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Senate approves higher pay, limited freelance rules for court reporters
Summary
The Senate passed a bill raising the authorized maximum salaries for official circuit and chancery court reporters and accepted an amendment allowing limited freelance reporting under specified conditions. The measure includes implementation steps and a requirement that salary increases not be paid from the state general fund.
The Mississippi State Senate adopted a bill that raises the maximum authorized salaries for official circuit and chancery court reporters and includes an amendment to permit limited freelance reporting under narrowly prescribed conditions.
Sponsor and committee members described the bill as an effort to address a longstanding shortage of court reporters across the state and to make official reporting a more viable career. The adopted salary schedule sets progressive maximums tied to experience; sponsors said the increases are intended to be paid locally through the administrative office process that funnels local funds to the reporters (the bill retains the existing prohibition on using the state general fund to pay those amounts).
Floor debate also focused on a committee amendment that clarified two points: (1) counties and the Administrative Office of Courts (AOC) have an implementation role and must not use state general funds to pay the increases; and (2) professional court reporters may undertake freelance transcription work only when it does not conflict with assigned official duties and when an institutional need does not exist (for example, if the reporter is not scheduled to be in court and has no pending official duty that day). The amendment initially included a reverse repealer tied to supervisor approval; the Senate removed the reverse-repealer language on the floor and kept the freelance provision with guardrails.
Senators who support the measure said higher authorized salaries and carefully defined freelance allowances will make reporting careers more competitive and help fill gaps that are preventing court proceedings and appeals from moving forward in some jurisdictions. Opponents raised concerns about unfunded mandates for counties and asked the AOC and counties to develop an implementation plan and confirm funding sources; supporters said counties and AOC will have to coordinate implementation and the bill specifically retains local funding responsibility.
The Senate passed the committee substitute and the freelance amendment; the measure advanced with instructions for the AOC to prepare a salary-implementation plan and for counties to work with AOC on funding details.
