Making the Record Committee - Final report - Wisconsin Court System

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his or her official court reporter is not only an invaluable resource to judges, but alsoprovides optimum record-making capabilities resulting from the reporter’s familiaritywith his or her judge, courtroom, courtroom procedures and staff, and case types.While the personal appointee status may have limited the optimal use of reporters, severalfactors have increased flexibility and expanded the effective use of reporters’ time andskills. These factors include enactment of Supreme Court Rule 70.245 and Trial CourtAdministration Rule 6 giving chief judges the authority to reassign official courtreporters, development of district policies for this purpose, and increased cooperation ofofficial court reporters and circuit court judges.Given the conclusion that the current system remains the best option and the low vacancyrate for court reporters, one might conclude that the committee’s work is done.Unfortunately, an analysis of data indicates that the current system is in jeopardy due to aprojected shortage of certified court reporters in the near future.Future TrendsThe Chief Judges established the Making the Record Committee in response to theperceived looming shortage of certified court reporters for Wisconsin circuit courts.Rather than relying on anecdotal data, the committee gathered a variety of statistics toassess current and future court reporter trends. The results are not encouraging.Existing Court Reporter Workforce. As of August 28, 2003, 297 court reporters workfull- or part-time as official or district reporters, with ages ranging from 22 years to 65years old. The average age of these reporters by years of service is found in Table 1.Under the Wisconsin Retirement System, a court reporter is eligible to retire and receivea retirement benefit if the person is age 55 or older and has creditable service in at leastfive calendar years. Also, recent law changes allow a person with 20 years of service toresign and bank sick leave credits to use for health insurance payments upon retirement.Previously, one had to be a retiree for such use of sick leave credits. The law change wasintended to encourage career employees to leave state service sooner to decrease statepayroll costs. As shown in Table 1, 31% of court reporters are currently eligible toresign and bank sick leave credits, with another 16% eligible in five years or less. Thisrepresents nearly half of the work force, or 139 persons.6
Table 1Court Reporter Average Age by Years of ServiceYearsofServiceNumber ofCourtReportersPercent ofTotal CourtReportersAverage Age ofCourt ReportersBy Years ofServiceLess than 5 56 18.9% 415 – 9 55 18.5% 4210 – 14 47 15.8% 4315 – 19 48 16.2% 4620 – 24 41 13.8% 4725 – 29 29 9.7% 5330 or More 21 7.1% 56What is perhaps most surprising is the average ages of court reporters with less than 15years of service. The average age for these reporters, who equal 53% of the workforce, is42. Even those with less than five years of state experience average 41 years of age.This likely is a result of many court reporters beginning their careers as freelancereporters or entering the profession later.Overall, the average age of current court reporters is 45. Less than one-fourth (23%) areunder the age of 40; nearly one-third (32%) are 50 or older. Therefore, nearly one-thirdof today’s reporters will be eligible for state retirement within the next five years andover three-fourths will be eligible for retirement in the next 15 years. Coupled with therecent law changes making it financially more viable for experienced reporters to resignbefore retirement age, increasing numbers of reporters are expected to leave state servicein the coming years.The aging of the court reporter population may be a contributing factor in the increasingnumber of days of sick leave and leave without pay. In 2002, there were 11 courtreporter leave requests, with 312.5 workdays missed. In 2003, there were 32 courtreporter leave requests with 1,155 workdays missed. There are also more workercompensation claims dealing with repetitive motion injuries. There is no reason tobelieve that this trend will not continue.Recent Hires. Who are the people currently filling vacancies? An examination of courtreporter hires for January 2002 through August 2003 shows that of 77 hires, only 16(21%) were new hires. This was despite the expectation of applicants from Illinois. Over7
Page 1: CHIEF JUDGES’MAKING THERECORDCOMM
Page 5: CHIEF JUDGES’ MAKING THE RECORD C
Page 8 and 9: Committee Mission StatementAfter re
Page 10 and 11: Despite the low vacancy rate and pr
Page 14 and 15: the last few years the Illinois cou
Page 16 and 17: Due in large part to increased recr
Page 18 and 19: all districts. This should include
Page 20 and 21: Expanding the definition of certifi
Page 22 and 23: lended system. Among the questions
Page 24 and 25: In 1995 Act 27 (the 1995-1997 bienn
Page 26 and 27: court reporter, and for considering
Page 28 and 29: The subcommittee has not as yet bee
Page 30 and 31: APPENDIX IIUSE OF ALTERNATIVE COURT
Page 32: APPENDIX IIStenographic Court Repor

Making the Record Committee - Final report - Wisconsin Court System

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