OCA outlines HB 16 digital court recording study; survey hits 1,000 responses

The Office of Court Administration on Friday briefed the Court Reporters Certification Advisory Board on a state-mandated study of digital court recording, saying the work will combine a multistate policy scan, a statewide inventory of current practice, stakeholder surveys and interviews, a cost analysis and a blinded accuracy comparison between digital-recording transcripts and traditional shorthand transcripts.

Ron Morgan, who is administratively assigned to the project, told the board the study was commissioned under HB 16 and that OCA contracted with the Public Policy Research Institute at Texas A&M to carry out the research. "The study should also include an analysis of the use of digital court recording in other states and jurisdictions and should end with recommendations on any necessary changes to statutes, rules, regulations, and standards regarding digital court recording in the state of Texas," Morgan said.

Morgan said the study team has formed a stakeholder workgroup that includes judges, organizations of court reporters, providers of digital-recording services and a public representative, and that the workgroup has reviewed outreach materials and the survey instrument. "We have 3 judges of courts of record, including the presiding judge of the…