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SB-662 Courts: court reporters.(2023-2024)

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Date Published: 04/27/2023 09:00 PM
SB662:v97#DOCUMENT

Amended  IN  Senate  April 27, 2023
Amended  IN  Senate  March 20, 2023

CALIFORNIA LEGISLATURE— 2023–2024 REGULAR SESSION

Senate Bill
No. 662

Introduced by Senator Rubio

February 16, 2023

An act to add Section 8028 8023.3 to the Business and Professions Code, and to amend Section 69957 of, and to add Section 69957.5 to, the Government Code, relating to courts.


LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST


SB 662, as amended, Rubio. Courts: court reporters.
Existing law establishes the Court Reporters Board of California to license and regulate shorthand reporters. Existing law establishes that a person who holds a valid certificate as a shorthand reporter shall be known as a “certified shorthand reporter,” and prohibits any other person, except as specified, from using that title or any words or symbols that indicate or tend to indicate that they are a certified shorthand reporter. A violation of the provisions regulating shorthand reporters is a misdemeanor. reporter.” Existing law requires an individual to have satisfactorily passed an examination, as prescribed by the board, in order to be certified as a shorthand reporter.

This bill would authorize the board to issue a provisional certificate, that would be valid for 3 years, to an individual who has passed the Registered Professional Reporter examination administered by the National Court Reporters Association or who is eligible to take the examination to become a certified shorthand reporter approved by the board, as specified. By expanding the scope of a crime, this bill would impose a state-mandated local program.

This bill would require the board, in consultation with the Office of Professional Examination Services of the Department of Consumer Affairs, to evaluate the necessity of requiring applicants who have passed either the National Court Reporters Association’s or the National Verbatim Reporters Association’s certification examination to demonstrate competency as a certified shorthand reporter. The bill would require the board to submit its findings to the appropriate policy committees of the Legislature on or before June 1, 2024. The bill would authorize the board to replace the state-specific examination requirement with the National Court Reporters Association’s or the National Verbatim Reporters Association’s certification examination if the board concludes that the current state-specific examination is not necessary to establish a minimum level of competency of shorthand reporters and that the examination poses a barrier to licensure as a shorthand reporter.
Existing law authorizes a superior court to appoint official reporters and official reporters pro tempore as deemed necessary for the performance of the duties of the court and its members. Existing law also authorizes a court to use electronic recording equipment to record an action or proceeding in a limited civil case, or a misdemeanor or infraction case, if an official reporter or an official reporter pro tempore is unavailable.
This bill would instead permit a court to electronically record any civil case if approved electronic recording equipment is available. The bill would require a court to provide a certified shorthand reporter, as defined, the right of first refusal to transcribe an electronically reported proceeding. The bill would additionally require that the court make every effort to hire a court reporter before electing to electronically record the action or proceedings pursuant to these provisions.
Existing law appropriated $30,000,000 in both the 2021–22 and 2022–23 fiscal years to the Judicial Council to be allocated to courts to increase the number of official court reporters in family and civil law cases, as specified.
The bill would require the Judicial Council to collect information from courts regarding how they are utilizing funds appropriated to recruit and hire court reporters. The bill would require, beginning January 1, 2025, and annually thereafter until all such funds are expended, the Judicial Council to report to the Legislature the efforts courts have taken to hire and retain court reporters and how the funds appropriated for this purpose have been spent.

The California Constitution requires the state to reimburse local agencies and school districts for certain costs mandated by the state. Statutory provisions establish procedures for making that reimbursement.

This bill would provide that no reimbursement is required by this act for a specified reason.

Vote: MAJORITY   Appropriation: NO   Fiscal Committee: YES   Local Program: YESNO  

The people of the State of California do enact as follows:


SECTION 1.

