EXPLANATION-Matter enclosed in bold-faced brackets [thus] in this bill is not enacted
and is intended to be omitted in the law.
FIRST REGULAR SESSION
SENATE BILL NO. 413
103RD GENERAL ASSEMBLY
INTRODUCED BY SENATOR TRENT.
1105S.01I KRISTINA MARTIN, Secretary
AN ACT
To repeal sections 492.340, 492.350, 492.540, and 492.590, RSMo, and to enact in lieu thereof
five new sections relating to court reporters, with penalty provisions.
Be it enacted by the General Assembly of the State of Missouri, as follows:
Section A. Sections 492.340, 492.350, 492.540, and 1
492.590, RSMo, are repealed and five new sections enacted in 2
lieu thereof, to be known as sections 485.160, 492.340, 492.350, 3
492.540, and 492.590, to read as follows:4
485.160. 1. As used in this section, the following 1
terms mean: 2
(1) "Board", the board of certified court reporter 3
examiners as established by s upreme court rule 14.01; 4
(2) "Certified court reporter", a person who is 5
certified as a court reporter by the board to engage in 6
court reporting; 7
(3) "Court reporting", the practice of shorthand 8
reporting for use in litigation in courts of t his state by 9
making a verbatim record of a court proceeding, deposition, 10
or proceeding before a grand jury or court commissioner 11
using machine stenography or oral stenography; 12
(4) "Court reporting firm", an entity wholly or partly 13
in the business of providing court reporting or other 14
related services in this state. A court reporting firm is 15
considered to be providing court reporting or other related 16
services in this state if: 17 SB 413 2
(a) Any act that constitutes a court reporting service 18
occurs wholly or partly in this state; 19
(b) The court reporting firm recruits a resident of 20
this state through an intermediary located inside or outside 21
of this state to provide court reporting services or other 22
related services in this state; 23
(c) The court reporting firm contracts with a resident 24
of this state by mail or otherwise and either party is to 25
perform court reporting services or other related services 26
wholly or partly in this state. 27
2. Any person who: 28
(1) Undertakes or attempts to undertake the practice 29
of court reporting for remuneration without first having 30
procured a license from the board; 31
(2) Knowingly presents or files false information with 32
the board for the purpose of obtaining a license; or 33
(3) Violates this section; 34
is guilty of a class A misdemeanor. Each day in which a 35
violation occurs is a separate offense. 36
3. A person who is not licensed shall not bring or 37
maintain an action to recover fees for court reporting 38
services that the person pe rformed in violation of this 39
section. 40
4. A person shall not assume or use the title or 41
designation "court reporter", "court recorder", or 42
"shorthand reporter", or any abbreviation, title, 43
designation, words, letters, sign, card, or device tending 44
to indicate that the person is a court reporter, court 45
recorder, or shorthand reporter, unless the person is 46
certified as a certified court reporter by the board. 47
Nothing in this subsection shall be construed to sanction or 48 SB 413 3
prohibit the use of elect ronic recording equipment operated 49
within the courtroom according to supreme court rules. 50
5. Any person who holds a license as a certified court 51
reporter from the board who knowingly signs and affixes his 52
or her signature and license number to a t ranscript for 53
which he or she was not personally present and did not 54
personally report stenographically by machine or voice the 55
proceedings reflected in the transcript is guilty of a class 56
A misdemeanor. Each transcript violation is a separate 57
offense. Nothing in this section shall be construed to 58
sanction or prohibit the transcription methods used in 59
conjunction with the use of electronic recording equipment 60
operated within the courtroom according to the supreme court 61
rules. 62
6. The provisions of subsections 2 to 5 of this 63
section are applicable to a court reporting firm. The court 64
may enforce subsections 2 to 5 of this section by assessing 65
a reasonable fee against a court reporting firm. 66
7. This section shall not apply to court re porting 67
services performed outside of this state by a foreign court 68
reporter who is not certified in this state for use in a 69
court proceeding in this state, provided that the work 70
resulting from those services is produced and billed wholly 71
outside of this state. 72
8. A certified court reporter or court reporting firm 73
shall not enter into or provide services under any 74
contractual agreement, written or oral, exclusive or 75
nonexclusive, that: 76
(1) Undermines the impartiality of the certified co urt 77
