History of the Court Reporters Board

The CSR Board was established in 1951 by an act of the Legislature. The Board's mandate is to protect the consumers of the state. It does that by
1) administering a minimum level competency test to determine entry level abilities, 2) regulating the minimum curriculum which court reporting schools and programs must offer, and 3) disciplining licensees when necessary. In addition, the Board administers the Transcript Reimbursement Fund (TRF) which reimburses CSRs for providing transcripts to indigent civil litigants. All the Board's activities, including the TRF, are funded from licensing and examination fees. Thus, the Board is considered a "special fund" or self-funded agency, because no tax dollars from the General Fund support the Board.

The Board is composed of three public members and two licensees. The Governor appoints one public member and two licensees to the Board. The Speaker of the Assembly and the Senate Rules Committee each appoint one public member. All Board members serve staggered, four-year terms.

Since its inception, the Board has licensed 13,222 people. Of those, approximately 8,000 have current licenses. In the profession, licensees are known as either "officials" who work in court, or "freelance" who work through court reporting agencies and report mostly depositions.

Our only office exists in Sacramento. There is an Executive Officer and a staff of four people. There is an enforcement coordinator, an examination/licensing coordinator, an executive assistant and a receptionist for the Board.