COURT REPORTERS BOARD OF CALIFORNIA

2535 Capitol Oaks Dr., Suite 230, Sacramento, CA 95833 Tel: (916) 263-3660 / Fax: (916) 263-3664 / http://www.courtreportersboard.ca.gov

FACTS AT A GLANCE

BOARD STAFF

Executive Officer Legislative Contact Yvonne K. Fenner Yvonne K. Fenner

LAWS AND REGULATIONS

Business and Professions Codes §§ 8000 – 8047 Title 16, Division 24, California Code of Regulations §§ 2400 – 2481

Budget Act of 2015: FY 2015-16

Appropriation: $1,117,000 Authorized positions: 4.5

BOARD MEMBERS

Total Members: 5 Public Members: 3 Professional Members: 2

SUNSET REVIEW

Last review: 2013 Inoperative/Repeal date: January 1, 2017

LICENSEE STATISTICS Category Number of Licensees

Certified Shorthand Reporters Board recognized public schools Board recognized private schools

TOTAL LICENSEE POPULATION

6794 7 6 6807

FEES* CERTIFIED SHORTHAND REPORTER ACTUAL FEE STATUTORY LIMIT

Application Fee $40 $40 Initial Licensure Fee $125 $125

TOTAL INITIAL LICENSE FEES $165 Annual Renewal Fee $125 $125

* Some additional fees may be required per Business and Professions Code § 8031

LICENSING REQUIREMENTS

Degree/Professional Schooling Examination Continuing Education/Competency Fingerprinting Requirements YES YES NO YES

DETAILS

PROGRAM BACKGROUND

The Court Reporters Board (Board) was established in 1951 by an act of the Legislature. The Board licenses and disciplines certified shorthand reporters who, as officers of the court, are responsible for competently and neutrally reporting depositions in legal cases as well as court proceedings. The Board ensures the integrity of judicial records by administering a competency test to ensure new court reporters possess the basic skills needed for the job, authorizing the minimum curriculum which court reporting schools offer, and disciplining licensees when necessary. In California, a person can be licensed to work as a court reporter employed by state courts (official reporter) or to act as a deposition officer (freelance reporter). The Board also has oversight of court reporting schools.

Until the 1960s, the Board only authorized certified shorthand reporters to own and operate companies offering court reporting services. In 1972, the Board began registering reporting corporations. In 1972, the Board’s authority was also expanded to give the Board the ability to recognize court reporting schools that set minimum curriculum standards established by the Board. That process was rescinded by AB 2743 (Chapter 1289, Statutes of 1992) when the Board decided that the registration duplicated the filing required by the Secretary of State’s Office, provided no additional benefit or consumer protection, and was an unnecessary expense for businesses. However, SB 26 (Figueroa, Chapter 615, Statutes of 2001) authorized the Board to cite and fine schools for violations of the provisions of Section 8027 of the Business and Professions Code.

The rates charged by freelance reporters and the businesses that employ them are not fixed by statute. That was not the case in the past but a compromise package with the profession, the Legislature and the Governor, eliminated rate regulation in 1981 and created the Transcript Reimbursement Fund (Fund), a special fund paid for by a portion of the court reporters’ licensing fees.

The purpose of the Fund is to reimburse certified shorthand reporters for transcripts produced for indigent litigants in civil cases. Under the program, the Board has paid more than $6 million from the fund. By law, the Fund must begin each fiscal year (July 1) with a minimum balance of $300,000.

In 2011 a Pro Per Pilot Project began which allowed litigants who represent themselves access to the Fund. The Pro Per Program is restricted to a maximum of $30,000 annually paid out for all pro per litigant transcripts, with a cap of $1,500 per case and has been extended to January 1, 2017.

LICENSE REQUIREMENTS – Business and Professions Code § 8020

Applicants must possess a high school level education AND one of the following: • Twelve months (1,400 hours) of full-time work experience in making verbatim records of hearings or judicial or related proceedings on a shorthand writing and transcribing machine; • A passing score on the California State Hearing Reporters Examination; • A verified certificate of satisfactory completion of a prescribed course of study from a California-recognized court reporting school or certification from such school evidencing equivalent proficiency and the ability to make a verbatim record of material dictated;  A National Court Reporters Association Registered Professional Reporter Certificate or Certificate of Merit accompanied by a letter from the National Court Reporters Association stating the original issuance date of the certificate; OR, • A valid certified shorthand reporter’s certificate or license to practice shorthand reporting issued by a state other than California. Only the following state licenses are accepted: Georgia (“A” certificate only, issued after 1990), Nevada, and Texas.

RECIPROCITY

The Board does not offer reciprocity with other states.

BOARD MEMBERS

Name Appointment Expiration Date Appointment Authority/Type

Senate Confirmation

Davina Hurt June 1, 2015 Assembly / Public NO Rosalie Kramm June 1, 2017 Governor / Professional YES Elizabeth Lasensky June 1, 2015 Senate / Public NO John K. Liu June 1, 2016 Governor / Public YES Toni O’Neill (Chair) June 1, 2017 Governor / Professional YES

COMMITTEES

None.

LEGISLATIVE HISTORY SB 823 (Senate Business, Professions and Economic Development Committee,

Chapter 474, Statutes of 2013) was an urgency omnibus bill that restores several provisions related to the Board’s Transcript Reimbursement Fund that were mistakenly allowed to sunset on January 1, 2013.

SB 1236 (Price, Chapter 332, Statutes of 2012) extends the sunset date of the Board to January 1, 2017, and extends the Pro Per Pilot Program of the Transcript Reimbursement Fund to January 1, 2017.

AB 2657 (Calderon, Chapter 170, Statutes of 2012) requires court transcripts derived from electronic recordings to state “inaudible” or “unintelligible” to reflect portions of the proceedings that are not discernible to the transcriber.