SRC-AAA S.B. 646 75(R)   BILL ANALYSIS


Senate Research Center   S.B. 646
By: Brown
Jurisprudence
2-28-97
As Filed


DIGEST 

Currently, court reporters are certified by the Texas Supreme Court after
reporting proficiency has been tested and approved by the Court Reporters
Certification Board (board).  Compliance with standards of conduct and
professionalism is thereafter subject to both statutory and board
supervision.  However, court reporting firms may be owned by non-court
reporters and therefore are not subject to any of the aforementioned
standards.  This bill requires court reporting firms to be subject to the
same standards as the court reporters in their employ. 

PURPOSE

As proposed, S.B. 646 requires court reporting firms to be subject to the
same standards as the court reporters in their employ. 

RULEMAKING AUTHORITY

This bill does not grant any additional rulemaking authority to a state
officer, institution, or agency. 

SECTION BY SECTION ANALYSIS

SECTION 1. Amends Section 52.021, Government Code, by amending Subsection
(b) and by adding Subsection (h), as follows: 

(b) Prohibits a person from engaging in shorthand reporting unless the
person is an official court reporter or is an independent contractor of or
employed by a court reporting firm in which persons certified as shorthand
reporters are partners, shareholders, or owners with an ownership interest
of at least 51 percent of the firm. 

(h) Requires a court reporting firm to register with the Court Reporters
Certification Board by completing an application in a form adopted by the
board. 

SECTION 2. Effective date: September 1, 1997.

SECTION 3. Emergency clause.