Making the Record Committee - Final report - Wisconsin Court System

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all districts. This should include vendor demonstrations and product testing inselected courtrooms.Once the analog audio recording systems are replaced in counties, it is expected thatthe current informal system will continue whereby clerk of circuit court staff operatethe recording system. It also is expected that Director of State Courts Office staff inconjunction with the district court administrators will provide training to counties onoperating the digital recorders.Qualifications of Certified Court Reporters2. If the Director of State Courts determines stenomask/voice writing reporting is aviable means of making the record and can meet existing Supreme Courtstandards, recommend the Director of State Courts, beginning no later than July 1,2004:• Revise the Wisconsin Court System’s personnel policies to allow stenomaskreporters and voice writers certified by the National Verbatim ReportersAssociation (NVRA) to be hired as official court reporters.• Revise the contracts entered into with freelance court reporters to allowuncertified or certified stenomask or voice writer reporters to provide freelancecourt reporting services to the Wisconsin circuit courts.• Conduct national recruitment efforts to announce the Wisconsin CourtSystem’s interest in hiring certified stenomask reporters/voice writers.3. Recommend the Paperless Court Reporting Committee reconvene as soon aspracticable to consider this committee’s recommendations.Discussion: While the terms are often used interchangeably, the National CourtReporters Association (NCRA) in its Blue Ribbon Commission Final Report onVoice Technology defined stenomask reporting as the traditional method in which norealtime is provided and no voice recognition is utilized, while voice writing includesthe use of voice recognition software. The NVRA certification standards, for bothstenomask reporters and voice writers, are comparable to the NCRA standards (seeAppendix III). The NVRA website as of February 16, 2004 lists 903 certified voicewriters in 35 states, Washington, D.C., Puerto Rico and Canada. Most are in southernstates, although Michigan has 11 voice writers listed. None are listed in Wisconsin.The Director’s Office conducted a stenomask trial in Spring 2004, which is described12
in Appendix I. [Note: As recommended by the Reciprocity Committee, on April 28,2004, the Director of State Courts accepted the credentials of a certified stenomaskreporter in full substitution for the employment qualifications for a court reporter inthe Wisconsin Court System. Subsequently, the certified stenomask reporter wasoffered and accepted employment as a district reporter in the Tenth Judicial District.]4. Recommend the Director of State Courts expand the definition of certified officialand district court reporter consistent with s. 751.02, Wis. Stats. for employment inthe Wisconsin Court System, to include certified electronic reporters. Expandingthe definition of certified court reporter should include attempts to nationallyadvertise Wisconsin’s interest in this new type of court reporter.5. Recommend the Director of State Courts formally compare the AmericanAssociation of Electronic Reporters and Transcribers’ (AAERT) nationalcertification standards and testing criteria with the national certification standardsand testing criteria followed by the NCRA and NVRA. If AAERT’s nationalcertifications are not comparable, recommend the Director of State Courts developand implement the appropriate policies and procedures to ensure electronicreporters are certified to meet minimum standards for taking and transcribing therecord in Wisconsin’s courtrooms in addition to ensuring electronic reporters areappropriately placed within the Court System’s classification and compensationstructure.6. Recommend the Office of Judicial Education explore the feasibility of includingtraining on the new court reporting technologies for members of the judiciary at afuture Judicial Conference or other appropriate judicial education sessions.Discussion: Not only do these recommendations maintain a judge’s authority toappoint a certified official court reporter, these recommendations assume that stateemployedcourt reporters will continue to provide their own means of production,whether stenographic, voice writing or electronic. Further, all court reporters,whether stenographic, voice writing or electronic, will continue to prepare and certifytranscripts and be allowed to retain their transcript income.The AAERT offers three certifications: certified electronic court reporter (CER),certified electronic court transcriber (CET), and certified electronic court reporter andtranscriber (CERT). A person would need to have CERT certification, whosestandards appear comparable to stenographic court reporter certification standards, tomeet the proposed Wisconsin requirements. The standards for NCRA, NVRA andAAERT certifications can be found in Appendix III.13
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 12 and 13: his or her official court reporter
Page 14 and 15: the last few years the Illinois cou
Page 16 and 17: Due in large part to increased recr
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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