Full Text of SB0397 101st General Assembly
SB0397sam001 101ST GENERAL ASSEMBLY | Sen. Elgie R. Sims, Jr. Filed: 3/25/2019
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| 1 | | AMENDMENT TO SENATE BILL 397
| 2 | | AMENDMENT NO. ______. Amend Senate Bill 397 by replacing | 3 | | everything after the enacting clause with the following:
| 4 | | "Section 5. The Court Reporters Act is amended by changing | 5 | | Sections 1, 3, 4, 4.1, 5, 6, 7, 8, 8.1, 8.2, and 8.5 as follows: | 6 | | (705 ILCS 70/1) (from Ch. 37, par. 651)
| 7 | | Sec. 1. Definitions. In this Act:
| 8 | | "Court reporter" means any person
appointed by the chief | 9 | | judge of any circuit to perform the duties
prescribed in | 10 | | Section 5 of this Act.
| 11 | | "Employer representative" means, with respect to wages, | 12 | | fringe
benefits, hours, holidays, vacation, proficiency
| 13 | | examinations, sick leave, and other conditions of
employment:
| 14 | | (1) For court reporters employed by the Cook County | 15 | | Judicial
Circuit Court of Cook County , the chief judge of | 16 | | the Cook County Circuit Court of Cook County .
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| 1 | | (2) For court reporters employed by the 12th, 18th, | 2 | | 19th, and , on and after December 4, 2006, the 22nd judicial
| 3 | | circuits, a group consisting of the chief judges of those | 4 | | circuits, acting
jointly by majority vote.
| 5 | | (3) For court reporters employed by all other judicial | 6 | | circuits, the
chief judges of those circuits, acting | 7 | | jointly by majority vote.
| 8 | | The chief judge of the judicial circuit that employs a | 9 | | public employee who
is
a court reporter, as defined in this the | 10 | | Court Reporters Act, has the authority to
hire, appoint, | 11 | | promote, evaluate, discipline, and discharge court reporters
| 12 | | within that judicial circuit.
| 13 | | (Source: P.A. 94-98, eff. 7-1-05.)
| 14 | | (705 ILCS 70/3) (from Ch. 37, par. 653)
| 15 | | Sec. 3. Number; determination and certification.
The | 16 | | number of full-time and part-time court reporters that may be
| 17 | | appointed in each circuit shall be determined by the
employer | 18 | | representative. In
determining how many court reporters are | 19 | | needed in each circuit the
employer representative shall | 20 | | consider the following factors: (1) case loads in the circuit;
| 21 | | (2) the number of associate judges and circuit judges in the | 22 | | circuit; (3) (blank)
the number and location in the circuit of | 23 | | major federal and state highways ;
(4) (blank) the location in | 24 | | the circuit of state police highway truck weighing
stations ; | 25 | | (5) (blank) the relationship of urban population to large |
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| 1 | | metropolitan
centers in the various counties of the circuit ; | 2 | | (6) (blank) the location in the
circuit of state institutions | 3 | | including, but not limited to, universities,
colleges, mental | 4 | | health facilities, penitentiaries ; (7) (blank) the number of
| 5 | | cities and towns within each circuit in which regular court | 6 | | sessions are
held and the distance in road miles between each ; | 7 | | and (8) any other factor
deemed relevant by the
employer | 8 | | representative.
| 9 | | The employer representative
may, as the need arises, | 10 | | increase or lower the
number of such court reporters so | 11 | | authorized.
| 12 | | The Chief Judge of each circuit may designate any number of | 13 | | approved full-time court reporter positions as time share | 14 | | positions.
