A salary of up to $121,388 and a hiring bonus of $27,000 apparently aren’t enough to fill a Superior Court court reporter position that has been vacant for almost a year.
“It is strange that we don’t have at least somebody out there who’s interested,” Superior Court of San Benito County Executive Officer Tim Newman told BenitoLink. “We’ve had a couple people who are interested, but then they’ve backed off.”
Newman said a lack of awareness of one of the higher paid positions in the court system is one factor in not being able to fill the role.
But San Benito County is not alone. There is a statewide shortage of court reporters and it’s impacting court operations.
More than 1.7 million hearings in unlimited civil, family law, and probate proceedings have been held without a verbatim record since January 1, 2023, according to the Judicial Branch of California
California courts need an additional 428 full-time court reporters to meet the demand of the current caseload, the website states.
There are many reasons for the shortage of court reporters across the state, and specifically in San Benito county, according to Newman.
Newman cited a mass retirement of current court reporters, the unpredictability of the profession’s future due to technology and the difficulty of the job.
To become a court reporter, an applicant must pass a licensing exam which includes both dictation and written components. The dictation portion requires 95% accuracy for transcriptions, according to the Court Reporters Board of California.
Currently, electronic recording of trials is only available for misdemeanors or infractions, according to the Judicial Branch of California.
However, there is currently a case before the California Supreme Court which seeks a broader use of electronic recording, arguing that a lack of access to transcription recordings violates the due process rights of California citizens.
Newman said that, while the state Supreme Court considers the case, the local court’s top priority is to use court reporters for felony cases, but it means that family cases are often left without any transcript.
“The parties often need to have some documentation following the hearing about what was ordered by the judge, and not having the ability to request a transcript can be disadvantageous,” he said.
He noted that because the court has to compete with private law firms for court reporters, the court is forced to reduce the number of days that felony trials can be heard each week. Having an in-house reporter would provide more flexibility in scheduling hearings, he said.
“As a public agency, or public organization, we don’t have unlimited resources to be able to compete with private law firms,” he said. “We’re dealing with taxpayer money and we want to be responsible about the use of those funds.”
Other counties in the region, Newman said, are finding solutions to alleviate some of the stress on the system, such as condensing felony trials to only certain courthouses to reduce commuting time for their court reporters.
Some California communities are experimenting with other strategies. West Valley College, a local community college in Saratoga, offers a tuition-free court reporting program that offers preparation for state and national licensure.
The program “prepares students for required certifications such as the California Court Reporters Board licensure exam and National Court Reporters Association and National Verbatim Reporters Association certifications,” according to the certificate description.
And while technology continues to be a looming threat to a profession such as court reporting, Newman said there is still security in the career path.
“More recently there’s been an emergence of reporters in the form of voice writers,” said Newman. “Santa Cruz has hired a couple of voice writers in the last couple of years as an alternative to stenographers, or certified shorthand reporters.”
As for what San Benito County Superior Court has planned, Newman said all they can do is get the word out about the need for a court reporter and hope for the best.
“The cards are kind of stacked against us,” he said.
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