Official Court Reporter
The United States District Court for the Western District of Texas is seeking qualified applicants for the full-time position of Official Court Reporter in the San Antonio divisional office. An official court reporter is responsible for the verbatim reporting of proceedings held before United States District Judges and Magistrate Judges and for the transcription of those proceedings upon request. Occasional travel will be required as the Court is designated to preside in other locations throughout the Western District of Texas.
Responsibilities
- Attend and record verbatim court sessions for both civil and criminal proceedings; read back portions of court record as required.
- Provide transcripts within the time and cost limitations set by the Judicial Conference; electronically file with the Clerk of Court a copy of all transcripts prepared concurrently with delivery to the requesting parties.
- Provide transcripts and/or a Realtime feed to the Court upon request, without charge.
- Perform administrative duties as required, such as billing for transcripts, financial and other record keeping, preparation and filing of required Administrative Office reports, and responding to official correspondence and telephone calls.
- Maintain and safeguard records until they are disposed of according to statutory requirements and national and local policies.
- Adhere to the requirements of The Guide to Judiciary Policy, Volume VI, as well as the Court's local Court Reporter Management Plan.
- Perform other duties as assigned.
Qualifications & Preferred Qualifications
- Must possess a minimum of at least one (1) year of prime court reporting experience in a court, or in the freelance field of service or a combination thereof.
- Must have passed the Registered Professional Reporters (RPR) examination administered by the National Court Reporters Association (NCRA) or passed an equivalent qualifying examination*.
- Realtime court reporting proficiency, Realtime certification is preferred.
- Must own or be willing to purchase, upon entry on duty, realtime court reporting equipment.
- Excellent organizational and communication skills to permit the production of transcripts within strict time limitations.
- Work well under pressure and be willing to work as part of a team of court reporters fulfilling the needs of all judicial officers of the Court.
- Must possess tact, good judgement, poise, initiative, and always maintain a professional appearance and demeanor.
*Equivalent Qualifying Examination - Professional associations (other than the NCRA) and state license examinations may be acceptably equivalent to the NCRA testing, but the requirements for the examinations at the time of administration should be evaluated on a case-by-case basis as the requirements change from time-to-time.
PREFERRED QUALIFICATIONS AND CERTIFICATIONS
- Registered Professional Reporters (RPR) or equivalent qualifying exam.
- Reporters who possess a Certificate of Registered Merit Reporter (RMR) or are a Certified Realtime Reporter (CRR) from NCRA or have passed an equivalent qualifying exam.
- Reporters with prior federal court experience.
COMPENSATION
CRLEVEL1:$95,898 (minimum qualifications)
CRLEVEL2:$100,693(requires merit certification)*
CRLEVEL3:$105,489 (requires realtime certification)**
CRLEVEL4:$110,282 (requires realtime and merit certification)
CRLEVEL5:$115,078 (current Federal Official Court Reporter hired before October 11, 2009, with longevity: minimum of ten years Federal Service; Merit and Realtime Certification by NCRA)
*Merit Certification (RMR): Registered merit reporter certificate from NCRA
**Realtime Certification (CRR): Successful completion of a certified realtime examination by NCRA
In addition to the starting salary for court reporters set by the Judicial Conference, an official court reporter is entitled to transcript fees from any party who has contracted with the court reporter for transcript services. The following link provides further information on the Federal Court Reporting Program transcripts.