(Radio Iowa) – The State of Iowa will be launching incentives to try to encourage more Iowans to complete the training to become certified shorthand court reporters. “The number of court reporters is shrinking to critical levels,” Representative Brian Lohse of Bondurant said, “and their service to the judicial process is vital.” About 25% of court reporter positions in Iowa’s judicial system are vacant. Lohse, who is an attorney, said the cost of training to be a certified shorthand reporter is a major barrier.

“A court reporter in school faces costs upwards of $2500 just for the equipment and software needed to be trained,” Lohse saud. “Once they are trained and get licensed, the court reporter has to buy all new equipment and software and the cost of that can exceed $10,000.”

State Rep. Brian Lohse (R-Bondurant) was flood manager of the bill that created the court reporter incentive program. (Official Photo)

A state law that passed the legislature unanimously and took effect July 1 contains $100,000 for grants and forgivable loans for newly licensed court reporters. “In order for the loan to be forgiven, the court reporter must live in Iowa and work as a court reporter for at least five years,” Lohse said during House debate of the bill.

Court reporters use steno machines that type syllables instead of letters, so they can type well over 200 words a minute. While some trials are recorded, judges rely on court reporters to immediately be able to read back testimony when questions are raised during court proceedings. Last November, in an effort to expand the number of court reporters in Iowa, the state Supreme Court changed administrative guidelines to let certified voice writers work in Iowa courtrooms. Voice writers speak into a microphone inside a mask, repeating what’s said in court, and the dialogue is converted into text.