State to scrutinize question of court reporters

(Sentinel photo by Magdalene Landegent) Mark Sturgeon, of Le Mars, is one of Iowa's 151 official court reporters that would be affected if the Iowa Judicial System decided to switch to digital recording of courtroom cases. [Click to enlarge]

The decision between court reporters and digital recording devices in Iowa's courtroom isn't black and white -- and it won't be made for some time.

That's according to John Goerdt, assistant state court administrator.

Earlier this month, Iowa's Judicial Council reviewed a research committee's report about the accuracy and expense of putting digital recording systems in Iowa's 316 courtrooms.

But the ultimate question, Goerdt said, is yet to be addressed:

Would replacing Iowa's court reporters with recording equipment and qualified support staff save money over the long term?

Currently, court reporters take a verbatim record of courtroom proceedings but also give support to judges.

Mark Sturgeon, an official court reporter in Plymouth County, said on top of his regular duties he types orders, keeps a judge's schedule, answers questions for the public and coordinates their appointments and fills in for other court reporters.

"I've picked up court attendant duties when we lost our court attendant in a round of cuts five or six years ago," Sturgeon added.

Goerdt said another court reporter in Iowa was asked to type a list of his duties and it was a full three pages long.

If court reporters were taken out of the picture, there would be gaps that a digital recording system could not fill, he explained.

"Court reporters know the attorneys, they know the court process," Goerdt said. "To fill that function would take a knowledgeable clerical staff."

The research committee that studied the reliability and cost of digital recording systems agreed.

"Any potential implementation (of digital recording) must provide adequate support staff to monitor and manage the system in the courtroom and provide other critical administrative and clerical support that most court reporters currently provide to the judges," the committee's final report stated.

After reading that report, the judicial council asked State Court Administrator David Boyd to help answer the question of which route would be most cost-effective for the state long-term.

"The (research) committee did not make a finding on the cost-benefit analysis of actually going forward with this -- what kind of support would the judges need, what would that cost, versus the cost of the equipment," Goerdt said.

There is no deadline set at this point, he added.

The debate comes in the midst of a tight budget year for the state court system.

Even if the switchover to digital recording would save money in the long term, it requires an upfront investment to buy and install the equipment in Iowa's 316 courtrooms.

"We don't have any money -- the chief justice laid it out in her State of the Judiciary message," Goerdt said. "And in the meantime we have to keep the courts operating. We need qualified staff out there helping judges. The cases aren't going away."

With a 12 percent cut in court staff statewide in December 2009, staff are spread thin as well.

"Until a year ago, we had one court reporter per full-time judge," Goerdt said. "Now we have 20 percent fewer. We're also down court attendants and law clerks."

Currently Iowa has 151 court reporters serving 189 judges.

"We looked at surrounding states, and we have by far the smallest support staffs," Goerdt said.

Ten of the 18 members of the research committee that studied the reliability and cost of digital court recording signed a letter urging Chief Justice Marsha Ternus and the chief justices to keep court reporters in Iowa.

Plymouth County Attorney Darin Raymond was one of those 10 members.

"In order to maintain the high standard demanded for Iowa appellate review -- an Iowa certified court reporter must be responsible for the record in a felony, juvenile, or civil jury trial," they stated in the Jan. 11 letter.

"Iowa's certified court reporters are an invaluable asset to the state's judicial system," the 10 committee members added.

Implementing digital recording would not cut costs, but would require hiring more support staff, they argued.

Committee members visited several digitally-recorded courtrooms in other states that employed a stenographic court reporter or a certified electronic reporter to manage and monitor the equipment.

"The court employees in those jurisdictions credit the work of court reporters as key to the success of their electronic recording systems," the letter stated.

Beyond the courtroom, the recorder versus reporter debate hits a personal nerve for the 151 court reporters in Iowa that trained specifically for the job.

Sturgeon is one of about 18 court reporters that serve the third judicial district.

Watching the debate unfold isn't pleasant, he said.

"This isn't something where, if the state just replaces us, I'm going to be able to turn around anytime soon and find a job with these kinds of duties and this kind of pay and benefits," Sturgeon said.

The private sector market is tight, he said.

"There's not a lot of work to go around," Sturgeon said. "And if you're talking about 18 more people looking for that work, it isn't going to make it better."