San Bernardino Superior Court will increase court reporters salaries by 3%, using $1.9 million of a total $30 million funding by the state budget.
The investment will be used as incentive bonuses, to be awarded after court reporters have been with the county for another two years.
In two years, today’s new hires will receive a bonus of $10,000; those who currently have been in their positions two to 10 years will receive $15,000; and reporters who today have worked more than 10 years at the court will receive $20,000.
Reporters who are hired from the private sector will receive $1,000, and reporters who come from other courts will receive $500.
San Bernardino Superior has been trying to fill positions amid a nationwide court reporter shortage. They are advertising the positions with a maximum base salary, including benefits, of $158,469.
Court reporters transcribe proceedings, so that an accurate record can be held on appeal.
When the court runs out of court reporters, litigants have to hire private reporters at higher cost.
San Bernardino Superior Court shifted court reporter priority from civil and probate calendars to criminal felony calendars in February to meet legal standards. In December, the court prioritized assigning court reporters in eviction cases above other civil cases.
The court has 96 court reporter positions authorized, but has 25 vacancies, Presiding Judge Glenn Yabuno said in February.
The court reporter shortage, said Yabuno, is due to a shortage of schools, California’s high standard certification test, declining interest in the profession and competition from other states and private reporting companies.
Representatives of South Coast College, the only private court reporting school in the state, have said the shortage is exacerbated by the recent closure of schools after a loss of accreditation and the difficulty of the state’s test.
The 2021 and 2022 state budget gave $30 million to the Judicial Council to distribute to fight the shortage. The funding was distributed by assessed judicial need, according to a Judicial Council memo. The Judicial Council decided to base distribution off of judicial need because of the parallel workload drivers between judgeships and court reporters.
San Bernardino Superior Court had 6.5% of the assessed judicial need, resulting in $1.9 million in funding, the memo said. Riverside Superior Court had 5.8% of the state’s judicial need, giving it $1.7 million in funding. Los Angeles Superior Court saw the biggest need, at 31% and $9.3 million. San Diego and Orange Superior Courts saw more of a need than either Inland Empire court, both taking 7% of statewide need.
Read our prior reporting on the court reporter shortage here.
