When Alexis Gutierrez was in high school, her class took a field trip to a hearing at Winnebago County Courthouse.
She was fascinated by a woman sitting near the judge recording the proceedings.
“I was just caught up by the stenographer,” she says. “It was something that fueled my interest.”
She recalled that interest a few years later when she was trying to decide whether to go back to school. After some online searches and conversations with advisors, she looked into the Fox Valley Technical College digital court reporter program.
It’s a decision that quickly led to a career she hopes to have until she retires.
The demand for court reporters in Wisconsin and nationwide all but guarantees a job for students who graduate from the digital court reporter program, according to Jeff Meverden, department chair for legal studies at FVTC.
Nearly every court hearing requires a reporter, and nationwide there is a growing shortage of court reporters. Traditional stenography programs are not keeping with the demand.
FVTC trains students using technology to record proceedings. The FVTC program had a timely launch just prior to the COVID-19 pandemic.
“Pre-COVID you would never see a court reporter anywhere but next to a judge,” Meverden says.
But as courts and judges implemented technology in response to COVID-19 precautions, using a stenographer who was recording the proceedings remotely helped reduce a backlog. Judges, who often hire their own stenographers, became more comfortable with that option.
And according to Jon Bellows, administrator for Wisconsin’s Fourth Judicial District, Wisconsin had taken steps to ensure courts across the state had the technology needed to record hearings. The next step was for the state to create hubs with pools of digital court reporters who could serve judges and courts across the state.
Currently there are hubs based in Menasha, Madison and Waukesha. The digital court reporters can work with judges anywhere in Wisconsin with video conferencing equipment. The judge connects to the digital court reporter via a laptop.
The digital reporter monitors the recording equipment to ensure an accurate record is being kept and can playback recordings as needed. They will stop the hearing if there is a technical problem.
“The college’s program is designed around the Wisconsin Court System, but anyone could go through the program and go into the private sector as well,” Meverden says. They also could be hired by a specific judge or court.
Gutierrez is happy to be part of the hub in Menasha. She likes the variety of cases she gets assigned to record and the ability to work with different judges.
“It has been more fun than I expected. Every day is so different,” Gutierrez says.
Meverden says the 26-credit program is fully eligible for financial aid and can be completed in one year.
