NCJ Number
73047
Date Published
1978
Length
254 pages
Annotation
The National Center for State Court's final report focuses on the present state of court reporting services in New Jersey. Specific recommendations for improvement are emphasized.
Abstract
While New Jersey's system for management of court reporting services is one of the most sophisticated in the country, transcripts for cases on appeal average over 100 days from date of order to filing date. Transcript delay occurs for a variety of reasons. Management techniques already available are not being used to their full potential. Thus, it is recommended that the statutory provision for eligibility to be certified as a reporter be lowered from 21 to 18 years of age. Eligibility for certification to be a court reporter should not be limited to those persons trained in the manual shorthand or machine (stenotype) techniques; persons using any accurate reporting method should be eligible to take protest authorized by the administrative office of the courts. Reporter supervisors should be appointed according to explicit criteria established by the administrative office. An orientation session should be available to newly appointed supervisors. The administrative office should develop and utilize software programs for the automated docketing and management information system that provide information more effectively for management and monitoring of transcript production. The 31-day standard for timely transcript preparation should be retained, but its requirements should be more consistently enforced. Timely preparation and submission of transcripts should be a major consideration in the granting of salary increases to reporters. Photocopies instead of carbon copies should be made of transcripts. Entry level court reporter salaries should be increased. Footnotes, tables, grphs, and charts are provided. Tabular data on reporters' salaries, note storage problems, transcript delivery times, and 30 references are included.