THE COURTS
Title 255—LOCAL
COURT RULES
ARMSTRONG COUNTY
Adoption of New Local Court Rules; No. CP-03-AD-0000002-2016
[46 Pa.B. 7622]
[Saturday, December 10, 2016]
Order of Court And Now, this 16th day of November, 2016, it is hereby Ordered as follows:
1. The following rules are hereby Adopted as the Local Rules of Judicial Administration, effective thirty (30) days after the date of publication in the Pennsylvania Bulletin:
Rule 4001. Interpretation of Rules. Citations of Rules.
(A) These Local Rules of Judicial Administration pertaining to court reporting and transcripts shall be read in pari materia with the Pennsylvania Rules of Judicial Administration pertaining to the same subject matter.
(B) The Local Rules of Judicial Administration shall be cited as L.R.J.A. ______ .
Rule 4002. Definitions.
Court Administrator means the court administrator of the Court of Common Pleas of the 33rd Judicial District sitting in Armstrong County.
Court reporter includes court recorder, unless indicated otherwise.
Rule 4004. Certification of Court Reporter. Duties of Court Administrator.
(A) The Court Administrator shall be responsible for making the determination of whether a court reporter first employed or utilized by the Court after January 1, 2017 meets the minimum criteria to serve in such capacity, as set forth in the Pennsylvania Rule of Judicial Administration. In the event that the minimum criteria are met, the Court Administrator shall approve the court reporter's use by the Court.
(B) The Court Administrator shall be responsible for presenting pertinent information to the President Judge sufficient so as to permit the judge to determine if the triennial or other requalification requirements for a court reporter, as set forth in the Pennsylvania Rules of Judicial Administrator, have been satisfied.
Rule 4007. Requests for Transcripts. Payments.
(A) All requests for a transcripts shall be filed with the Court Administrator.
(B) Upon receipt of a request for an ordinary transcript, the Court Administrator shall forthwith instruct the appropriate court reporter to prepare a brief statement of estimated cost. In preparing such statement, the court reporter shall calculate the estimated cost by using the price rates explicitly established by the Pennsylvania Rules of Judicial Administration or other rates approved pursuant thereto.
(C) A partial payment shall be made by the requester after the Court Administrator has informed the requester of the estimated cost. A partial payment in the amount of seventy-five percent (75%) of the estimated cost shall be made for an ordinary transcript. A partial payment in the amount of ninety per cent (90%) of the estimated cost shall be made for all other transcripts. All checks shall be made payable to ''County of Armstrong.'' All checks shall be delivered to the Court Administrator.
(D) The Court Administrator shall receive payment for any balance owed for the transcript. All checks shall be payable to ''County of Armstrong.'' The Court Administrator shall deliver the transcript to the requester upon receipt of such payment.
(E) If a filing office (Office of the Prothonotary, Clerk of Courts, or the Clerk of the Orphans' Court Division) receives a request for a copy of a transcript already delivered to it by a court reporter, it shall forward the same to the Court Administrator. The Court Administrator shall proceed in accordance with this Rule. The filing office is prohibited from making a copy of a transcript, paperbound or otherwise.
(F) The provisions of this Local Rule regarding deposits and final payments shall not apply to a request for a transcript where the Commonwealth or any subdivision thereof is the requester, or where the requester has been given in forma pauperis status. Legal aid clients shall be entitled to obtain an ordinary transcript at no cost, provided that Laurel Legal Services, or any other legal aid agency representing the requester, must first provide the President Judge with a letter of certification verifying, as provided in R.J.A. 4008(B), that the client meets financial eligibility and that the matter is under appeal or that the transcript being requested is necessary to advance the current litigation.
Rule 4008. Transcript Costs Payable by Requesting Party Other than the Commonwealth or a Subdivision Thereof.
(A) The transcript costs payable by a requesting party other than the Commonwealth or a subdivision thereof, shall be subject to the provisions of Paragraph (B) and (C) of this Rule, and shall be as follows:
(1) Electronic Format:
(a) for an ordinary transcript, $2.50 per page
(b) for an expedited transcript, $3.50 per page
(c) for a daily transcript, $4.50 per page
(d) for same-day delivery, $6.50 per page
(e) for a realtime feed, $1.00 per page
(f) for complex litigation, $3.00 per page
(g) for rough drafts, $1.00 per page
(2) Paper Format:
(a) for an ordinary transcript, $2.75 per page
(b) for an expedited transcript, $3.75 per page
(c) for a daily transcript, $4.75 per page
(d) for same-day delivery, $6.75 per page
(e) for a realtime feed, $1.00 per page
(f) for complex litigation, $3.25 per page
(g) for rough drafts, $1.25 per page
(B) The president judge may impose a reasonable surcharge in cases of unusually complex litigation, such as litigation where unusually complex expert testimony is received.
(C) A litigant who requests a transcript in a matter under appeal or where the transcript is necessary to advance the litigation, may seek a waiver or reduction of the fees otherwise payable by simultaneously filing a petition to proceed in forma pauperis together with the request for a transcript. The petition shall be in the form prescribed by Pa.R.C.P. No. 240(h).
Rule 4009. Fees for Court Reporting Products.
The President Judge shall, from time to time, enter an order of court pertaining to the fees paid to court reporters for their work products. All such fees shall be reasonable.
Rule 4015. Ownership of Notes. Storage. Unauthorized Copying.
(A) Notes of testimony of court proceedings, stenographic notes, tapes, rough draft transcripts or other media used by court reporting personnel to record or monitor a proceeding in or for a court as well as transcriptions thereof, are the exclusive property of the Thirty-third Judicial District, subject to the vested property interests of court reporters described by these rules. Court reporters must, on a daily basis, upload their notes to the Cloud for storage.
(B) The copying of any portion of a transcript or the copying of a copy of any portion of a transcript is prohibited except in accordance with the procedures set forth in these Local Rules of Judicial Administration. Any person who violates this provision shall be liable to the County of Armstrong for payment of the copied product. The Court may impose sanctions upon litigants who violate this provision. The Court may report any violation to appropriate disciplinary tribunals as a violation of an ethical obligation.
2. The current Local Rule of Judicial Administration 5000.13 is hereby Repealed.
By the Court
KENNETH G. VALASEK,
President Judge
[Pa.B. Doc. No. 16-2105. Filed for public inspection December 9, 2016, 9:00 a.m.]
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