Plain English Breakdown
The official source material contains a blank ('____ days') for the time period used to determine if replacing a shorthand reporter is an unfair labor practice. This number must be filled by future action or was omitted from this version of the bill.
Certifying Digital Reporters and Legal Transcriptionists
AB-1189 creates new certification rules for digital reporters and legal transcriptionists, allows them to record court proceedings and depositions, and adds protections against replacing certified shorthand reporters.
What This Bill Does
- Creates a new certification process for digital reporters who can swear in witnesses and capture records of legal events.
- Establishes a new certification for legal transcriptionists who are allowed to certify transcripts used in court cases.
- Updates rules so depositions may be recorded by either certified shorthand reporters or certified digital recorders.
- Makes it an unfair labor practice for courts to fire a shorthand reporter and replace them with a digital reporter or transcriptionist, creating a presumption of violation if the firing happens within ____ days before or after hiring the new worker.
- Requires the Court Reporters Board of California to set fees for these new certifications, with some money going into the Transcript Reimbursement Fund.
Who It Names or Affects
- Digital reporters seeking certification from the state board.
- Legal transcriptionists who want to certify transcripts for legal use.
- Certified shorthand reporters currently working in courts or on depositions.
- Courts that hire court reporting staff and manage electronic recordings.
Terms To Know
- Digital reporter
- A person certified to use digital equipment to record legal proceedings and swear in witnesses.
- Legal transcriptionist
- A person certified to turn recorded audio into written transcripts for court cases.
- Unfair labor practice
- An action by an employer that breaks rules protecting workers, such as firing someone just to replace them with a different type of worker.
Limits and Unknowns
- The bill text leaves the specific number of days for the replacement rule blank (shown as ____ days).
- The exact fees for certification and renewal are not set in this law; the board must decide them later.
- This summary does not include details on how long it will take to implement these new rules.