Existing law authorizes a superior court to appoint official court reporters and specifies the fees for court reporting services. Existing law prohibits courts from using remote court reporting, as defined, to produce the record of any court proceedings and from expending any funds to purchase equipment or software to facilitate the use of remote court reporting.
This bill would, notwithstanding these provisions, authorize, beginning July 1, 2025, the Superior Courts of the Counties of Alameda, Los Angeles, Mendocino, Monterey, Orange, San Diego, San Joaquin, San Mateo, Santa Clara, Tulare, and Ventura to conduct pilot projects to study the potential use of remote court reporting to make the verbatim record of certain court proceedings. The bill would require, if the superior court elects to conduct a pilot project, the remote court reporting to be performed only by official reporters who meet specified qualifications and conditions. The bill would authorize, after 6 months of meaningful remote court reporting testing, the exclusive representations of the official reports of the participating superior courts to agree to include additional offsite locations to test remote court reporting and to agree on the equipment needed for these locations, and how the participating courts will provide that equipment. The bill would require this agreement to be reached by January 1, 2026. The bill would authorize no more than 10 percent of total courtrooms in a participating court to be equipped to participate in a pilot project. The bill would specify the requirements for participating superior courts to be equipped by June 30, 2025. The bill would authorize remote court proceedings to be used to report proceedings in limited civil cases, civil law and motion cases, family law cases, child support cases, probate cases, and felony and misdemeanor arraignments and pleas, and would authorize transcripts created through remote court reporting to be used whenever a transcript of court proceedings is required. The bill would require the presiding judge of a participating superior court to appoint a committee, as specified, to prepare a report to the Legislature on the results of the pilot project and would require the committee's report to be presented to the Legislature within 6 months of the conclusion of the pilot project. The bill would require the pilot projects to terminate no later than July 1, 2026, or earlier if a participating court determines that the use of remote court reporting is prejudicing the rights of litigants or the interests of justice.

Statutes affected:
AB3013: 6000 GOV
02/16/24 - Introduced: 6000 GOV
03/18/24 - Amended Assembly: 6000 GOV
AB 3013: 6000 GOV