Untitled Texas Attorney General Opinion ( 1959 )

TEE ATI-ORNEX GENERAL
OF TEXAS
HonorableThcanae D. Blackwell
Comty Attorney
Travis colmty
Auetln, Texas
Opinion No. ww-692
Re: Queetlone rel.atiuS to payment
by the State to court reporters
for etat*nte of faat in OlYil
DearMr.Blackwel.l: suite.
We have yOur letter of July U, 1959, +d mur ~uppl=+ental
letter of AuSuet 5, 1959, in which you request ow opinion on thrqe questloue
relating to the paymeat by the S$ate to cow reporters for +at+me&e of
iaot in oivlleulta.
Your firsts question la aa follows:
*1. Under‘Art. 2324, V.C.S., what form of certi- 4
flcation la peceeaary for a oourt reporter to get a
statement ti ohergee for the preparationof a trauecript
of the evidence in a oiVll6uit paid by warrant leeued
by the Comptroller of Public AccounteTY
Artiole 2324, Vernon'e Civil Statutes, prescribing the oornpen-
aatlon of court reportera.for the preparation of transcripts of evldenoe
reads in part ae follows:
* . ~. .
"When any party to any suit reported by any such
reporter shall desire a transcript of the evidence in aald
suit, q aid party may apply for mme end the reporter shall
make up euoh tzimecrlpt and shall receive ae ccmpeneation
therefor the em of not more then thirty oents per one
huudred worde for the original thereof. In the event aaid
&+neorlpt ehould be ordered and made in narrative form,
‘)r--’
3
ll1:L*2
Honorable Thomas D. Blackwell, page 2 (``-692)
then such ~reporter shall make up same In duplicate
in narrative form, and shall receive a8 ocmpenaatlon
therefor the~sum of twenty cents per hundred words for
the orlglnal; “grovided, however, that no charge shall
be made for the duplicate copy, and provided ,further,
that in case any reporter oharges more than the fees
herein allowed he shall be liable to the Derson 0a.vlna
the fmme a mm equal to four times the excess soc&d,‘*
(Emphaele our8. )
We believe that the foregoing provision specifically authorizea
the following:
1. When a transcript is ordered and prepared in
narrative form, the reporter is required to prepare
same In duplicate and ie prohlbited from making an
additional charge for the duplicate. The authorized
oharge for both t&e original and the duplicate is
“the emu of twenty cents per hundred worde” in the
original.
2. There ie no requirement that the reporter
prepare a duplicate if the tranaoript la ordered and
prepared other than in narrative form. If the tie-
porter le requested to make coplea, there Is no pro-
hibition against his charging for those 80 made.
There is no provielon a8 to how much he may charge for
copies.
3. If the transcript is prepared In other than
narrative form, the authorized charge la ‘not more
than thirty cents per one hundred worde for the original
thereof”. Here the charge la not prescribed In absolute
term8 but Is prbsented as a maximum.
The reporter must take precautlo~ to ineure that his claima for
payment are accurate and In compliance with the statute. The Canptroller
may prescribe the forms to be used in presenting the claims and may require
such information a8 may be neoesaary for him to audit and prooesa the claim,
as provided by Senate Bill 308,Acts 56thLegislature, Regular Session, 1959.
Should the Comptmller purport~to require a reporter to certify to matters
other than as required by Article 2324, Vernon’s Civil Statutes, he would
be imposing an additional.bnrden on the reporter8 and the agemy or depert-
ment requesting the transcript. We find uo authorization for the CamptiLler
to alter or’vary the statutory requirements, nor to preocrlbe requirements i*
exceee of those provided by etatute.
Rouorable Thomas D. Blackwell, page 3 (w-692)
Therefore, when such a trauscript 16 ordered and prepared In
other thannarxative form, the reporter preparing same omplies with the
statute if he oertiflee that the transcript is in "other than narrative form"
adl oertiilea that the amount charged is "not over the rate of thirty oenta
per on8 hmdred words for the original thereof." We find M statutory
authority for the Ctiptroller to require the actual word count of the transcript
onthe stat8mePltof oharges or to requirethatthe reporter affimatively
osrtify the trauacrlpt is in *question and answer" form. If the transcript
la ordered and prepared in narrative form, the reporter must oertify that
the oharg8a he makes ar8 "twenty cents per one hundred words for the original
thsmof."
