BILL ANALYSIS Ó
SENATE COMMITTEE ON APPROPRIATIONS
Senator Ricardo Lara, Chair
2015 - 2016 Regular Session
SB 270 (Mendoza) - Court Reporters Board of California: civil
actions: corporations
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|Version: May 5, 2015 |Policy Vote: B., P. & E.D. 9 - |
| | 0, JUD. 5 - 1 |
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|Urgency: No |Mandate: Yes |
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|Hearing Date: May 18, 2015 |Consultant: Mark McKenzie |
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This bill does not meet the criteria for referral to the
Suspense File.
Bill
Summary: SB 270 would authorize the Court Reporters Board of
California (CRB) to bring a civil action against a person or
corporation rendering court reporter services without a CRB
license. The bill requires the court to award reasonable
investigation and enforcement costs if the CRB or Attorney
General is granted an injunction.
Fiscal
Impact:
Unknown additional CRB enforcement costs, dependent upon the
SB 270 (Mendoza) Page 1 of
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number of complaints investigated and enforcement actions. If
additional staff is needed, costs could be in the range of
$100,000 annually. (Court Reporters Fund)
Unknown additional fine revenues, which are also dependent
upon the number of successfully adjudicated cases. In
addition, there could be reimbursements for enforcement and
investigation costs that are awarded by the courts. (Court
Reporters Fund)
Background: Existing law provides the CRB with the authority to certify
and regulate shorthand reporters who perform a vital function
for the courts and litigants in providing official, verbatim
records of a variety of proceedings. The importance of this
transcription function by licensed individuals is reflected in
California law, which requires that an official reporter of the
superior court take down in shorthand all testimony, objections
made, rulings of the court, exceptions taken, arraignments,
pleas, sentences, arguments of the attorneys to the jury, and
statements and remarks made and oral instructions given by the
judge or other judicial officer, in specified cases. Existing
law also provides that the report of the official reporter of
any court, when transcribed and certified as being a correct
transcript of the testimony and proceedings in the case, is
prima facie evidence of the testimony and proceedings.
In 2010, the CRB found that U.S. Legal, a Texas based
corporation, was providing court reporting services in
California and offering incentives and/or gifts in exchange for
depositions, a violation of California's professional standards.
U.S. Legal argued that the Board lacked jurisdiction to issue
citations.
In the subsequent 2012 case, Court Reporters Board of California
v. U.S. Legal, the Court agreed with U.S. Legal and found that
the CRB has no authority to impose sanctions and fines against
the company for noncompliance with anti-gift-giving regulations.
According to the Court, although U.S. Legal was rendering court
reporting services in California and was in violation of
gift-giving regulations, there was no explicit authority in
current statute authorizing the board to impose sanctions or
fines against U.S. Legal.
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Proposed Law:
SB 270 would authorize the CRB to bring a civil action, or ask
the Attorney General to bring an action, to enjoin any
unlicensed person, corporation, or foreign corporation from
rendering court reporter services in this state without ever
being issued a license by CRB, or authorized to render court
reporter services, as specified.
This bill would authorize the CRB to seek certain penalties,
including fines and restitution, and would require the courts to
award reasonable investigation and enforcement costs and
authorize the award of any portion of unallocated penalties, if
CRB or the Attorney General is granted an injunction. The bill
would also authorize courts to designate that any transcript
prepared by any person or corporation subject to an action
brought under this bill does not qualify as a certified
transcript.
Finally, this bill would make it a misdemeanor for any person or
corporation to knowingly render court reporter services in this
state without ever being issued a license or authorized to
render those services.
Staff
Comments: This bill would provide CRB with the authority to
take legal action against individuals or corporations that
provide court reporting services without obtaining a license and
complying with the requirements of the relevant court reporters
statutes. The fiscal impacts of the bill would depend upon the
number of complaints and enforcement actions taken by the CRB,
which is currently unknown. The bill would likely have an
impact on enforcement workload, however, and to the extent the
bill results in more than 10 complaints annually, the CRB would
need additional staff to manage the increased workload, at a
cost in the range of $100,000 annually. Any potential penalty
revenues would also be unknown and dependent upon future
enforcement actions, but these revenues could serve to offset
the additional investigation and enforcement costs. CRB
indicates that any costs to update regulations would be minor
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and could be absorbed within existing resources.
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