• Notify the court officer or bailiff in the courtroom where your hearing is being held that you want a court reporter to make a verbatim record hearing. The court officer or bailiff will call the court reporter’s office before your record hearing begins.

• The Clerk of Courts charges a per diem fee of $25 to pay for a court reporter for domestic cases. The fee should be paid before the record hearing begins and is paid at the Domestic Clerk of Courts on the 4th floor.

• A verbatim record of the court proceedings. A transcript is not produced in written form until ordered.
• A transcript may be used for personal use, discovery purposes, to file an objection or appeal with the Domestic /Juvenile Court or Court of Appeals.

• The court reporter will file your transcript upon request once it’s ordered.

• Five years.

The court reporter is providing a very special skill called Realtime, similar to closed captioning, to the presider. You can help ensure an accurate record by doing the following:

• Speak loudly and clearly so that all participants can hear your answers.
• Speak at a reasonable speed. Reporters are certified to take down the record at speeds of 225+ words per minute, but at greater speeds, the accuracy of the record will suffer. Do not take offense if asked to slow your pace.
• Make it a point to speak one at a time.
• Wait for the entire question to be asked before answering to avoid interrupting.
• Gesturing, pointing and indicating are problematic in a written record. Descriptive words help create a clean record.
• Spell out proper names; clarify acronyms; state figures in full.
• Quote accurately and slowly when reading.
• Avoid non-verbal responses like shaking or nodding the head or saying uh-huh or uh-uh. These types of responses can easily be confused when reading the written transcript at a later date.
• If your attorney has an objection, allow them to place it on the record before answering.
• Take your time.