THE COURTS
Title 255—LOCAL
COURT RULES
CLINTON COUNTY
Local Rule of Judicial Administration 4007 Court Reporters and Transcripts; No. AD-1619-2016
[46 Pa.B. 8174]
[Saturday, December 31, 2016]
Administrative Order of Court And Now, this 9th day of December, 2016, It Is Hereby Ordered that the following Clinton County Local Rule of Judicial Administration 4007 Court Reporters and Transcripts is adopted and shall become effective thirty (30) days after the publication of same in the Pennsylvania Bulletin.
It Is Further Ordered that one (1) copy of this Order and rule shall be sent via email to the Administrative Office of Pennsylvania Courts (adminrules@pacourts.us), that two (2) copies of this Order and rule shall be sent to Legislative Reference Bureau for publication in the Pennsylvania Bulletin and one (1) copy emailed to bulletin@palrb.us, that one (1) copy of the Order and rule be filed with the Office of the Prothonotary of Clinton County, Pennsylvania, and that the new rule be incorporated into the Court Rules section of the Clinton County Court website (http://www.clintoncountypa.com/departments/court_services/county_courts/) within thirty (30) days after the publication in the Pennsylvania Bulletin.
By the Court
CRAIG P. MILLER,
President JudgeClinton County Local Rule of Judicial Administration 4007. Court Reporters and Transcripts.
1. GENERAL PROVISIONS
(A) The District Court Administrator is the designee for purposes of the administration of this local rule.
(B) This rule shall not interfere with or otherwise limit the income of Court Reporters. Court Reporters shall continue to be properly compensated for their professional services as related to the preparation of transcripts and orders.
2. PROCEDURES
(A) Format
Requests for ordinary transcripts shall be set forth on a standardized form provided by the District Court Administrator of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania and available at the Office of the District Court Administrator of Clinton County or the Clinton County Website.
(B) Requests for Transcripts
For an ordinary transcript, the party requesting the full or partial transcript of a trial or other proceeding shall file the original request with the appropriate filing office of the court (Clerk of Courts, Prothonotary, or Orphan's Court).
(C) Service
The Requesting Party shall serve copies of the formal request to:
1. The Presiding Judge;
2. The Court Reporter(s) assigned to the proceeding;
3. The District Court Administrator; and
4. All opposing counsel or parties if party is unrepresented.
(D) Costs
The Court Reporter, upon receipt of request, shall estimate the cost of transcribing the requested transcript and provide that information to the District Court Administrator. The District Court Administrator shall forward that information to the requesting party.
(E) Requests for Daily, Expedited or Same Day Transcript:
(1) Requests for daily, expedited or same day transcript shall be filed in writing in the appropriate filing office at least thirty (30) days prior to the beginning of proceedings.
(2) Copies of the written request shall be served as provided for by Section (C) supra.
(3) In the event of an emergency, a party may request by oral motion to the court a daily, expedited or same day transcript. Granting said request shall be at the discretion of the Court.
(F) Private Litigants
When a private litigant requests a transcript, the party ordering said transcript shall make a payment of 75% of the estimated cost of the transcript as determined on the official request for transcript form.
(G) Payment of Costs
Deposit checks shall be made payable to The County of Clinton—Transcript Deposit Fund and shall be delivered to the District Court Administrator.
(H) Preparation of Transcript
Upon receipt of the 75% deposit, the Court Reporter assigned to the proceeding shall be directed by the District Court Administrator to prepare the transcript.
(I) Notice of Completion
The Court Reporter(s) shall notify the ordering party and the District Court Administrator of the completion of the transcript and the final cost thereof. The Court Reporter(s) shall deliver a copy to the District Court Administrator. The original transcript shall not be filed and counsel or parties shall not receive copies until payment in full is received by the District Court Administrator.
(J) Payment of Balance
Checks for the final balance due will be made payable to The County of Clinton—Transcript Deposit Fund and delivered to the District Court Administrator. Upon receipt of payment in full, the Court Reporter shall file and deliver the transcript to the requesting party or parties and upon presentation of an appropriate bill by the Court Reporter, the County shall make payment to the Court Reporter.
(K) Economic Hardship
(1) The application to waive all or a portion of the costs for an ordinary transcript shall be supported by an affidavit substantially in the form required by Rule 240(h) of the Pennsylvania Rules of Civil Procedure. Such application should be prepared in the form of a petition to waive all or a portion of the transcript costs and filed in the appropriate filing office.
