Untitled Texas Attorney General Opinion

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