A court reporter, court stenographer, or shorthand reporter is a person whose occupation is to capture the live testimony in proceedings using a stenographic machine or a stenomask, thereby transforming the proceedings into an official certified transcript by nature of their training, certification, and usually licensure. This can include courtroom hearings and trials, depositions and discoveries, sworn statements, and more.
United States
The court reporter in some states is a notary by virtue of their state licensing, and a notary public is authorized to administer oaths to witnesses and who certifies that their transcript of the proceedings is a verbatim account of what was said—unlike a court recorder, who only operates recording machinery and sends the audio files for transcription over the internet. Many states require a court reporter to hold a certification obtained through the National Court Reporters Association or the National Verbatim Reporters Association; some others require their own state-specific licensing or certification.
Skills and training
It typically takes anywhere from two to four years to learn the basic skills to become a stenographic court reporter. Applicants first learn to use the steno keyboard, which takes the most time, and heavy academic training is also required. Candidates usually attend specialized certificate courses at private business schools or sometimes associate's or bachelor's degree programs at accredited colleges or universities. Distance learning and online training courses are also available. After additional on-the-job training and experience, many court reporters then move on to realtime reporting.
Licensing
Most states require that court reporters obtain a license via examination before being allowed to practice in that respective state. Examinations include writing speed tests at 180 wpm, 200 wpm and 225 wpm, and a written examination to demonstrate proficiency in English, grammar, medical terminology, legal terminology, courtroom decorum, the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure Rule 30, court reporting procedure and ethics.
Licensed court reporters are required to attend yearly continuing education courses of at least 10 hours in order to maintain active licensure.
Professional associations and licensing entities
The National Court Reporters Association (NCRA) is a national stenographic court reporting association in the United States. Stenographers can also join the National Verbatim Reporters Association (NVRA), a professional organization dedicated to the practice of voice writing, which is another method used to take down court proceedings in certain states. For court recorders who operate audio equipment, there is the American Association of Electronic Reporters and Transcribers (AAERT). Court reporters, voice writers, and transcribers must pass both a written and practical examination.
The NCRA offers the title Registered Professional Reporter (RPR) to those who pass a four-part examination, including a three-part skills exam and a written exam, and participate in continuing education programs. A court reporter may obtain additional prestigious certifications that demonstrate an even higher level of competency such as Registered Merit Reporter (RMR), Certified Real-time Reporter (CRR), Certified Realtime Captioner (CRC), or Certificate of Merit (CM), Certified Broadcast Captioner (CBC), and Certified CART Provider (CCP). In 2004, Mark Kislingbury secured the title of fastest realtime court reporter through Guinness World Records by writing 360 words per minute on his stenographic machine.
The AAERT offers electronic recorders and transcribers three certifications: certified electronic recorder (CER), certified electronic transcriber (CET), and certified electronic recorder and transcriber (CERT) for setup and use of basic recording equipment. Transcription, however, is not performed by the court recorder in most cases. The International Alliance of Professional Reporters and Transcribers (IAPRT.org) is a member-based not-for-profit consortium engaged in the ongoing development of digital court recording and transcription, and guiding public and private court recording paraprofessionals worldwide toward the goal of producing as much of a verbatim and verifiable record as possible given the number of limits of even modern-day recording equipment. The NVRA offers the title Certified Verbatim Reporter (CVR) to voice writers who pass a four-part examination, including both a skills and written exam, and participate in continuing education programs.