San Francisco — ALERT - NOTICE OF CHANGES IN POLICY REGARDING UNAVAILABILITY OF OFFICIAL COURT REPORTERS IN CIVIL CASES

Source: https://sf.courts.ca.gov/system/files/general/notice-non-availability-court-reporters-eff-05-10-2022.pdf

Superior Court of California T. MICHAEL YUEN COURT EXECUTIVE OFFICER COUNTY OF SAN FRANCISCO 400 McAllister Street, Room 205 San Francisco, CA 94102-4512 Phone: 415-551-5737 FAX: 415-551-5701

PUBLIC NOTICE

Notice of Changes to Policy Regarding Unavailability of Official Court Reporters in Civil cases:

Effective May 10, 2022, San Francisco Official Court Reporters are “not available” within the meaning of California Rules of Court, Rule 2.956, for court-reporting of civil cases.

Unless otherwise required by law, official court reporters will not be available for infractions, misdemeanors, limited civil cases, unlimited civil for any pretrial proceedings, civil law and motion matters, civil case management hearings, civil restraining orders, and civil petitions.

As provided in Rule 2.956(c), parties may arrange for the presence of a certified shorthand reporter to serve as an official pro tempore reporter. It is the party’s responsibility to pay the reporter’s fee for attendance at the proceedings, but the expense may be recoverable as part of the costs, as provided by law. It is further noticed that the stenographic notes of the certified shorthand reporter are the official records of the Court and shall be secured by the Court in either paper and/or electronic format in accordance with Government Code §§ 69955 (a), (b), (c) and (d).

In Jameson v. Desta, the California Supreme Court held that "an official court reporter, or other valid means to create an official verbatim record for purposes of appeal, must generally be made available to in forma pauperis litigants upon request." This service is only available upon request if the party has obtained a fee waiver.