 The Legislature finds and declares all of the following:
(a) There is a fundamental right to a verbatim record of any court proceeding because without an accurate record, litigants may not understand what the judge has ordered.
(b) The lack of a verbatim record of court proceedings may result in attorneys declining to take cases on appeal or may result in law enforcement being unable to enforce, among others, active restraining orders or child custody and visitation orders.
(c) Many Californians, regardless of income, are navigating critical civil legal issues without legal representation or meaningful legal assistance. Nearly 90 percent of people facing eviction are unrepresented, and one or both parties are unrepresented in 70 percent of family law cases. The problem is worse for low-income Californians, particularly communities of color, tribal communities, rural Californians, those with disabilities, those who are limited English proficient, seniors, and people who have experienced domestic violence or sexual assault.
(d) Under existing law, the verbatim record may only be captured and transcribed by a certified shorthand reporter (CSR) in California courts, however, since 2013, an exception has been made to allow electronic recording in eviction cases, small claims court, traffic court, and misdemeanor criminal cases.
(e) A CSR is required to be provided in felony criminal cases and juvenile justice and dependency cases. In all other types of cases, the court is not required to provide a CSR, except upon the request of an indigent litigant. Parties may arrange for the services of a court reporter in all other cases, at an average cost of $3,300 per day.
(f) California courts currently employ about 1,200 full-time court reporters. To provide CSRs in mandated cases, courts estimate they will need to hire approximately 650 new court reporters. Over 50 percent of California courts have reported that they do not have CSRs to routinely cover nonmandated cases, including civil, family law, and probate cases, and over 30 percent can never provide CSRs in those cases. Currently, 74.5 percent of courts are actively recruiting official court reporters to fill vacancies throughout California, with 102 court reporter vacancies for the Los Angeles County Superior Court alone.
(g) Although indigent litigants are entitled to a CSR free of charge, courts are increasingly unable to fulfill those requests. Instead, indigent litigants, including those seeking domestic violence restraining orders, emergency custody orders, and elder abuse and civil harassment protection orders, are forced to choose whether to proceed with their matter without a verbatim record or to return to court at a later date when a CSR may be available.
(h) In 2022, the Legislature appropriated $32,000,000 for courts to recruit, hire, and retain CSRs. These funds are meant for courts to offer salary raises, bonuses, and educational benefits to incentivize becoming a court reporter. According to the preliminary fiscal year 2022–23 Schedule 7A, court-employed reporters’ median total salary and benefits is are an estimated $184,184. This is significantly lower than the cost to hire a court reporter through a private company at $2,580 per day for a deposition and $3,300 per day for a trial, on average. Additionally, transcripts must be purchased from court reporters. In 2021, the Legislature increased the statutory transcript fees by approximately 30 percent. In the 2021–22 fiscal year, California courts spent $18,400,000 on transcripts.
(i) Courts must compete with the private market for CSR services and these services are required, on a daily basis, for thousands of non-court proceedings, including depositions, administrative hearings, arbitration hearings, and cases being heard by private judges.
(j) In 2022, there were 5,605 active CSRs of whom 4,829 listed an address in California. The number of licensed CSRs has been steadily dropping from 8,004 in 2000, to 7,503 in 2010, to 6,085 in 2020, representing a 30-percent decline since 2000.
(k) According to the National Court Reporters Association, the average court reporter is 55 years of age. In California, 44 percent of all licenses were issued 30 years ago or more.
(l) Applications to take the CSR licensing exam have declined, and the passage rate is low. In 2018, 369 individuals took the licensing exam, and in 2021, only 175 individuals took the exam. Of those, only 40 individuals passed. In 2015, 96 licenses were issued, and in 2021, only 39 licenses were issued. Currently, only 8 court reporter training programs remain in California, down from 16 programs in 2011.
(m) In January and February of 2023 alone, the Los Angeles County Superior Court was unable to provide a CSR in 52,000 nonmandated civil, family, and probate cases. According to calculations by the court, this will result in over 300,000 cases going without a record this year.
(n) Where electronic recording is permitted, California has implemented stringent technical standards to ensure the recordings are of high quality and can be transcribed for use to craft orders, provide meaningful access to an appeal, and for use in future proceedings to enforce or modify a court’s prior orders.
(o) Electronic recordings are subject to the same privacy, protection protection, and storage requirements as all other digital records held by California courts, and all California courts are required to maintain digital court files.
(p) The Court Reporters Board of California should allocate funding toward recruitment and retention by publicizing the profession to high schools, vocational schools, and higher education institutions.
(q) Courts are encouraged to provide senior CSRs as mentors to provisionally licensed CSRs until the expiration of the provisional license and ensure that courts continue to recruit, hire, and retain CSRs to the fullest extent possible.
SEC. 2.Section 8028 is added to the Business and Professions Code, to read:
8028.

(a)The board may issue a provisional certificate to perform the duties of a certified shorthand reporter in a court in this state to an individual who meets either of the following:

(1)The individual has passed the Registered Professional Reporter examination administered by the National Court Reporters Association.

(2)The individual is eligible to take the examination approved by the board pursuant to Section 8020.

(b)A provisional certificate issued under this section shall terminate three years from the date of issuance and may not be renewed.

SEC. 2.

