A local court reporter is encouraging others to consider the respected field.
BEXAR COUNTY, Texas — It’s a best kept secret that’s continuing to face a big problem: there’s a shortage of court reporters in Bexar County.
President of the Bexar County Court Reporters Association, Mary Scopas has been a certified short hand reporter for 33 years.
“What reporters my age have said, it is like the best kept secret,” Scopas said. “We never publicized it. We just didn’t realize what was going to happen. And now we are struggling here in Bexar County to get court reporters to come in to the courthouse to take depositions.”
Scopas works for the Bexar County 144th Criminal District Court.
“It is flexible and you can make a real good living out of it,” she said. “We learn short hand. And we learn to get up to speeds to 225. I do 300 words per minute that I can get up to with the experience I have had.”
Scopas takes a record for the court. Essentially, anything that happens she types it on her machine which then transcribes text on the computer.
“We have to produce an exact record, an accurate record,” she said.
So how bad of a problem is it in Bexar County?
“Sometimes dockets can’t go forward,” she said.
February 1 through 8 is known as Court Reporting and Captioning Week. In fact, the National Court Reporters Association said this year is celebrating ‘The Real AI’: Accuracy & Integrity. Scopas said this industry is also dealing with artificial intelligence.
“We feel that a man-made machine can never do what a human can do,” she said. “We court reporters sit there and we look at emotions and the innuendos.”
Scopas is encouraging others to consider the respected field.
“In lieu of a four year degree, you can go to a specialized school to learn this,” she said. “What it does it shortens your time and gets you in to the workforce faster.”
She said the schooling can take up to three years or even shorter.
“I would say our salaries here are anywhere from $90,000 to $140,000,” she said. “Denton they make $140,000 a year working in court. Here in Bexar County, I don’t mind saying we make $125,000.”
“We do very well,” she added. “I don’t like to promote it like that. You have to love the profession.”
The mayor will be making a proclamation for this week to be known as Court Reporters and Closed Captioning week. A ceremony will be held Wednesday at 8 a.m. in front of the fountains at the Bexar County Courthouse.
For more information contact bccrassociation@gmail.com. There’s also a six week program that teaches you what this field entails, find more information here.