Making the Record Committee - Final report - Wisconsin Court System

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Committee Mission StatementAfter reviewing its charge by the Chief Judges and the work of previous committees andstudies, the Making the Record Committee adopted the following as its mission at itsOctober 2003 meeting:In response to the perceived looming shortage of certified court reportersfor Wisconsin circuit courts, gather and analyze information on projectedfuture court reporter availability and alternative technologies for makingthe court record, and recommend a vision for making and preserving anaccurate and timely court record in the short and long term.As part of this mission, the committee affirmed that it was not created to find analternative to the present system but to explore alternatives if the present system cannotbe maintained. In light of the Governor’s 1995-1997 biennial budget recommendationsconcerning court reporting, including a proposal to eliminate the ability of circuit courtjudges to appoint a court reporter (Appendix I describes these budget deliberations inmore detail), the committee also affirmed that the court system must be the institution todevelop alternative means of making the record. Making, preserving and reporting therecord is a basic function of court operations. Since the courts, as an institution, knowbest what is necessary to make and preserve the record, the courts must be the institutionto plan for and implement changes in court operations relative to making the record.Current System of Making the RecordCurrently, Wisconsin’s circuit courts rely primarily on stenographic court reporters,certified under rigorous national standards, to make the court record, preserve the recordand, when requested, produce a timely and accurate transcription of the record. Understate law, each circuit judge may appoint and supervise one full-time certified officialcourt reporter to work at his or her pleasure (s.751.02, Wis. Stats.). There are 241 officialcourt reporter positions (the number of persons who are official court reporters is higherbecause of job sharing).There are also 29.0 district court reporter positions (including a managing court reporterin District 1) in eight of the ten judicial administrative districts. In Districts 2, 3, 5, 6, 8,9 and 10, these district reporters are appointed by the chief judge and supervised andgiven assignments by the district court administrator. These seven districts have a totalof 12.0 district reporter positions, ranging from 0.5 position in District 3 to 5.5 positionsin District 5. The district reporters serve the court when official reporters are notavailable for such reasons as vacancies, sick leave, vacation, and workload assistance as2
equested under Trial Court Administrative Rule 9 and administrative assignments suchas attendance at court meetings.District 1 uses 16 district court reporters, under the direct supervision of the managingcourt reporter, who are scheduled on a rotating basis to provide reporting services to the47 branches of Circuit Court in Milwaukee County. These reporters, appointed by theChief Judge, are assigned to provide vacation and sick leave coverage for all courts,together with workload assistance to court reporters in the 22 branches of criminal court.In addition, they provide reporting services for lengthy or daily copy civil trials, juveniletermination of parental rights trials, preliminary hearings, mental commitment hearings,default divorces and search warrants. Five of the district reporters are certified real-timereporters who also provide real-time services to hearing impaired court participantspursuant to the Americans With Disabilities Act (ADA). When district reporters are noton the record, they are required to be on call to the managing court reporter foremergency court coverage.Official and district circuit court reporters are state employees, receiving state-establishedsalaries and fringe benefits. District court administrators are responsible for attemptingto locate a district or substitute official court reporter to maintain coverage for courtproceedings when the official court reporter is not available. When neither an official nordistrict reporter is available, district court administrators are responsible for approvingand assigning freelance court reporters, under contract with the Director of State CourtsOffice, to provide reporting services. Because of recent years’ budget cuts, the use offreelance reporters has been significantly reduced: expenditures for freelance reportersdropped over 29% from state fiscal year 2000-2001 to state fiscal year 2002-2003.The primary function of the court reporter is to make and preserve the record and to latertranscribe it when necessary. When a transcript is requested, the court reporter who madethe record, whether official, district or freelance, is responsible for preparing an accurateand timely transcript. Because the reporter is expected to work on transcripts on his orher personal time, the transcribing reporter charges statutorily-set transcript fees for theseservices and retains the transcript revenue. When prepared by a state-employed courtreporter, these revenues are to be reported to the Director of State Courts and are treatedas wages for tax and retirement contribution purposes.Currently, the vacancy rate for official and district court reporters is relatively low. Ofthe 270 official and district court reporter positions, as of February 16, 2004, there were3.7 vacancies, a 1.4% vacancy rate. In comparison, for budgeting purposes an annual 3%vacancy rate is assumed for all state executive branch agencies. There were an additional2.3 court reporter positions in leave of absence or leave without pay status.3
Page 1: CHIEF JUDGES’MAKING THERECORDCOMM
Page 5: CHIEF JUDGES’ MAKING THE RECORD C
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 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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