For the purposes of this Act, "time share position" | 15 | | means a full-time
court reporter position that is divided among | 16 | | 2 or more court reporters
with the full-time salary and | 17 | | benefits being apportioned among the court
reporters in the | 18 | | same percentage as the duties of the full-time position
are | 19 | | apportioned.
| 20 | | (Source: P.A. 94-98, eff. 7-1-05.)
| 21 | | (705 ILCS 70/4) (from Ch. 37, par. 654)
| 22 | | Sec. 4. Appointment; oath. The chief judge may appoint all | 23 | | or any of the
number of court
reporters authorized by Section 3 | 24 | | of this Act. The court
reporters so appointed shall serve at | 25 | | the direction of the
chief judge and
may be removed by the |
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| 1 | | chief judge.
| 2 | | Each court reporter appointed shall, before entering upon | 3 | | the duties of
his or her office, take the official oath to | 4 | | faithfully discharge the duties of
his or her office to the | 5 | | best of his or her knowledge and ability.
| 6 | | The appointments shall be in writing and shall be filed | 7 | | with the
Clerk of the Circuit Court of the circuit in which the | 8 | | court reporters are
employed and shall continue in force until | 9 | | revoked by the
chief judge
of the circuit in which the court | 10 | | reporter is appointed.
| 11 | | (Source: P.A. 94-98, eff. 7-1-05.)
| 12 | | (705 ILCS 70/4.1) (from Ch. 37, par. 654.1)
| 13 | | Sec. 4.1. Appointment and salary of administrative | 14 | | personnel.
| 15 | | (a) The
employer representative may authorize the chief | 16 | | judge of
any single county circuit to appoint administrative, | 17 | | supervisory, and clerical staff when a need for such positions | 18 | | has been substantiated
in which official court reporting | 19 | | services are centrally administered,
(1) to appoint from among | 20 | | the court reporters appointed in the circuit
an Administrator | 21 | | of Court Reporters, a Deputy Administrator of Court
Reporters | 22 | | and 2 Assistant Administrators of Court Reporters, (2) to
| 23 | | designate from among the court reporters appointed in the | 24 | | circuit one
Reporter Supervisor and one Assistant Reporter | 25 | | Supervisor for each
Department and Division of the circuit |
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| 1 | | court, and (3) to appoint
secretarial and other support staff | 2 | | to assist the Administrator. Each
Administrator, Deputy | 3 | | Administrator, Assistant Administrator, Reporter
Supervisor, | 4 | | and Assistant Reporter Supervisor shall have an "A" proficiency
| 5 | | rating, by examination, as provided in Section 7 .
| 6 | | (b) Administrative personnel appointed under this Section | 7 | | shall be
paid by the State.
| 8 | | (1) In addition to their regular salary as official | 9 | | court reporters,
the administrative personnel appointed | 10 | | under this Section shall be paid
such additional sums as | 11 | | the employer representative
specifies. Such
sums shall be | 12 | | included in the pay schedule adopted pursuant to Section
8. | 13 | | The additional amounts paid shall reflect the burden of
| 14 | | administrative responsibility borne by the administrative | 15 | | personnel and
the consequent lack of opportunity to produce | 16 | | transcripts of testimony.
The additional amounts paid to | 17 | | such personnel shall be determined by the employer | 18 | | representative. not exceed the
following:
| 19 | | (A) Administrator of Court Reporters: $20,000 per | 20 | | year;
| 21 | | (B) Deputy Administrator of Court Reporters: | 22 | | $15,000 per year;
| 23 | | (C) Assistant Administrators of Court Reporters: | 24 | | $13,000 per year;
| 25 | | (D) Reporter Supervisors: $10,000 per year.
| 26 | | (E) Assistant Reporter Supervisors: $5,000 per |
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| 1 | | year.
| 2 | | (2) Each of the administrative, supervisory, | 3 | | secretarial and other support staff
authorized under this | 4 | | Section shall be paid a salary as determined per
year by | 5 | | the employer representative.
| 6 | | (Source: P.A. 94-98, eff. 7-1-05.)
| 7 | | (705 ILCS 70/5) (from Ch. 37, par. 655)
| 8 | | Sec. 5. Means of reporting; transcripts.
