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- Bipartisan legislation to increase the pay of court reporters in the Magnolia State has been signed into law by Governor Reeves.
Mississippi’s court reporters will receive a competitive salary increase this summer after Governor Tate Reeves (R) signed the pay raise into law earlier this week.
The new law, based upon SB 2899, significantly increases the pay of new and veteran court reporters and allows them to accept freelance assignments.
The nine-page legislation received strong bipartisan support in both legislative chambers, having been authored by Republican Senators Brice Wiggins and co-authored by Democrat Senator Sarita Simmons.
The new law could help retain current employees in the field while attracting new ones, said Candace O’Barr Jones, president-elect of the Mississippi Court Reporters Association.
“By increasing salaries and providing freelance opportunities, existing official reporters will feel more valued in their roles, reducing turnover and enhancing job retention,” Jones said. “The combination of higher pay and additional work options will help to recruit qualified candidates.”
As the measure made its way through the Capitol, senators and representatives mentioned the lack of court reporters and the need to hire more. Currently, Jones said there are 17 vacancies in the Magnolia State’s court system for court reporters.
The high vacancies are due to a number of court reporters reaching retirement age coupled with a lack of educational opportunities to study court reporting in Mississippi, Jones explained.
The University of Mississippi offered a bachelor’s degree in court reporting in its School of Applied Science for more than three decades. However, the last graduating class for court reporting from Ole Miss was in 2009. Since that time, there have not been many school options other than online, Jones said.
She explained that a court reporter is often seen at a courthouse working, but the job involves more than “tapping a little machine.” That little machine is a specialized stenographic machine equipped with software to help capture everything that is said during a legal proceeding, such as trials, depositions and hearings. Court reporters work to create an accurate and complete written transcript of the proceedings.
Court reporters must certify that the transcripts are precise, as they are official records that may be referenced in future legal proceedings.
Some court reporters provide real-time transcription, allowing attorneys and judges to see text on a screen as it is being spoken.
“Overall, court reporters play a crucial role in the legal system by ensuring that an accurate record of the proceedings is maintained,” Jones said.
The new law provides an increase of $9,900 for court reporters with five years of experience or less, an increase of $11,700 for court reporters with five to ten years of experience, and an increase of $12,800 for court reporters with ten or more years of experience.
The increases mean court reporters with five year or less can make an annual salary up to $59,400 while the annual salary for court reporters with five to ten years of experience can reach $70,200 and for ten or more years, up to $76,800.
In addition, the new law allows court reporters to take on additional work to make extra money. The legislation states that “an official court reporter may engage in freelance reporting activities as long as the matter at issue is not under the jurisdiction of the court in which the official court reporter is appointed.”
New pay scales go into effect July 1.
