Item presented by Chief Judge

Fifth Judicial Circuit Chief Judge Thomas M. O’Shaughnessy of Danville announced that the week of February 3 - 10 has been designated as Official Court Reporter and Court Specialist Week for 2024. The 5th Judicial Circuit encompasses five counties: Clark, Coles, Cumberland, Edgar, and Vermilion.
Official Court Reporters and Court Specialists are key players in legal proceedings. The official court reporters and court specialists are responsible for producing an accurate and complete legal transcript of courtroom proceedings, including trials, hearings, and other legal matters. A legal transcript is the exact record of every spoken word and who spoke it during the legal proceeding. These include all of the words spoken by the judge, lawyers, witnesses, and other parties.
Court reporters rely on the latest in technology and use stenographic machines to capture the spoken word and translate it into written text in real time, oftentimes assisting members of the deaf and hard-of-hearing communities with gaining access to the courts. In order to capture this transcript, an official court reporter must be able to hear the words that are spoken and set them down as they occur. Official court reporters “write” (by keying) between 225 and 280 words per
minute on a court reporting stenotype machine, which has keys representing certain letters of the alphabet. Not all letters of the alphabet are represented by a key on the machine. An official court reporter must often press down two or more keys simultaneously to represent those letters or “sounds.” The stenotype machine is oftentimes connected to a computer with software that then converts the shorthand to English creating the legal transcript. A court specialist simultaneously monitors legal proceedings in multiple courtrooms through high-tech electronic recording systems. The court specialist then listens to the recording and
prepares a written transcript.
In making the announcement, Chief Judge O’Shaughnessy said “Official court reporters and court specialists are career professionals with exemplary English skills, a strong work ethic, and the ability to focus for hours on end. They often have to deal with people under stress due to their legal problems. The judges of the Fifth Judicial Circuit appreciate the vital role they play in the judicial process, and acknowledge that they, as the silent guardians of the record, are critical
to every case that comes before our courts. This Week helps showcase what makes court reporting a viable career choice. Those reasons include a quicker entrance into the workforce since no four-year degree is required, good salaries, flexibility, interesting venues, and the increasing demand for more reporters to meet the growing number of employment opportunities available in the field.”
Illinois faces a shortage of court reporters. Out of 500 positions state-wide, a little over 100 are currently unfilled, including several in the Fifth Judicial Circuit. A tuition-free training class has been designed and implemented to rebuild this vital labor force and direct trainees to courthouse jobs.
Illinois Court Reporting Services, the administrative office which oversees court reporting services, policies, and procedures for the Illinois trial courts, is offering an in-person, tuition-free training program to become an Official Court Reporter, with guaranteed job placement upon passing the required certification exam.
The training program requires a two-year, in-person commitment. The in-person classes are held in Urbana. For more information, interested persons should see: CRS OFFICIALSHIP TRAINING PROGRAM | ilcrs