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 Greene County is set forth as an attachment to this order. This Court finds that the amendment should be approved.

IT IS, THEREFORE, ORDERED, ADJUDGED, AND DECREED by this Court that the amended Rule 14, Court Reporter Services, submitted September 17, 2002, by the Circuit and Superior Courts, is approved effective July 6, 2001.

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 Greene County.

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

FOR THE COURT

________________________________

Randall T. Shepard

Chief Justice of Indiana

RULE 14

COURT REPORTER SERVICES

A. 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 record.

2. Equipment means all physical items owned by the Court or other governmental 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. Workspace 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 that 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 workweek. Depending on the particular Court, these hours may vary from Court to Court within the county, but remain the same for each workweek.

7. Gap hours worked means those hours worked that are in excess of the regular hours worked but hours 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 workweek.

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

10. Court means the particular Court for which the Court Reporter performs services. Court may also mean all of the Courts in Greene 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.

B. SALARIES AND 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 work 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. The following fees shall be effective as of July 6, 2001.

2. The maximum per page fee a Court Reporter may charge for the preparation of a county 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.

3. The maximum per page fee a Court Reporter may charge for the preparation of a state indigent transcript shall be $3.50.

4. The maximum per page fee a Court Reporter may charge for the preparation of a private transcript shall be $3.50. Notwithstanding the above, if a private party requests a transcript to be prepared in less than 30 days, a Court Reporter may charge an additional $1.50 per page as a surcharge if the surcharge is approved by the presiding Judge of the Court.

5. The maximum per page fee a Court Reporter may charge for a copy of a county indigent transcript, state indigent transcript, or private transcript shall be $1.00.

6. The minimum fee per transcript shall be $35.00.

7. The fee for the preparation of the Index and Table of Contents pages shall be at the same rate charged per page for the remainder of the transcript.

8. The Court Reporter may charge an additional labor charge for the time spent binding the transcript and the exhibit binders. The additional labor charge shall be the hourly rate paid to the Court Reporter (as computed by dividing the annual salary paid by Greene County to the Court Reporter by 35 hours) multiplied by 1 ½. If the Reporter preparing the transcript is not a salaried employee, the charge shall be $15.00 per hour for the time expended to bind the transcript and exhibits.

9. The Court Reporter may charge for the required office supplies purchased by the Court Reporter and used for the binding and the electronic transmission of the transcript pursuant to the Indiana Rules of Appellate procedure 28 and 29. The costs of these supplies shall be determined pursuant to a Schedule of Transcript Supplies that will be established and published annually by the Judges of the Greene Circuit and Superior Courts. If the Court Reporter desires to use the Court's equipment, work space and supplies, and if the Court agrees to the use of the court equipment for such purpose, the Court and the Court Reporter shall enter into a written agreement which must, at a minimum, designate the following:

a. The reasonable market rate for the use of equipment, workspace and supplies;

b. The method by which records are to be kept for the use of equipment, work space and supplies;

c. The method by which the Court Reporter is to reimburse the Court for the use of the equipment, workspace and supplies.

Such agreement shall be attached to the Schedule of Transcript Supplies and published annually.

10. 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.

C. PRIVATE PRACTICE

1. If a Court Reporter elects to engage in private practice through the recording of a deposition and/or preparing of a deposition transcript, all such private practice work shall be conducted outside of regular working hours. In the alternative, if such work is conducted during regular working hours with the approval of the Court, the Court Reporter shall use vacation time or compensatory time to perform such work.