(2) When a litigant requests a transcript but cannot pay for the transcript due to alleged economic hardship, the Court will determine economic hardship pursuant to the procedure set forth in Paragraph 3(C) infra.
(3) In cases of economic hardship where the matter is under appeal or a transcript is necessary to advance litigation, the cost of procuring the transcript shall be waived or otherwise adjusted by the Court.
(4) In cases of economic hardship where there is no pending appeal or there exist no obvious need for the transcript to advance litigation, the requesting party must demonstrate reasonable need for said transcript which shall be set forth in the request for transcript before the Court shall waive or adjust the cost of obtaining the transcript. The Court will determine if the requesting party has demonstrated reasonable need to have the transcript prepared without payment of the cost of the transcript.
3. Rates
Transcript cost payable by a requesting party other than the Commonwealth or a subdivision thereof shall be governed as follows:
(A) Costs Payable
The costs payable by the initial ordering party for a transcript delivered via electronic format shall be:
1. For an Ordinary Transcript, $2.50 per page
2. For an Expedited Transcript, $3.50 per page
3. For a Daily Transcript, $4.50 per page
4. For Same Day delivery, $6.50 per page
5. For Rough Draft, $1.00 per page
6. For complex litigation add $0.50 to the per page price for each class of transcript. The Court will determine at the request of any party or Court Reporter, if the litigation shall be deemed ''complex.''
(B) Bound Paper Format
1. When a transcript is requested in bound paper form, the costs shall be in accordance with Section 3(A) supra relating to electronic format plus a surcharge of $0.25 per page.
2. When a transcript is requested to be delivered in electronic format, the Court Reporter shall prepare an additional transcript in bound paper format if one is needed to be filed of record at no additional cost.
(C) Economic Hardship
1. Transcript cost shall not be waived for daily, expedited or same day transcript.
2. The transcript cost for necessary ordinary transcripts shall be waived as follows:
a. If requester has been permitted to proceed in forma pauperis.
b. If requester has income less than 125 percent of the poverty line as defined by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services poverty guidelines for the current year.
c. If requester is represented by an attorney providing free legal service and the attorney files a praecipe which contains a certification by the attorney that the attorney is providing free legal service to the party and believes that the party is unable to pay the costs.
3. The transcript cost for necessary ordinary transcripts shall be reduced by one half if requester has income less than 200 percent of the poverty line as defined by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services poverty guidelines for the current year.
4. Transcript costs for ordinary transcripts that are not subject to appeal, where the transcript is not necessary to advance the litigation, may be waived at the Court's discretion for parties who qualify for economic hardship under 2(K) if the party demonstrates reasonable need.
(D) Assignment and Allocation of Transcript Costs
1. The requesting party or the party required by rule to file the transcript shall be responsible for the cost of the transcript. Costs shall not be assessed against any party for any transcript ordered by the Court, unless requesting a copy as provided by Subparagraph (E).
2. When more than one party requests a transcript, or more than one party is required by rule to file a transcript, the costs will be divided equally among the parties.
(E) Copies of a transcript
A request for a copy of any transcript previously ordered, transcribed, and filed of record shall be provided according to the following schedule:
1. $0.75 per page bound, paper format
2. $0.50 per page for an electronic copy
Any request for a copy of a transcript shall be directed to the District Court Administrator. Filing offices must direct all requests for copies of any transcript to the District Court Administrator.
The District Court Administrator shall notify the responsible Court Reporter to prepare a copy of the ordered transcript. All payments shall be paid to The County of Clinton Transcript Deposit Fund and upon presentation of appropriate bill by the Court Reporter, the County shall pay said fee to the Court Reporter.
(F) Other Costs
1. Costs payable to a Court Reporter by the Commonwealth, any subdivision of the Commonwealth or indigent parties for preparation of an ordered transcript and/or other necessary document shall be paid by the County at the rate as follows:
(a) Ordinary transcripts and orders—$2.25 per page; and
(b) All other requests as set forth in Subparagraph 3(A) supra.
2. Said payment by the County shall be made upon presentation of appropriate billing document from the Court Reporter.
[Pa.B. Doc. No. 16-2296. Filed for public inspection December 30, 2016, 9:00 a.m.]
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