system that lets clerks certify and reupload documents entirely from their computers.

Ease of use is key, and changes that might seem obvious and may unnoticed can save hours of work, Rothermel said. 

A new spreadsheet program, fiscal system overhaul and the digitization of jury records allowed the court to reallocate funds to keep up with digital efforts, for example. 

“It’s time to use all the available technology,” he said. “If it saves one salary in a year, the project is worth it.”

Rothermel’s efforts to bring the courts administrative practices into the 21st century extended to the Manhattan courts, where he temporarily ran both administrative programs after staff in the Manhattan County Clerk’s Office retired. He brought over the digital and fiscal programs and used some of the more experienced Queens employees to help with the transition, he said. 

“I just love projects,” he said. “I tried to mirror the system from Queens.” 

The Clerk’s Office provides plenty of opportunities to tackle fresh projects, he added.

“I think if it's the same thing everyday, employees would get bored and look to transfer out,” Rothermel said. “There’s so much institutional knowledge in some of the employees and you can't write down everything you do. I’ve been here almost 35 years and there are documents that come in that I've never seen before and have to look up. Once you lose someone who has been in the system for multiple years you lose a lot of knowledge.” 

Rothermel looked ahead to future endeavors and said he wants to see census files and non-confidential cases digitized. Those projects will happen once the court staff works through a system to ensure documents are secure and the system is user-friendly, he said.

The ability to review case files from the comfort of one’s home will alleviate some of the stress of coming to court, he said.

Rothermel said his time in court has taught him that everyone faces their own complicated circumstances. He does his best to help the people of Queens, he added.

“You'll hear stories from the public and think, ‘I can’t believe this happened or that happened.’” he said. “You have to realize that someone has problems you might have to help them with, and realize that there are people who need help especially in the court system, and do your best to help them.”