§ 13:967 — Twenty-Fourth Judicial District; court reporters; civil filing fees

A.(1) Each Judge of the twenty-fourth judicial district for the Parish of Jefferson may appoint a court reporter for his division, which reporter shall hold office until it is declared vacated by the judge making such appointment.
(2) The judges of the twenty-fourth judicial district, sitting en banc, and with the approval of the parish council, may appoint additional qualified court reporters as they deem necessary, who shall serve at the pleasure of the court en banc, and may be assigned to the various divisions of the court, or to the grand jury, as the court en banc may direct.
B. The court reporter shall attend the civil and criminal sessions of the district court and shall be subject to the orders of the judges of the court. He shall take down the testimony, objections and rulings thereon, and all other matters which may be directed by the judge of the court.
C.(1) In all cases on appeal, the reporter shall be paid a fee not to exceed two dollars and fifty cents for each original page transcribed and, when a copy is requested by a litigant, shall furnish such copy and be paid a fee not to exceed one dollar for each page thereof, except that in criminal cases on appeal by indigent defendants, no more than a total of two dollars and seventy-five cents for each page transcribed, including all copies necessary for appeal, shall be charged to and paid from any fund established by law for the payment of expenses incurred in the defense of indigent persons in criminal proceedings. Nothing in this Section shall be construed to make the governing authority of the parish of Jefferson responsible for the expenses or costs associated with the preparation of transcripts for an indigent defendant in a criminal proceeding, including but not limited to bills of exceptions, trials, motions, hearings on writs, or any other costs associated with an appeal in a criminal proceeding.
(2)(a) At the request of any of the parties to any proceedings, or at the order of a district judge, the court reporter shall transcribe all or part of the testimony or other matter taken down and furnish as many copies thereof as may be required by law for an appeal. For matters not on appeal, a litigant requesting a transcript of testimony or other matter transcribed shall enter into a private civil contract with the court reporter for the payment of fees applicable to those contracts. Such fees shall be in accordance with fees customarily charged in the judicial district for depositions.
(b) The reporter shall not be required to file or furnish any transcribed testimony until the transcription fee is paid.
(c) If both parties or the judge direct the original transcription, each party shall pay the expense of transcribing testimony offered by him.
(3) No fee shall be allowed for transcribing matter other than testimony, objections and rulings thereon, bills, notes of evidence, and such other matters as may be ordered by the judge.
(4) All of such fees shall be paid directly to the court reporter performing the service as additional compensation and shall be taxed as costs.
D. In case the original transcription of the court reporter's notes shall be requested by a litigant, after judgment and for the purpose of an appeal, the whole cost of transcription shall be paid primarily by the requesting party, but ultimately shall be taxed as costs.
E. Should any party refuse or fail to pay his share of the cost of transcription within a reasonable time, to be fixed by the court, the case shall be decided as if the testimony of that party had not been offered.
F. The court reporter shall preserve his notes in each case for a period of two years from the date of submission thereof.
G. The governing authority of the parish shall furnish the court reporters such supplies, materials, equipment and maintenance of all equipment as they may need for reporting and transcription of their notes.
H. In the event of appeal or if the judge orders the transcription of a case filed in forma pauperis, the court reporter shall be paid by the governing authority at the regular page rate.
I. The clerk of court of the Twenty-fourth Judicial District Court shall collect from any person filing any type of civil suit or proceeding, intervention, third-party demand, or reconventional demand the following amounts, which shall be paid over by him to the governing authority of the parish for deposit in the general fund. The clerk of court shall collect in all suits or proceedings a sum to be set by a majority of the judges not to exceed fifty dollars, with the exception of succession proceedings and foreclosure proceedings by executory process in which event the amount to be collected shall not exceed thirty-five dollars; and with the further exception of tutorships, emancipations, mandamus suits to cancel mortgages, and money claims of less than one thousand dollars, in which event the amount to be collected shall not exceed thirty-five dollars; said deposits to be taxed as costs. Nothing in this Subsection shall be construed to affect the rights of any litigant proceeding under Article 5181 et seq. of the Code of Civil Procedure or the rights of criminal defendants.
