Kern — STO-22-0009

Source: https://www.kern.courts.ca.gov/system/files/sto-22-0009-so_mdo_cases_41522.pdf

FILED KERN COUNTY SUPERIOR COURT 4/15/2022

BY _______________________Hinojosa, Ana DEPUTY

SUPERIOR COURT OF THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA

IN AND FOR THE COUNTY OF KERN

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11 STO-22-0009 IN RE: COURT REPORTER MISCELLANEOUS NO.: AVAILABILITY IN CASES ARISING12 UNDER THE MENTALLY 13 DISORDERED OFFENDERS ACT

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15 Due to the severe court reporter shortage, and pursuant to Code of Civil

16 Procedure section 269(a)(3), beginning April 18, 2022, court reporters will no longer

17 be provided for cases arising under the Mentally Disordered Offenders (MDO) Act,

18 Penal Code sections 2960 et seq., in addition to all other types of cases which are

19 already not being reported as of today’s date. “Although related to the crime for 20 which a person was imprisoned, an MDO proceeding focuses on criteria determined 21 by mental health professionals [and thus,] an MDO proceeding is civil in nature, not 22

criminal.” (People v. Renfro (2004) 125 Cal.App.4th 223, 231; see also Kansas v.

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Hendricks (1 997) 521 U.S. 346, 117 S. Ct. 2072, 138 L.Ed.2d 501 (holding that24

25 Kansas' similar Sexually Violent Predator Act was civil, not criminal, and did not

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violate substantive due process, ex post facto, or double jeopardy prohibitions).

The Court’s inability to provide a court reporter for such proceedings is based

upon the extreme court reporter shortage. As a general matter, the shortage is not

limited to Kern County. In October 2019, the National Court Reporters Association

(NCRA) reported a shortage of 5,000 court reporters in the U.S. Jim Cudahy, who

was the executive director of the NCRA when market research firm Ducker

Worldwide prepared a court reporting industry outlook, said in January 2021 there

was a shortage of about 9,000 court reporters. See The number of new m.

stenographers entering the workplace each year is not keeping pace with the

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retiring. In 2013, the Ducker study showed that 70% of all11 number of those who are

12 stenographers were over the age of 46. Now in 2022 the tide of retirements is

13 taking its toll. Less than 200 court reporters graduate every year — a figure that is

14 completely inadequate to make up for the number of retirees. California, being one

15 of the most litigious states, is among the five states that are being hit the hardest.

16 California’s Court Reporters Board also recognizes the challenge of the number of

17 court reporter school closings. See he_re.

18 Due to its geographic size, the County of Kern has nine (9) separate 19 courthouses presently in use. There are 38 Judicial seats (4 are vacant), along with 20 seven Commissioners. The Kern County Superior Court has 33 authorized court 21

reporter positions. 24 of those positions are currently filled. Of those 24 filled

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positions, 1 will be out for several months on a protected leave, leaving 23 reporters23

24 to serve the entire county. Over the past two years, 1O court reporters have retired

25 and/or resigned, and three more are retiring by the end of this year. In spite of

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extensive recruitment efforts, the Court has only been able to hire 4 reporters,

leaving the Court to operate in a deficit.

In an effort to hire more court reporters, the Court scheduled meetings with

the owners of two of the most well respected reporting firms in Kern County, “Wood

and Randall” and “Sylvia Mendez & Associates." Christine Randall and Sylvia

Mendez answered questions about the shortage of court reporters and provided

insight into the ongoing problem. They pointed out that reporters can work remotely

for Los Angeles law firms, so there is no incentive to work for the courts. Our Court

Executive Officer, Tamarah Harber—Pickens led a statewide Court Executive

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Officers’ discussion to support a change in legislation in order to attract future court11

12 reporters to the profession. Judge Chad Louie, two members of the Executive

13 Management team, and three court reporters met with California Senator Shannon

14 Grove on August 12, 2021 to garner support to increase the pass rate for reporters

15 on their examination and for an increase in the transcript rates. Our Deputy Court

16 Executive Officer of Operations, Tara Leal, was recently appointed to the board of

17 WESTEC, which has a Court Reporting Program, and is the only public recognized

18 reporter training school within one hundred and twenty miles of Bakersfield. There

19 are seven court reporter schools recognized by the Court Reporters Board of 20 California under California Business & Professions Code § 8027, and Taft College 21 Court Reporting is one ofthem in nearby Shafter, California. See hei. WESTEC 22

board meets quarterly, and Ms. Tara Leal attended the September 14, 2021 meeting

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24 so she could be introduced to the board.

25 We also have ongoing recruitment since August 28, 2017. The recruitment

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was taken down on May 5, 2021 and immediately reposted in an effort to ensure

that the recruitment appears current. Over the last year the Court has posted court

reporter positions on the Court’s Twitter newsfeed and sent the postings to the

Judicial Council of California’s list serve. Prior to the COVlD-19 pandemic, from

2019 — 2020 the Court attended nine (9) job fairs, and at all but one of the fairs we

had a court reporter in attendance to answer questions.

These recruitment efforts were made despite the grim graduation statistics

from California’s Court Reporting Schools, which show that only 19 applicants

statewide passed the professional practice examination between November 1, 2021

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11 through February 28, 2022. See h_eg. Prior to that, only 17 applicants statewide

12 passed the professional practice examination between March 1, 2021 and June 30,

13 2021. See kw.

14 Therefore, it is this Court’s ruling, based on the narrow facts of the specific

15 situation faced on this date, that the rights of the parties to have their cases heard

16 must outweigh the preference for a certified court reporter in MDO cases. This court

17 will proceed with its calendared hearings on these matters, and the record shall be

18 made with the use of electronic recording.

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20 Dated: April Is , 2022.

21 22 / Colette Humphrey, Prefiding Judge Kern County Superior Court 23

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