Court Reporters Are Crucial Part Of The Justice System. Here's How A Shortage Is Impacting LA County

Los Angeles County Superior Court is experiencing a significant shortage of court reporters who capture and transcribe live testimony during proceedings. Court officials say this puts some litigants at a disadvantage and could threaten their case outcomes.

How short-staffed is the county?

The L.A. County court system has about 300 court reporters on staff and more than 100 current vacancies.

Executive Officer David Slayton says the drop has been a steady trend over the last several years. Courtrooms that would typically have court reporters taking down verbatim records are left without these workers.

What's driving the shortfall

Court reporting is a very difficult profession to get into, according to Slayton.

"We've seen a number of schools in California close," he said. "We've gone from 16 to 8 just over the past several years."

The test is also difficult to pass. Slayton says the average pass rate is about 20%.

"I think the number of words per minute they have to top is near 200 words per minute for 20 minutes with a high level of accuracy," Slayton said. "It is just very challenging."

Why court reporters are important

An older model stenograph.

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Samantha P. Jessner, presiding judge of the county's superior court system, said court reporters are vital to the people going through the court system.

"Without a verbatim record of what occurred during the proceedings, you're essentially foreclosed from a meaningful right to an appeal," Jessner said.

Impact of tech changes

Jessner said many considering going into the field likely have questions about what technology means for the future of the position.

"There are many jurisdictions in the country where there are no longer court reporters who create the verbatim record," she said. "The proceedings are recorded and we also have what are called voice writers where essentially someone is speaking the going ons in the courtroom into a device that then captures the proceedings."

California law only allows electronic recordings in specific case types, including misdemeanor cases, limited civil cases and infraction cases like traffic tickets.

On the flip side, criminal felony and juvenile matters mandate the use of a certified court reporter. That leaves this middle grey area where court reporters are not required, but electronic recording is prohibited at the same time. Those cases include probate, family law and general civil cases where the amount being contests is more than $25,000.

Legislation has been proposed to expand the use of electronic recording when court reporters are unavailable, but so far has been unsuccessful.

What L.A. County is doing about it

Slayton says the starting salary for a court reporter in L.A. County is $120,000 plus benefits and transcript fees. The court system is offering signing bonuses of $50,000 over two years, as well as offering reimbursements of student loans up to $15,000.

They're also trying to keep current court reporters by offering retention incentives over the next couple years. In addition to the bonus for new hires: Incentives include:

• Up to $15,000 total over two years for court report school and equipment (retroactive to anyone with a start date on or after July 1, 2023.)
• Retention bonuses for current full-time court reporters, ranging from $5,000 for anyone hired after Jan, 31, 2023 who stays through May 1, 2024 and going up to $10,000 for staying through May 1, 2025.
• Court reporters for 25 or more years of service get up to $10,000 for agreeing to stay at least 12 more months.
• Finder’s fee for court employees who refer successful candidates goes to $25,000 from $15,000 — given incrementally over that referral's first full year of employment.

Learn more about the incentives here and apply through the county jobs portal.

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