The court reporter | 9 | | shall make a full reporting by means of stenographic
hand or | 10 | | machine notes , or a combination thereof, of the evidence and | 11 | | such
other proceedings in trials and judicial proceedings to | 12 | | which he or she is
assigned by the chief judge, and the court | 13 | | reporter may use an electronic
instrument as a supplementary | 14 | | device. In the event that the court
utilizes an audio or video | 15 | | recording system approved by the Supreme Court to record the | 16 | | proceedings, a
court reporting services employee reporter | 17 | | shall be in charge of such system ; however, the appointment
of | 18 | | a court reporter to be in charge of an audio or video recording | 19 | | system
shall not be required where such system is the judge's | 20 | | personal property or
has been supplied by a party or such | 21 | | party's attorney . To the extent that
it does not substantially | 22 | | interfere with the court reporter's other official duties,
the | 23 | | judge to whom, or a judge of the division to which, a reporter | 24 | | may be is
assigned may assign a reporter to secretarial or | 25 | | clerical duties arising
out of official court operations.
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| 1 | | A court reporting services employee may charge a page rate | 2 | | for the preparation of transcripts of court proceedings not to | 3 | | exceed the rate set by the employer representative in the | 4 | | Uniform Schedule of Charges for Transcripts. | 5 | | Unless and until otherwise provided in a Uniform Schedule
| 6 | | of Charges which may hereafter be provided by rule or order of | 7 | | the employer
representative, a court reporter may charge not to | 8 | | exceed 25˘ per 100 words for
making transcripts of his notes. | 9 | | The fees for making transcripts shall be
paid in the first | 10 | | instance by the party in whose behalf such transcript is
| 11 | | ordered and shall be taxed in the suit.
| 12 | | The transcripts shall be filed and remain with the papers | 13 | | of the case.
When the judge trying the case shall, of his own | 14 | | motion, order a transcript
of the court reporter's notes, the | 15 | | judge may direct the payment of the
charges therefor, and the | 16 | | taxation of the charges as costs in such manner
as to him may | 17 | | seem just. Provided, that the charges for making but one
| 18 | | transcript shall be taxed as costs and the party first ordering | 19 | | the
transcript shall have preference unless it shall be | 20 | | otherwise ordered by
the court.
| 21 | | The change made to this Section by this amendatory Act of | 22 | | 1987 is
intended to apply retroactively from and after January | 23 | | 1, 1987.
| 24 | | (Source: P.A. 94-98, eff. 7-1-05.)
| 25 | | (705 ILCS 70/6) (from Ch. 37, par. 656)
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| 1 | | Sec. 6. Assignment to serve outside of county of | 2 | | appointment; Travel
expenses.
| 3 | | The chief judge may assign a court reporter to serve | 4 | | anywhere within the
circuit in which the court reporter is | 5 | | appointed. A court reporter shall be
paid travel expenses | 6 | | incurred in connection with his or her official duties in his
| 7 | | or her circuit of appointment outside the county wherein he or | 8 | | she resides. Subject to
regulations which may be adopted by the | 9 | | employer representative Supreme Court , court reporters
shall | 10 | | be allowed travel expenses when traveling within their county | 11 | | of
residence in connection with their official duties.
| 12 | | The employer representative may assign a court reporter
to | 13 | | temporary service
outside his or her own circuit, but within | 14 | | the jurisdiction of the employer
representative, with the | 15 | | consent of the chief judge of his circuit .
A court reporter | 16 | | shall be paid travel expenses incurred in connection with
his | 17 | | or her official duties during such periods of temporary | 18 | | assignment.
| 19 | | Expense vouchers shall be submitted to the employer | 20 | | representative for approval.
The expense vouchers or claims | 21 | | submitted to the Office of the Comptroller for payment employer | 22 | | representative shall have
endorsed thereon the signed approval | 23 | | of the chief judge of the circuit in
which the court reporter | 24 | | is appointed incurred the expense for which claim is made .
| 25 | | (Source: P.A. 94-98, eff. 7-1-05.)
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| 1 | | (705 ILCS 70/7) (from Ch. 37, par. 657)
| 2 | | Sec. 7. Proficiency tests.
