North Carolina § 7A-198 - Reporting of civil trials.

§ 7A-198. Reporting of civil trials.

Court-reporting personnel shall be utilized, if available, for the reporting of civil trials in the district court. If court reporters are not available in any county, electronic or other mechanical devices shall be provided by the Administrative Office of the Courts upon request of the chief district judge. The Administrative Office of the Courts shall from time to time investigate the state of the art and techniques of recording testimony, and shall provide such electronic or mechanical devices as are found to be most efficient for this purpose. If an electronic or other mechanical device is utilized, it shall be the duty of the clerk of the superior court or some other person designated by him to operate the device while a trial is in progress, and the clerk shall thereafter preserve the record thus produced, which may be transcribed, as required, by any person designated by the Administrative Office of the Courts. If stenotype, shorthand, or stenomask equipment is used, the original tapes, notes, discs, or other records are the property of the State, and the clerk shall keep them in his custody. Reporting of any trial may be waived by consent of the parties. Reporting will not be provided in ex parte or emergency hearings before a judge pursuant to Chapter 50B or 50C of the General Statutes, trials before magistrates, or in hearings to adjudicate and dispose of infractions in the district court. Appointment of a reporter or reporters for district court proceedings in each district court district shall be made by the chief district judge for that district. The compensation and allowances of reporters in each district shall be fixed by the chief district judge, within limits determined by the Administrative Officer of the Courts, and paid by the State. A party to a civil trial in district court may request a private agreement from the opposing party or parties to share equally in the cost of a court reporter to be selected from a list provided by the Administrative Office of the Courts. If the opposing party does not consent to share this cost, the requesting party may nevertheless pay to have a court reporter present to record the trial and, in the event that the opposing party appeals the case, that party shall reimburse the party providing the court reporter in full for the costs incurred for the court reporter's services and transcripts. In the event that the recording device in a civil trial conducted without a court reporter fails for any reason to provide a reasonably accurate record of the trial for purposes of appeal, then the trial judge shall grant a motion for a new trial made by a losing party whose request pursuant to this section to share the cost of a court reporter was not consented to by the opposing party. History (1965, c. 310, s. 1; 1969, c. 1190, s. 18; 1985, c. 764, s. 13; 1985 (Reg. Sess., 1986), c. 852, s. 17; 1987, c. 384, s. 2; 1987 (Reg. Sess., 1988), c. 1037, s. 19; 1996, 2nd Ex. Sess., c. 18, s. 22.11; 2015-173, s. 5.) Editor's Note. - Subsections (e) and (f) of this section were subject to approval under Section 5 of the Voting Rights Act of 1965. Preclearance was received from the U.S. Department of Justice by letter dated February 14, 1994. Session Laws 2015-241, s. 18A.20, provides: "The Administrative Office of the Courts shall set the limits on compensation and allowances of court reporters provided for in G.S. 7A-95(e) and G.S. 7A-198(f) during the 2015-2017 fiscal biennium so that (i) the Administrative Office of the Courts pays no more than eighty percent (80%) of the per-transcript-page rate paid by the Administrative Office of the Courts during the 2011-2013 fiscal biennium and (ii) the Office of Indigent Defense Services pays no more than eighty percent (80%) of the per-transcript-page rate paid by the Office of Indigent Defense Services during the 2011-2013 fiscal biennium." For prior similar provisions, see Session Laws 2013-360, s. 18B.21A, as amended by Session Laws 2013-363, s. 6.3. Session Laws 2015-241, s. 1.1, provides: "This act shall be known as 'The Current Operations and Capital Improvements Appropriations Act of 2015.'" Session Laws 2015-241, s. 33.4, provides: "Except for statutory changes or other provisions that clearly indicate an intention to have effects beyond the 2015-2017 fiscal biennium, the textual provisions of this act apply only to funds appropriated for, and activities occurring during, the 2015-2017 fiscal biennium." Session Laws 2015-241, s. 33.6, is a severability clause. Effect of Amendments. - Session Laws 2015-173, s. 5, effective July 31, 2015, and applicable to ex parte hearings conducted on or after that date, inserted "ex parte or emergency hearings before a judge pursuant to Chapter 50B or 50C of the General Statutes" and made a minor stylistic change in subsection (e).