 Section 8023.3 is added to the Business and Professions Code, to read:

8023.3.
 (a) The board, in consultation with the Office of Professional Examination Services of the Department of Consumer Affairs, shall conduct a review of the examination required for licensure, including all three parts required under Section 2420 of Title 16 of the California Code of Regulations to evaluate the necessity of requiring applicants who have passed either the National Court Reporters Association’s or the National Verbatim Reporters Association’s certification examination to demonstrate competency as a certified shorthand reporter.
(b) The board shall evaluate whether the examination pursuant to Section 2420 of Title 16 of the California Code of Regulations should be replaced with acceptance of the National Court Reporters Association’s or the National Verbatim Reporters Association’s certification examination to establish proficiency in machine shorthand reporting or voice writing required for licensure.
(c) The board shall submit its findings to the appropriate policy committees of the Legislature on or before June 1, 2024, during its regular Joint Sunset Review Oversight Hearings.
(d) Notwithstanding any other law, if the board, following the evaluation conducted pursuant to subdivision (a), concludes that the California-specific examination is not necessary to establish a minimum level of competency of shorthand reporters and that the examination poses a barrier to licensure as a shorthand reporter, the board may vote to replace the examination with the National Court Reporters Association’s or the National Verbatim Reporters Association’s certification examination. Until that time, the board may otherwise revise its examination requirements based on the evaluation conducted pursuant to subdivision (a).

SEC. 3.

 Section 69957 of the Government Code is amended to read:

69957.
 (a) If an official reporter or an official reporter pro tempore is unavailable to report an action or proceeding in a court, subject to the availability of approved equipment and equipment monitors, the court may order that, in any civil case, or a misdemeanor or infraction case, the action or proceeding be electronically recorded, including all the testimony, the objections made, the ruling of the court, the exceptions taken, all arraignments, pleas, and sentences of defendants in criminal cases, the arguments of the attorneys to the jury, and all statements and remarks made and oral instructions given by the judge. A transcript derived from an electronic recording may be utilized whenever a transcript of court proceedings is required. Transcripts derived from electronic recordings shall include a designation of “inaudible” or “unintelligible” for those portions of the recording that contain no audible sound or are not discernible. The electronic recording device and appurtenant equipment shall be of a type approved by the Judicial Council for courtroom use and shall only be purchased for use as provided by this section. A court shall not expend funds for or use electronic recording technology or equipment to make an unofficial record of an action or proceeding, including for purposes of judicial notetaking, or to make the official record of an action or proceeding in circumstances not authorized by this section.
(b) If a transcript of court proceedings is requested, the court shall provide a certified shorthand reporter the right of first refusal to transcribe the electronically recorded proceeding. For the purposes of this section, “certified shorthand reporter” means the same as in Section 8018 of the Business and Professions Code and includes an individual with a provisional certificate issued pursuant to Section 8028 of the Business and Professions Code. Code.
(c) The court shall make every effort to hire a court reporter for an action or proceeding before electing to have the action or proceeding be electronically recorded pursuant to subdivision (a).
(d) Notwithstanding subdivision (a), a court may use electronic recording equipment for the internal personnel purpose of monitoring the performance of subordinate judicial officers, as defined in Section 71601 of the Government Code, hearing officers, and temporary judges while proceedings are conducted in the courtroom, if notice is provided to the subordinate judicial officer, hearing officer, or temporary judge, and to the litigants, that the proceeding may be recorded for that purpose. An electronic recording made for the purpose of monitoring that performance shall not be used for any other purpose and shall not be made publicly available. Any recording made pursuant to this subdivision shall be destroyed two years after the date of the proceeding unless a personnel matter is pending relating to performance of the subordinate judicial officer, hearing officer, or temporary judge.
(e) Prior to purchasing or leasing any electronic recording technology or equipment, a court shall obtain advance approval from the Judicial Council, which may grant that approval only if the use of the technology or equipment will be consistent with this section.
(f) The Judicial Council shall adopt rules and standards regarding the use of electronic recordings to ensure recordings are able to be easily transcribed.

SEC. 4.

 Section 69957.5 is added to the Government Code, to read:

69957.5.
 (a) The Judicial Council shall collect information from courts regarding how they are utilizing funds appropriated to recruit and hire court reporters. Courts shall include whether the court reporters they have hired are court reporters that are returning to court reporting after having left the profession, coming from another court, coming from the private market, or are new to the profession in California.
(b) Beginning January 1, 2025, and annually thereafter until all such funds are expended, the Judicial Council shall report to the Legislature the efforts courts have taken to hire and retain court reporters and how the funds appropriated for this purpose have been spent. The report shall include whether the court reporters that have been hired are court reporters that are returning to court reporting after having left the profession, coming from a different court, coming from the private market, or are new to the profession in California. The report shall comply with Section 9795 of the Government Code.

SEC. 5.

No reimbursement is required by this act pursuant to Section 6 of Article XIII B of the California Constitution because the only costs that may be incurred by a local agency or school district will be incurred because this act creates a new crime or infraction, eliminates a crime or infraction, or changes the penalty for a crime or infraction, within the meaning of Section 17556 of the Government Code, or changes the definition of a crime within the meaning of Section 6 of Article XIII B of the California Constitution.