Each Except as otherwise | 3 | | provided in this Section, each court reporter in
office on | 4 | | January 1, 1966 or appointed on or after that date shall have
| 5 | | taken or shall thereafter take a test to verify rate his or her | 6 | | proficiency within one year of employment . The test
shall be | 7 | | prepared and administered by the employer representative in
| 8 | | consultation with each of the other employer representatives | 9 | | pursuant to standards set by rules. A proficiency test passed | 10 | | prior to employment may be accepted by the chief judge as proof | 11 | | of proficiency . The test shall
consist of three parts
| 12 | | designated Part A, Part B and Part C. If the court reporter in | 13 | | office on
January 1, 1966, or appointed on or after that date, | 14 | | successfully passes
any Part he shall be given a certificate | 15 | | designating him as an official
court reporter. If such court | 16 | | reporter fails to pass any part, the
employer representative | 17 | | shall so inform the
chief judge of the circuit in which the | 18 | | court reporter serves. Upon receipt
of note that a court | 19 | | reporter has failed to pass any part of the test, the
chief | 20 | | judge may discharge the court reporter or may allow him to | 21 | | continue
until the test is next administered. If, when the test | 22 | | is next
administered, the court reporter fails to pass any part | 23 | | of the test, he
shall be discharged by the chief judge.
| 24 | | The test shall be administered at least every six months if | 25 | | there are
candidates or applicants for the test. Any court | 26 | | reporter who has passed
Part C of the test may apply to take |
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| 1 | | the Part B or the Part A section of
the test at the regular time | 2 | | such tests are given. If the court reporter
successfully | 3 | | completes Part B or Part A of the test, his proficiency rating
| 4 | | shall be adjusted to reflect passage of the more difficult | 5 | | Part.
| 6 | | Any court reporter who served as a court reporter in a | 7 | | circuit court for
5 years immediately preceding January 1, 1966 | 8 | | shall be certified as an
official court reporter without | 9 | | examination, and shall be credited with an
"A" proficiency | 10 | | rating, without examination.
| 11 | | (Source: P.A. 94-98, eff. 7-1-05.)
| 12 | | (705 ILCS 70/8) (from Ch. 37, par. 658)
| 13 | | Sec. 8. Salaries.
| 14 | | (a) The salaries of all court reporters shall be
paid by | 15 | | the State. Full-time court reporters shall be paid not less | 16 | | than
$6,000 nor more than $29,500 per year through June 30, | 17 | | 1984.
Beginning July 1, 1984, full-time court reporters shall | 18 | | be paid not less
than $6,000 nor more than $31,250 annually. | 19 | | Beginning July 1, 1985,
full-time court reporters shall be paid | 20 | | not less than $6,000 nor more than
$33,250 annually. Beginning | 21 | | July 1, 1986, full-time court reporters shall
be paid not less | 22 | | than $6,000 nor more than $35,250 annually. Beginning
July 1, | 23 | | 1987, full-time court reporters shall be paid not less than | 24 | | $6,000
nor more than $37,250 annually. Part-time court | 25 | | reporters shall be paid
not less than $12 nor more than $60 per |
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| 1 | | half-day. The salary of each
individual court reporter shall be | 2 | | computed from a schedule adopted by the
employer | 3 | | representative. The salary schedule shall
reflect the | 4 | | following relevant
factors: (1) proficiency rating; (2) | 5 | | experience; (3) population of the
area to which a reporter is | 6 | | normally assigned; (3-1) court reporters shall
receive the same | 7 | | annual percentage salary increase as provided to other
| 8 | | State-paid non-judicial employees of the Judicial Branch with | 9 | | equivalent
salaries, except that notwithstanding any other | 10 | | provision of law, salaries of
full time court reporters shall | 11 | | be increased by at least a percentage increase
equivalent to | 12 | | that of the "Employment Cost Index, Wages and Salaries, by
| 13 | | Occupation and Industry Groups, State and Local Government | 14 | | Workers Public
Administration", as published by the Bureau of | 15 | | Labor Statistics of the U.S.
