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SOUTHEAST TEXAS RECORD

Thursday, March 28, 2024

Texas AG office opines about court recorders amid reporter shortage, per Cherokee County attorney's request

Attorneys & Judges
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Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton | texasattorneygeneral.gov

Texas judges are more likely to appoint traditional court reporters - currently in short supply - than recorders, the Texas Attorney General's office recently opined.

In its four-page June 29 opinion provided at the request of Cherokee County solo practice attorney Dana Norris Young, Attorney General Ken Paxton's office referred to two Texas laws covering salaries for court reporters.

"Neither apply to the position of court recorder, and nothing in either provision provides a basis to conclude that they may apply to other judicial positions," the opinion said. "Thus, as a practical matter, a court should hire and remunerate a court recorder as it does its other staff not covered by these provisions."

The attorney general's office opined about another state law, Government Code 52.041, that requires judges to point official court reporters, saying, "a court is unlikely to conclude that a judge of a court of record may appoint an official court recorder in lieu of an official court reporter."

A court reporter is a stenographic or other similar voice writing professional qualified to  certify a final transcript while a court recorder will usually make a digital recording of a proceeding that is passed onto a transcriptionist.

Texas has for years endured a court reporter shortage.

Paxton, Texas' 51st Attorney General who previously served in the state House and Senate, was first elected Attorney General in November 2014 and was re-elected to a second term in 2018.

Young, a former interim Cherokee County Attorney who maintains a solo practice in Rusk, was admitted to the bar Nov. 3, 1995, according to her profile at the State Bar of Texas website. Her areas of practice include administrative and public, criminal, family, government/administrative, elder, juvenile and civil appellate law.

In her letter to the attorney generals office in December, Young asked whether judges may "appoint an official court recorder in lieu of an official court reporter."

"lf an official court recorder may be appointed in lieu of an official court reporter, do the statutory provisions relating to court reporters apply to court recorders?" Young's letter asked.

Young's request to Paxton referred to the ongoing court reporter shortage "and the need to avoid delays in court proceedings when an official court reporter retires, passes away or is otherwise unavailable."

Young also asked a judge may appoint an official court recorder in lieu of an official court recorder and, if so, what state law has to say about how reporter salary would relate to record pay.

Referring to Code 52.041, the opinion said the law could likely be construed "to impose a mandatory duty on the judge of a court of record to appoint an official court reporter."

The opinion also referred to Young's questions about whether electronic recordings could be made of court proceeding, based on Texas Supreme Court and Texas Court of Criminal Appeals decision and said that could happen.

"However, as a general matter, a court is unlikely to conclude that a judge of a court of record may appoint an official court recorder in lieu of appointing an official court reporter," the opinion said. "This is bolstered by the fact that the Legislature provides for the scenario in which an official court reporter is unable to perform his or her duties, such as in circumstances you describe, by authorizing the judge of the court to 'appoint a deputy court reporter to perform the court reporting services during the absence of the official court reporter'."

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