Provides for a statewide revision of court reporter fees (EG INCREASE LF EX See Note)

House Bill 527 amends Louisiana Revised Statutes Title 13 relating to court reporter compensation across the state's judicial districts. The bill eliminates the existing patchwork of district-specific fee schedules that varied widely among the thirty-three judicial districts and replaces them with uniform statewide fee structures. For all civil and non-indigent criminal cases, court reporters may charge up to six dollars per thirty-two-line page of transcript and up to two dollars per page for certified copies, with fees set by a majority of judges in each court. For criminal indigent cases, the fees are reduced to three dollars and fifty cents per page for transcripts and one dollar per page for copies. The bill authorizes electronic signatures for transcript certification when using a platform approved by judges in the reporter's jurisdiction, allows electronic copies to be provided with certified copies upon request, and prohibits salaried court reporters from charging sitting fees. The legislation also establishes an expedited transcript fee structure with charges of two times the standard rate for twenty-four-hour transcription, an additional three dollars per page for forty-eight-hour service, and an additional dollar per page for five-day service.

The bill directly affects official court reporters employed in Louisiana's judicial districts, who will now operate under identical fee maximums rather than varying district-specific limits, providing them with clearer compensation guidelines and potential for increased fees in districts previously operating below the new maximums. Parties involved in litigation, particularly those in criminal indigent cases, will benefit from the reduced fee structure specific to indigent proceedings, which may improve access to transcripts. The judicial system overall gains uniformity in transcript costs across districts, eliminating competitive disadvantages that may have existed between jurisdictions. Trial judges in each court retain authority through majority vote to set actual fees up to the statutory maximums, preserving local discretion while ensuring baseline consistency. The Judicial Council gains authority to review standard page rates for potential adjustment every three years, creating a mechanism for periodic fee modification responsive to economic conditions.

The bill operates within Louisiana's comprehensive statutory scheme governing court reporter duties, compensation, and transcript fees established in Louisiana Revised Statutes Chapter 13. It specifically repeals multiple prior legislative enactments including Acts 2017, No. 126; Acts 2020, No. 232; Acts 2023, Nos. 52 and 228; and provisions of Acts 2018, No. 447, all of which had previously attempted to increase fees in specific judicial districts but remained contingent upon Judicial Council approval that was never granted. This repeal eliminates the competing and stalled fee increase provisions that had created uncertainty in court reporter compensation. The uniform fee structure operates in conjunction with existing statutes governing court reporter employment, salary structures, and the use of court cost funds and indigent defense funds for transcript payment. The bill maintains the principle that transcript fees are retained by individual reporters as compensation beyond their base salaries and are taxed as costs of the cases in which testimony is taken, consistent with long-standing Louisiana practice for cost allocation.