Department of Labor for the | 16 | | calendar year immediately preceding the year of the
respective | 17 | | July 1st increase date. The increase shall be added to the then
| 18 | | current annual salary and the adjusted salary so determined | 19 | | shall be the annual
salary beginning July 1 of the increase | 20 | | year until July 1 of the next year; (4)
other factors | 21 | | considered relevant by the employer representative Director .
| 22 | | (b) (Blank).
| 23 | | (c) (Blank). A court reporter who has previously passed, or | 24 | | who hereafter passes,
Part A or Part B of a proficiency test | 25 | | prepared and administered by the
employer representative shall | 26 | | be credited with an "A" or
"B" proficiency rating, as
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| 1 | | appropriate.
| 2 | | (d) (Blank). A court reporter who has been credited with an | 3 | | "A" proficiency
rating, without examination, as provided in | 4 | | Section 7 of this Act, shall
receive a salary of $10,000 per | 5 | | annum. Any increase in the maximum salary
payable to reporters | 6 | | shall not result in any increase for such reporter
unless and | 7 | | until he has passed the proficiency test.
| 8 | | (e) The salaries of all official court reporters employed | 9 | | by the State
shall be paid semi-monthly monthly , from moneys | 10 | | appropriated to the Comptroller for that
purpose, on the | 11 | | voucher of the chief judge of the circuit employing the
court | 12 | | reporters. The Comptroller may require all salary claims by | 13 | | part-time reporters to be
substantiated by certificates signed | 14 | | by the reporter and approved by the
chief judge of the circuit.
| 15 | | (f) (Blank). The salaries of time share court reporter | 16 | | positions may be
apportioned in the manner provided in Section | 17 | | 3 of this Act.
| 18 | | (Source: P.A. 94-98, eff. 7-1-05.)
| 19 | | (705 ILCS 70/8.1)
| 20 | | Sec. 8.1. Appropriation request. Each employer | 21 | | representative shall
make an annual appropriation request in | 22 | | January to the General
Assembly to fund court reporters. When
| 23 | | necessary, an employer representative may request supplemental | 24 | | appropriations
to fund court reporters.
| 25 | | (Source: P.A. 94-98, eff. 7-1-05.)
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| 1 | | (705 ILCS 70/8.2)
| 2 | | Sec. 8.2. Collective Supreme Court; collective bargaining. | 3 | | The employer representatives Supreme Court shall
collectively | 4 | | bargain over wages, hours, and terms and conditions of | 5 | | employment
of all persons employed as court reporters in this | 6 | | State if so agreed upon by a majority vote of the employees | 7 | | within each employer group . The employer representative | 8 | | Supreme Court
shall recognize an exclusive bargaining | 9 | | representative of persons employed as
court reporters in this | 10 | | State, if that representative makes a showing, through
an | 11 | | election or otherwise, that it represents a majority of the | 12 | | court reporters within the employer group ,
in accordance with | 13 | | procedures for verifying majority status established by the
| 14 | | Court .
| 15 | | (Source: P.A. 93-89, eff. 7-2-03.)
| 16 | | (705 ILCS 70/8.5)
| 17 | | Sec. 8.5. Advisory arbitration for collective bargaining .
| 18 | | (a) All matters concerning wages, hours, and terms and | 19 | | conditions of
employment of court reporters are subject to | 20 | | advisory, non-binding arbitration.
| 21 | | (b) Any party to a collective bargaining agreement with the | 22 | | exclusive
bargaining representative chosen under Section 8.2 | 23 | | may request that any matter
concerning wages, hours, or terms | 24 | | and conditions of employment of court
reporters shall be |
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| 1 | | submitted to advisory, non-binding arbitration and that the | 2 | | employer representative
Supreme Court shall appoint | 3 | | arbitrators. Upon receiving such a request, the employer | 4 | | representative
Court shall appoint a panel of one or more | 5 | | arbitrators and submit the matter
to the panel for advisory, | 6 | | non-binding arbitration. The employer representative Court | 7 | | shall consult
with the parties in determining acceptable | 8 | | arbitrators.
| 9 | | (c) Arbitrators appointed by the employer representative | 10 | | Supreme Court under this
Section are entitled to compensation | 11 | | and to reimbursement for their reasonable
expenses
actually | 12 | | incurred in performing their duties, as provided by rules | 13 | | adopted by
the employer representative Court .
Arbitrators' | 14 | | compensation and reimbursement shall be paid from moneys
| 15 | | appropriated for that purpose.
| 16 | | (d) The employer representative Supreme Court shall create | 17 | | a roster of arbitrators who are available
and qualified for | 18 | | appointment under this Section , as provided by rules adopted
by | 19 | | the Court .
| 20 | | (Source: P.A. 93-89, eff. 7-2-03.)".
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