by Jim J Jones

Created on: June 17, 2010

A vital principle in American law is that of the right to a public trial, a right that might even be more accurately characterized as a duty, given that it can not be waived. A vital part of the a public trial (and of the American appeals process) is the written trial transcript. To that end, the federal court system and the state court systems have court reporters sitting in on every trial, taking down every word that is spoken. To ensure the accuracy of the court reporters' trial transcript, both the state and federal systems have accuracy requirements, specifically mandates that the reporters' abilities be certified by some outside agency.

Mississipi has a Board for the Certification of Court Reporters. The Board was established by an Act of the state legislature, and is empowered to make a determination as to who is qualified to be a court reporter and who is not. To receive a packet of information about what the test is, what the job requirements are for a court reporter, and what the pay is, the Board charges a nonrefundable fee of $5. Upon receiving the materials (whose contents will be detailed here, in general terms), you have the option of applying to be a court reporter. The first step is to fill out a fairly standard set of papers explaining who you are, where you live, etc. You also have a to pay a nonrefundable fee of $100. Once you have done this, they will screen you based on age (they do not accept applicants under the age of 21) and criminal record (you must be of "good moral character").

The test consists of

"5 minutes of 2 voice (Question and Answer) dictation of testimony given at 225 words per minute, 5 minutes of dictation of jury charge given at 200 words per minute, and 5 minutes of dictation of selected literary material given at 180 words per minute. Each of these legs will have one minute of warm up material. Each applicant shall personally take down the test, either in his/her own writing (or by stenotype machine) or his/her own voice, and reduce to writing the takedown on a typewriter, word processor or CAT (computer aided transcription) equipment."

Alternatively, if the court reporter has not been certified by this method, he may try to become certified by offering proof of having taken a test that demonstrates his ability to type with 95% accuracy a recording of two voices doing a questions and answer session at a rate of at least 200 words per minute.

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