Court Reporter

To be employed by Merced Superior court, a court reporter must possess a valid Certified Shorthand Reporter (CSR) license, which is granted to successful candidates who pass the examination administered by the Department of Consumer Affairs of the State of California.  

The Merced Superior Court also employs licensed pro tem court reporters from time to time.  

The proceedings for which official court reporters shall normally be provided is posted under "Court Reporters" tab. Civil Litigants will be required to make arrangements with certified court reporters from private reporting firms if the services of an official court reporter are not available for a hearing or trial in a civil case. It will be the party’s responsibility to pay the court reporter’s fee for attendance at the proceedings, but the expense may be recoverable as part of the costs, as provided by law.

August 29, 2024

There is a well-known court reporter shortage crisis in California, most recently documented in the California Legislative Analyst’s report requested by Senator Umberg Letter-Umberg-CourtReporters-030524.pdf (ca.gov) and detailed in a Fact Sheet issued by the Judicial Council of California Fact-Sheet-Shortage-of-Certified-Shorthand-Reporters-June2024.pdf (ca.gov).

Legislative Action

The Legislature provides $30 million annually to the California courts to hire additional court reporters, with a focus on family law and civil courtrooms. 

Statewide Shortage

Tracking Each quarter, courts submit court reporter recruitment and retention information to the Judicial Council. According to the first quarter survey in 2024, of the 95% of courts that responded, 76.3% are actively recruiting for court reporters. Several are offering incentives including salary increases, finder’s fees, retention bonuses and signing bonuses. Details can be found at Court Reporter Recruitment, Retention, and Attrition - news_and_reference (ca.gov).

Merced Superior Court Crisis As of August 2024, the vacancy rate for Merced court reporters is 50% with five of the 10 positions filled.

Recruitment and Incentive Programs

Recruitment program

The court participates in career fairs and educational sessions at local high schools. The Court utilizes online job posting boards, advertising statewide, court reporter school alumni and school board postings and internal staff presentations.

Incentive Programs

• Hiring Incentive:  Up to $20,000 hiring incentive for each new full time court reporter, paid in the following increments hired on or after July 1, 2024.
• Student Loan Forgiveness:  Up to $20,000 student loan forgiveness for each new full time court reporter paid in the following increments hired on or after July 1, 2024.
• Recruitment Incentive: Up to $10,000 referral incentive for court employees per full-time court reporter referred and hired on or after July 1, 2024, paid in the following increments.
• Retention Incentive: Up to $12,000 retention incentives for full time court reporters employed by the Court between July 1, 2024 and June 15, 2025.
• Technology Stipend:  One-time lump sum of $3,000 to each full-time court reporter employed by the Court during pay period 2, to provide for ongoing costs of software upgrades and equipment maintenance.

Additional Benefits and Compensation

• Annual CA CSR License Fee Reimbursement:
  • Up to $225 per year
• Realtime Certification Differential:
  • 10% for certified
  • 7% for non-certified (provisional court-certified)

It is further noticed that the stenographic notes of the certified shorthand reporter are the official records of the Court and shall be secured by the court in either paper and/or electronic format in accordance with California Government Code Section 69955(a), (b), (c) and (d).

Superior Court of California, County of Merced
Official Reporter/Official Pro Tempore Electronic Note Upload/Archiving Policy

The Merced Superior court has retained the imaging Technology Group “ACORN” to store court reporter notes electronically. All court reporters reporting a Merced Superior Court matter, whether privately retained or as an employee or contractor of the court, are required to upload stenotype notes to ACORN and comply with all court requirements. This is true regardless of case type or length of the matter.
Each reporter must:

• Name the note file as follows: YEAR (4-digit), period, MONTH (2-digit), period, Day (2 digit), D# (Department you’re in), (Session) AM/PM. For example: 2017.04.01D4AM. If you create a separate file for your 10 o’clock calendar then you would name it as follows: 2017.04.01D4_10. (with underscore 10)
• Under case number, identify the specific case number if there was only one matter on calendar. Or if it is a morning session, indicate “Calendar.”
• In the comment area, note the assignment type – arraignment, ex-parte, or party names. For example: “Jones vs. Jones” “Ex-Parte – Chevron v Simpson.”
• Per Diem reporters need to indicate their name, CSR # and CAT system used.
• Be aware that if the timestamp on the stenotype machine is not accurate, the ACORN electronic note storage system will not file the notes correctly. In that instance, correct your notes in the ACORN system at the time of upload to reflect the correct date.

Official Certified Shorthand Reporters (Employees) are required to upload their notes into ACORN by the next business day, but no later than every other Friday when payroll is due. In case of illness or emergency, as soon as practicable thereafter.

Pro Tem Certified Shorthand Reporters (Per Diem) are required to upload their notes into ACORN at the end of their assignment, prior to submitting their bill. If you do not have an account established with ACORN, you must contact the Court Calendar Manager at Shauna.Leard@mercedcourt.org or (209) 725-4177, as soon as possible to get a user name and password. You will need to provide them with your name, e-mail address, CSR #, and CAT software. A User Manual, containing information for uploading files, can be found on the Imaging Technology Group website at: ACORN.

Note that pursuant to Government Code § 69955(d), court reporters are required to maintain an additional back-up copy of all notes.