§2554. Qualifications; examinations; certificates

           A. The board shall determine the qualifications of persons applying for examination under this Chapter, make rules for the examination of applicants and for the issuance and maintenance of certificates herein provided for which shall be subject to legislative oversight review pursuant to the Administrative Procedure Act, and shall grant certificates to such applicants as may, upon examination, be qualified in professional shorthand reporting and in such other subjects as the board may deem advisable.

           B.(1) The board may, at its discretion, waive regular examination of any person duly holding a comparable C.S.R. certificate from another state and desiring to practice as a certified reporter in the state of Louisiana.

           (2)(a) Except as provided for in Subparagraph (b) of this Paragraph, any person duly holding a certification in digital reporting from a recognized authority as defined in R.S. 37:2555, or any person employed as an official court reporter or deputy official court reporter by a court of record utilizing electronic or audio recording as a method of official court reporting on or before December 31, 2011, shall be certified as long as they remain employed by that court as an official or deputy official court reporter. The provisions of this Paragraph shall not be applicable to the Fifteenth, Sixteenth, Seventeenth, Nineteenth, Thirty-Second, Thirty-Fourth, and Fortieth Judicial District Courts, the Orleans Parish Civil District Court, the Orleans Parish Criminal District Court, the New Orleans First and Second City Courts, the New Orleans Municipal and Traffic Courts, and on and after the effective date of its creation, the Forty-First Judicial District Court.

           (b) Notwithstanding any provision of law to the contrary, in Orleans Parish Civil District Court, electronic or audio recording may be utilized only in hearings related to protection from abuse pursuant to R.S. 46:2131 et seq. or R.S. 46:2151, protection from stalking pursuant to R.S. 46:2171 et seq., and protection for victims of sexual assault pursuant to R.S. 46:2181 et seq.

           C. A certificate holder shall be restricted from changing from the system of reporting under which the certificate holder was certified to any other shorthand system as defined in R.S. 37:2555, until the certificate holder has been certified by the board under a different system of reporting. Violation of this restriction may result in the suspension or revocation of a certificate.

           D. The board shall in no way restrict the use of electronic equipment to certificate holders hereunder in the performance of their duties, but shall exclude the use of all electronic recording equipment, except stenomask and digital recording equipment, to all applicants at the time and place of examination.

           E. Every general or freelance certificate holder hereunder shall be deemed a certified court reporter, entitled to use the abbreviation "C.C.R." after his name, and at his expense shall receive from the board, and may keep while his certificate remains in effect, a seal imprinting his name and "Certified Court Reporter of the State of Louisiana". Such certificate and seal shall authorize the holder thereof to issue affidavits with respect to his regular duties, to subpoena witnesses for depositions, to administer oaths and affirmations, and to take depositions, sworn statements, court proceedings, and related hearings.

           F. The board shall promulgate by rule a procedure to issue the certified digital reporter, or C.D.R., certificate. The board may also establish by rule appropriate designations by which the various capabilities of certified digital reporters may be identified, including the system of reporting under which a certificate holder is certified, the means by which a certificate was obtained, and other criteria.

           G. The maintenance and continued validity of any license issued by the board as provided for in this Chapter shall be dependent upon the satisfactory performance and completion by a certified reporter of those continuing education requirements as established by the board, subject to legislative oversight pursuant to the Administrative Procedure Act.

           (H)(1) The board shall contract with a third party for the preparation and grading of the examination required in this Section.

           (2) Each school which provides programs in court reporting shall annually report to the board and to the Senate Committee on Judiciary B and the House Committee on the Judiciary the number of program completers, the number of such completers who sit for the examination, and the number of examination takers who successfully pass the test.

           Acts 1970, No. 456, §1; Acts 1975, No. 110, §1; Acts 1976, No. 388, §1; Acts 1976, No. 645, §1; Acts 1983, No. 612, §1; Acts 1986, No. 365, §§1, 2, eff. Jan. 1, 1987; Acts 1990, No. 286, §1; Acts 1990, No. 940, §1, eff. July 25, 1990; Acts 1991, No. 1021, §1, eff. July 25, 1991; Acts 1992, No. 840, §1; Acts 1993, No. 908, §§1, 2, eff. June 23, 1993; Acts 2010, No. 700, §1, eff. August 15, 2010; Acts 2011, No. 235, §1, eff. August 15, 2011; Acts 2019, No. 270, §1, eff. August 1, 2019.