As we already know, court reporters, and the transcripts they produce are a support pillar of the court system, but a shortage of licensed court reporters is looming on the horizon. This is a point that CourtScribes.com has written about often.
Tammy Bumgarner, the Director of Court Reporting Services in Springfield, Illinois, says that if something is not done soon to change the course of the profession, there could be a slow down in the court system waiting for a record of proceedings in the state.
Licensed court reporters take a verbatim record in the criminal cases heard in Illinois to ensure that all citizens have equal access to justice, not just for those who can afford to hire a court reporter.
The profession of court reporting has been seeing a decline for the past few decades for many reasons.
Why the Decline
The profession is in high demand with many students getting recruited by agencies and the court system before they have even have completed school. Court reporters’ starting salary in Illinois can be from $41,000 to $51,000 per year with benefits and additional transcript income. You do not need to have a college degree to be a court reporter. One just needs to gain enough proficiency on a steno machine to pass the licensing exam.
“There are many trades which are now suffering from the ‘college only’ mentality that’s been preached to kids. That’s causing shortages in professions while simultaneously driving up wages,” said Bumgarner.
“The average age of official court reporters in Illinois is 52 years old. One-third of our court reporters are already eligible for retirement, which means we will likely have to replace more than 400 employees in the next 10-15 years, and it’s a scary prospect,” says Bumgarner.
“We need to get creative to figure out how we can get more people to consider this profession. One of those things that we’re doing is offering a free Introduction to Court Reporting class, called First Steps, which will be taught by our court reporters,” Bumgarner says.
Classes will be a couple of hours, one day a week, for four weeks. Participants will learn what it takes to be a court reporter, what type of work they can do, be assessed for success in a court reporting program, and be able to get their hands on a steno writer.
With over 20 locations all over the state, there’s likely to be a class offered near you. For more information, visit www.illinoisofficialcourtreporters.com/firststeps
CourtScribes.com supports all states and programs that aid in the court reporting world, and we too are ready to serve you in your court reporting, videography services, interpreters, live-streaming, and video-to-text synchronization.
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