When the court reporter suhnits his bill in oclDpliance with the
fore&n& it la the duty of the agency or department requesting the transori'pt
to oheokacouracy as to ohargesmade. It is within the sole disoretion of that
agency or departmant to determine whether suoh trauacript is ueaeseary to
prop8rly carry out their assigned duties. It is the funotiou of the Ccmptrol-
ler to audit the claim from a "bookkeeping" atandpolnt. This is not to be
oonstrued so as to authorlee the Comptroller to determine the wisdom,.necee-
sity or propriety of-the expenditure nor to go behind the certification and
approval of the agency or department purchasing the transcript. See Attorney
Oeneral'a OpinionV-lIll'(1950). 4ssuming the absence of proof of an errozmous
certification and furtheraseuning moneys are avaiLable for its payment, it is
the ministerial duty of the Conptroller to issue the warrsnt, and the Oce~ptrol-
l.8r is not authorized to require the court reporter or anyone else to certify
to a word oomt of the transcript.
In the event excess charge6 are nade and paid, the State ie fully
protect8d by.the provieione of 4rtloI.e 2324 WheMin itiiuihoriees the coYleo-
tlon frm the reporter of four times the 8x0888 80 paid. Furthermore, if
imiiaated, the Comptroller can refer the matter to the Grand Jury. See
Psrker v. Bushep, 170 S.W. 1042 at 1044 (Civ.bpp. 1914).
Your second question is as follows:
*2. Is a court reporter aUthOriZ8d to 1tGlUde the coat
of binding, indexing, photostating of doounenta, postage,
and the preparation for filing in app8lLate oourts of original
exhibits in the statement of chargss for the preparation of a
transcript of evidence?"
There is no statutory authority for court reporters to make
eeparate charges for the items mentioned in your question; however, the
Rules of CivilProcedure dictate the form In which such transoripts are to
Eglnd what they are to contain. (Rules Civ. Proc., RuIe 371 and
.
Honorable Thazae D.Bleckwell, page 4 (W-692)
It should be Pointed bat, hOweVer, that the reporter 10 authorized
to base hle oharge'on all the words in the original of the tranFmipt (both
narrative and other~than mtiVe) which WOdld include the caption, index,
testimony proper and do&e&a made a part of the transcript.
Your third question ia as followa:
*3. Doea a State agenay or deparhuent have authority to
pnrohaae a caA0.I copy of a transcript of the evidence in any
oase?"
In anrrwer- this question, we shall ssaume you are inquiring
about a carbon oopy other than the duplioate of a atatenent of facts if in
narrative fonz. Of course, this question turns on the authority of the
agenay or department to purchase the copy and not on the authority of the
repor.$er to make or eellthe oopy. If the purohaser ha8 monies available for
au& purpose, it is a matter entirely within the diecretlon of that agenoy
or department as to whether the copy is necessary to carry out their dutiee.
The CC&Zol.l.ti &es Mt have the aUtih0rit.y t0 determine the
wisdom or necessity of euch purchaseexcept when he la makinS the purchase.
Therefore, you are advised that wh8neVer an agenoy of the State ordere a
oarbon copy~of a tranaorlpt and has approved the voucher, it 16 the mini-
eterial duty of the Ccauptroller to issue the warrant.
Article 2324, VeiPon'e Civil Statutes, authorizes
a"&irge of not more than thirty oenta per one
hundred words in the original of a statement of
facta Prepared in other than narrative form and
the mm of twenty cents per one hundred words if
in narrative'form; the reporter need not certify
to a word oount.
There la no authority for a court reporter to
chargetheState for binding, indexing, postage,
etc., in oonneotion with preparation of a q tatement
,'
of facts.
TheStatemaypurchas8 oarbonooples of statementa
of faot if the particular a~enoy purohaeing ha8 the
authority and the money available for such purohase.
Yours very truly,
WILL UIISOR
Attorney General of Texas
TanI.l4cEzrlinS
Aeeietant
TIM:mg:mfg:me
Ho~rableThcmaeD.Blackwell, page 5(1iW-692)
OPnIoR cEomRmE
Geo..P. Blackbarn, Chairman
John Beeves
L.P. Id.lar
Riley Eugene Fletcher
RalphBash
RMlXUEDFOR!EKAlT~-
By: W. V. Geppert