reporter or that may result in the appearance that the 78
impartiality of the certified court reporter has been 79
compromised; 80 SB 413 4
(2) Requires a certified court reporter to provide any 81
service not made available to all parties to an action; 82
(3) Gives or appears to give an exclusive advantage to 83
any party to an action; 84
(4) Restricts an attorney's choice in the selection of 85
a certified court reporter or court reporting firm; or 86
(5) Specifies fixed prices to perform court reporting 87
services in two or more actions or for future court 88
reporting services whether or not the services are actually 89
requested. 90
9. The provisions of subdivisions (4) and (5) of 91
subsection 8 of this section shall not apply to a contract 92
for court reporting services for a court or agency of this 93
state. 94
492.340. When the testimony taken before a certified 1
court reporter is fully transcribed the deposition shall be 2
submitted to the witness for examination and shall be read 3
to or by him, unless such examination and reading are waived 4
by the witness and by the parties. Any changes in form or 5
substance which the witness desires to make shall be entered 6
upon [the deposition by the officer ] an errata sheet with a 7
statement of the reas ons given by the witness for making 8
them. The deposition shall then be signed by the witness, 9
unless the parties by stipulation waive the signing or the 10
witness is ill or cannot be found, or is dead or refuses to 11
sign. [If the deposition is not signe d by the witness, the 12
officer shall sign it and state on the record the fact of 13
the waiver or of the illness, or death or absence of the 14
witness or the fact of the refusal to sign together with the 15
reason, if any, given therefor; and the deposition may then 16
be used as fully as though signed, unless on a motion to 17
suppress the court holds that the reasons given for the 18 SB 413 5
refusal to sign requires rejection of the deposition in 19
whole or in part.] 20
492.350. To every deposition or examin ation, taken by 1
virtue of sections 492.080 to 492.400 shall be appended the 2
certificate of the [person or officer by or ] certified court 3
reporter before whom the same shall be taken, showing that 4
the deposition or examination was reported stenographica lly 5
by machine or voice and reduced to writing in his or her 6
presence, and was subscribed and sworn to by the witnesses, 7
and the place at which, and the days, and within the hours, 8
when the same was taken , and shall include the certified 9
court reporter's license number. 10
492.540. The [officer taking] certified court reporter 1
before whom such depositions were reported stenographically 2
by machine or voice shall attach thereto his or her 3
certificate, stating the time and place when a nd where such 4
depositions were taken, that the witnesses were duly sworn 5
as to the truth of their depositions, and that they 6
subscribed the same[, and shall enclose them, together with 7
the commission and the evidence of notice; and the whole, 8
being carefully sealed up, shall be delivered by the officer 9
to the recorder of the county in which the suit is pending, 10
or in which the property or matter is situate or belongs, to 11
which such depositions relate ]. 12
492.590. 1. The costs and expenses of depositions, 1
whether originals or copies, or related certified court 2
reporter, notarial, or other fees of recording the same, 3
shall be awarded as a judgment in favor of the party or 4
parties requesting the same, and collected in the manner 5
provided by section [514.460] 488.432. Any party incurring 6
any such costs or expenses may request the taxing of such 7
costs or expenses actually incurred by that party whether or 8 SB 413 6
not such depositions were taken at the instance of that 9
party or some other party to the suit or suits [, provided, 10
however, that any judgment awarded for copies of depositions 11
shall be limited to the cost of one copy per party, except 12
upon leave of court]. 13
2. The costs and expenses so incurred shall be 14
certified by the certified court reporter [taking] who 15
reported stenographically by machine or voice the same and 16
shall be further limited by the court in which the action is 17
pending at the request of either party with said limitation 18
based on: 19
(1) The relevancy and probative value of the testimony 20
offered by deponent; 21
(2) The time required in the taking of the deposition; 22
(3) The reasonableness of the charge made by the 23
certified court reporter; and 24
(4) [The availability of stenographers or shorthand 25
reporters in the area where the deposition is taken; 26
(5)] Charges made by other [stenographers or 27
shorthand] certified court reporters in the community. 28