Court Reporter Supervisor

The Superior Court of California, County of San Joaquin is now accepting applications for Court Reporter Supervisor. This is a promotional only examination, open to only current Superior of Court of California, San Joaquin County employees. Applicants must meet the eligibility requirements for promotional only examinations as outlined in Section 12 of the Personnel Rules. 

This is the full supervisory-level class in the Court Reporter series that exercises independent judgment and is responsible for the most complex Court Reporting duties and supervision of Court Reporters. This position will be responsible for daily court reporting operations, court reporting services for all Superior Court business, and related work as required.
 
The Court Reporter Supervisor received general direction from the Court Operations Manager and exercises direct and general supervision over Court Reporters. This class is distinguished from the Court Reporter in that the latter does not have supervisory responsibility.

• Plans, organizes, schedules, supervises, and reviews the work of Court Reporters; trains staff in work procedures; provides policy guidance and interpretation to staff; evaluates employee performance and works with employees to correct deficiencies; recommends and implements disciplinary procedures; assists in hiring and promotion.
• Monitors activities of the assigned work unit; recommends improvements and modifications, and prepares various reports on operations and activities, including workload and workflow statistics.
• Recommends and implements goals, objectives, policies, and procedures related to the work of the assigned unit; creates training materials. 
• Attends sessions of the Court; creates verbatim official records of proceedings in Realtime; provides readback of portions of the record at the request of the Court. 
• Utilizes computer-aided transcription tools in order to prepare transcripts in all cases. 
• Organizes, files, stores, preserves, and delivers reporting notes as official records of the Court in accordance with Government Code 69955; prepares certified transcripts as requested by judicial officers, attorneys, and the public in a timely manner. 
• Provides reporting services to the District Attorney’s office as needed. 
• Researches and verifies case citations, spelling of legal, medical, and other specialized terms used in cases as needed. 
• Operates a variety of standard office equipment, including job-related computer hardware and software applications, printers, facsimile machines, and transcription equipment.
• Stays abreast of current trends, technology, and legislation in the field of court reporting.
• Performs other duties as assigned.

Education and Experience:
Any combination of training and experience that would provide the required knowledge, skills, and abilities is qualifying.  A typical way to obtain the required qualifications would be:

Equivalent to the completion of an accredited course in court reporting and four (4) years of courtroom experience as a Certified Shorthand Reporter.
 
Licenses and Certifications:  

• Possession of, or ability to obtain, a valid California Driver’s License by time of appointment.
• Possession of a valid CSR license issued by the Certified Reporter’s Board of the State of California. 

Knowledge of: 

• Principles and practices of employee supervision, including work planning, assignment, review and evaluation, and the training of staff in work procedures.
• Principles and practices of court reporting. 
• General policies and procedures of Court operations. 
• Sufficient legal terminology necessary to assume assigned responsibilities.
• Procedures, methods, and practices involved in creating, processing, typing, formatting, and filing court reports.
• Applicable federal, state, and local laws, rules, regulations, ordinances, and organizational policies and procedures relevant to court reporting.
• Record-keeping principles and procedures.
• Modern office practices, methods, and computer equipment and applications related to the work. 
• English usage, grammar, spelling, vocabulary, and punctuation. 
• Techniques for providing a high level of customer service by effectively dealing with the public and Court staff.

Ability to:  

• Assist in developing and implementing goals, objectives, practices, policies, procedures, and work standards.
• Supervise, select, train, motivate, and evaluate the work of staff.
• Operate standard transcription equipment. 
• Perform court reporting work with accuracy and speed. 
• Report at speeds above 250 WPM. 
• Respond to and effectively prioritize multiple deadlines and transcript requests.
• Provide a real-time feed of court proceedings at the request of the Court.
• Establish and maintain a variety of filing, record-keeping, and tracking systems.
• Understand and follow oral and written instructions. 
• Organize and prioritize a variety of projects and multiple tasks in an effective and timely manner; organize own work, set priorities, and meet critical deadlines.
• Operate office equipment and computer applications related to the work.
• Travel to various Court sites. 
• Use English effectively to communicate in person, over the telephone, and in writing.
• Use tact, discretion, initiative, prudence, and independent judgment within general policy and legal guidelines in politically sensitive situations.
• Establish, maintain, and foster positive and effective working relationships with those contacted in the course of work.

Physical Demands 
Must possess mobility to work in a standard office setting and use standard office equipment, including a computer; vision to read printed materials and a computer screen; and hearing and speech to communicate in person and over the telephone. This is primarily a sedentary office classification, although standing and walking between work areas may be required.   Finger dexterity is needed to access, enter, and retrieve data using a computer keyboard or calculator and to operate standard office equipment.  Positions in this classification occasionally bend, stoop, kneel, reach, push, and pull drawers open and closed to retrieve and file information.  Employees must possess the ability to lift, carry, push, and pull materials and objects up to 25 pounds with the use of proper equipment.

Environmental Elements 
Employees work in an office environment with moderate noise levels, controlled temperature conditions, and no direct exposure to hazardous physical substances. Employees may interact with upset staff and/or public and private representatives in interpreting and enforcing departmental policies and procedures.