J. In all civil cases when a party is proceeding in forma pauperis the governing authority of the parish of Jefferson shall pay to the court reporters of the Twenty-Fourth Judicial District for the transcribing of testimony, when an appeal is taken or upon order of the judge, such amounts as would otherwise be required to be paid by the party who is proceeding in forma pauperis. Such payment shall be made at the time the transcription is filed, but only upon the written approval and order of the judge. Such payments shall not exceed the sum of fifteen hundred dollars for any one year to each of the said court reporters. The governing authority of the parish of Jefferson shall be legally subrogated to the rights of the court reporters of the Twenty-Fourth Judicial District as to all sums so paid for the transcription of testimony in pauper cases. All judgments in cases in which the pauper shall be cast for costs, together with a statement of such costs, shall be recorded by the clerk of court in the mortgage records of the parish of Jefferson for the amount of costs paid. The governing authority of the parish of Jefferson, at its expense, may have such judgments and statements of costs, or certified copies thereof, recorded in the mortgage records of any other parish or parishes and, when so recorded, they shall operate as judicial mortgages in favor of the governing authority of the parish of Jefferson for the amount of costs paid.
K. Each of said court reporters shall be paid by the governing authority out of the general fund, a salary to be fixed by the judges, subject to the approval of the governing authority. The governing authority of the parish shall annually, and at the same time as it prepares its general budget of expenses, budget an amount sufficient to pay the salaries of the said court reporters.
L. Each court reporter appointed under the provisions of this Section shall be required to take an oath of office, and to furnish bond for the faithful performance of the duties of the office. The bond shall be in the sum of two thousand dollars, and shall be approved by the judge making the appointment under Paragraph (A)(1) of this Section, and by the senior judge of the court for those appointments made under the provisions of Paragraph (A)(2) of this Section. Each bond shall be in favor of the judges of the Twenty-Fourth Judicial District Court, and any party litigant, for the purpose of protecting litigants against any acts of incompetence or neglect of duties on the part of the reporters. It shall be recorded and filed in the office of the clerk of court for the parish of Jefferson. Any party litigant shall have a right to sue on said bond for any damages sustained by said party litigant by any wrongful act or neglect of duty committed or omitted by the official court reporter in the performance of the duties of official court reporters.
M.(1) The courts of the Twenty-Fourth Judicial District shall establish an indigent transcript fund to provide for the payment of court reporter fees for transcripts as provided in this Subsection.
(2) In every court of original, appellate, supervisory, or concurrent criminal jurisdiction in Jefferson Parish, including but not limited to the Twenty-Fourth Judicial District Court, First Parish Court, and Second Parish Court, there shall be assessed in all criminal cases, including traffic violations, except parking, an additional cost set by a committee comprised of one representative from each of the Twenty-Fourth Judicial District Court, First Parish Court of Jefferson Parish, Second Parish Court of Jefferson Parish, the Public Defender's Office of Jefferson Parish, and Jefferson Parish Administration, not to exceed an amount of two dollars, against every defendant who is convicted after trial or after a plea of guilty or nolo contendere. This additional cost shall be transmitted to the court and deposited in a special account in the parish treasury to be managed and administered by the parish treasurer for and on behalf of the courts for the payment of court reporter fees for transcripts in indigent defense cases.
(3) All monies received and deposited under the provisions of this Subsection shall be used to pay court reporter fees for transcripts to compensate court reporters for the preparation of transcripts for indigent defendants arising from criminal proceedings in the Twenty-Fourth Judicial District, First Parish Court and Second Parish Court, including but not limited to bills of exceptions, trials, motions, hearings on writs, and all other criminal proceedings.
(4) Nothing in this Subsection shall preclude a court from ordering the costs for the preparation of transcripts for indigent defendants in criminal proceedings be paid from any other fund established by general or specific law for the payment of expenses incurred in the defense of indigent persons in criminal proceedings.

Legislative History

Acts 1950, 2nd Ex. Sess., No. 9, §1; Acts 1956, No. 470, §1; Acts 1958, No. 427, §1; Acts 1960, No. 547, §1; Acts 1964, No. 427, §1; Acts 1968, No. 77, §§1 to 3; Acts 1976, No. 634, §1.; Acts 1980, No. 545, §1; Acts 1984, No. 119, §1; Acts 1990, No. 361, §2, eff. Jan. 1, 1991; Acts 1995, No. 1128, §1; Acts 1999, No. 104, §1; Acts 1999, No. 166, §1; Acts 2009, No. 77, §1; Acts 2010, No. 178, §1, eff. June 18, 2010.