ORDER APPROVING AMENDED LOCAL RULE

ADOPTED PURSUANT TO ADMINISTRATIVE RULE 15

The judges of the Circuit and Superior Courts have forwarded for approval by this Court an amendment to the local rule for the regulation of court reporter services in accordance with Ind.Administrative Rule 15. Such amendment for Carroll County is set forth as an attachment to this order. This Court finds that special circumstances exist and there are compelling factors to allow additional increases in per page rates for transcript preparation. This Court further finds that the increases proposed in the local rule submitted should be modified to take place over a period of 2 years. Accordingly, this Court has modified the local rule submitted by the judges of the Carroll Circuit and Superior Court to allow a per page rate increase over a period of two years.

IT IS, THEREFORE, ORDERED, ADJUDGED, AND DECREED by this Court that the attached Rule 25 For Carroll County is approved, effective as designated in the rule.

The Clerk of this Court is directed to forward a copy of this order to all judges in the Circuit and Superior Courts and the Clerk of such courts.

The Clerk of the Circuit and Superior Courts is directed to enter this order in the Record of Judgments and Orders for such courts and post this order for examination by the Bar and general public of Carroll County.

DONE at Indianapolis, Indiana, this ________ day of ______________, 2003.

FOR THE COURT

________________________________

Randall T. Shepard

Chief Justice of Indiana

LOCAL RULE 25

Section One. Definitions. The following definitions shall apply under this local rule:

(1) A Court Reporter is a person who is specifically designated by a court to perform the official court reporting services for the court including preparing a transcript of the record.

(2) Equipment means all physical items owned by the court or other government entity and used by a court reporter in performing court reporting services. Equipment shall include, but not be limited to, telephones, computer hardware, software programs, disks, tapes, and any other device used for recording and storing, and transcribing electronic data.

(3) Work space means that portion of the court’s facilities dedicated to each court reporter, including but not limited to actual space in the courtroom and any designated office space.

(4) Page means the page unit of transcript which results when a recording is transcribed in the form required by Indiana Rule of Appellate Procedure 7.2.

(5) Recording means the electronic, mechanical, stenographic or other recording made as required by Indiana Rule of Trial Procedure 74.

(6) Regular hours worked means those hours which the court is regularly scheduled to work during any given work week. Depending on the particular court, these hours may vary from court to court within the county but remain the same for each work week.

(7) Gap hours worked means those hours worked that are in excess of the regular hours worked but hours are not in excess of forty (40) hours per work week.

(8) Overtime hours worked means those hours worked in excess of forty (40) hours per work week.

(9) Work week means a seven (7) consecutive day week that consistently begins and ends on the same days throughout the year; i.e. Sunday through Saturday, Wednesday through Tuesday, Friday and Thursday.

(10) Court means the particular court for which the court reporter performs services. Court may also mean all of the courts in Carroll County.

(11) County indigent transcript means a transcript that is paid for from county funds and is for the use on behalf of a litigant who has been declared indigent by a court.

(12) State indigent transcript means a transcript that is paid for from state funds and is for the use on behalf of a litigant who has been declared indigent by a court.

(13) Private transcript means a transcript, including but not limited to a deposition transcript, that is paid for by a private party.

Section Two. Salaries, Preparation of Transcripts, and Per Page Fees.

(1) Court Reporters shall be paid an annual salary for time spent working under the control, direction and direct supervision of their supervising court during any regular hours, gap hours or overtime hours. The supervising court shall enter into a written agreement with the court reporters which outlines the manner in which the court reporter is to be compensated for gap and overtime hours, i.e. monetary compensation or compensatory time off regular work hours.

(2) The court reporter shall not prepare transcripts during regular work hours.

(3) The maximum per page fee a court reporter may charge for the preparation of a county or state indigent transcript shall be $3.50; the court reporter shall submit a claim directly to the county for the preparation of any county indigent transcripts.

(4) The maximum per page fee a court reporter may charge for the preparation of a private transcript shall be $3.50 unless the transcript is required within 2 work days, then a maximum per page fee shall be $5.00.

(5) Each court reporter shall report, at least on an annual basis, all transcript fees received for the preparation of either county indigent, state indigent or private transcripts to the Indiana Supreme Court Division of State Court Administration. The reporting shall be made on forms prescribed by the Division of State Court Administration.

(6) The court reporter shall not engage in private practice through the recording of a deposition and/or preparing of a deposition transcript.

(7) The court reporter shall not use court typewriters or word processing equipment for the preparation of private transcripts. A copy of transcripts may be made using the court’s copying equipment provided that a copy of the transcript is deposited with the Court.

As amended May 1, 2002