Court Reporter

Position Description

Duties include reporting proceedings for all judges and magistrate judges of the court and transcribing proceedings as requested by counsel or the court, as well as the creation, conversion and docketing of audio recordings of certain types of proceedings in the court’s Case Management and Electronic Case Filing system (CM/ECF). Further details about the position are contained in the Court Reporter Management Plan for the Southern District of Mississippi, copies of which are on file in the office of the Clerk of Court and may be obtained upon request. Court employees are not civil service employees and serve at the will of the Court; court staff must be aware of and in compliance with the canons of federal judicial conduct.

The starting salary of the court's official court reporter is established by the Judicial Conference of the United States and is dependent on experience and qualifications. The entry level salary is $84,635 based on the 2022 pay table.

Qualification

Minimum Experience: An applicant for appointment must possess a minimum requirement of at least four years of prime court reporting experience in the freelance field of service, or in other courts or agencies, or a combination thereof.

Certification: Applicants for appointment must have qualified by testing for listing on the registry of professional reporters of the National Shorthand Reporters Association or have passed an equivalent qualifying examination. The skills section requires the ability to record 180 words per minute for literary matter, 200 words per minute for jury charge and 225 words per minute for testimony and transcribe the recorded material at 95% accuracy within 75 minutes.

The court prefers successful completion of the CRR or FCRR (Certified Realtime Reporter) examination offered by NCRA/USCRA. Applications will also be considered from reporters who are capable of real-time reporting and who are committed to taking the examination. Preference will also be given to reporters with RMR/RDR certification by NCRA.

Supplies, Equipment and Transcripts: The reporter is responsible for purchasing offices supplies, office equipment, including computer hardware and software, postage and delivery charges. (Current court reporters utilize both Eclipse and Case Catalyst software.) Certified real-time reporters must provide the data communications connections needed to provide real-time services to any party requesting real-time. Reporter will also be required to purchase a Live Litigation subscription to provide real-time to the judges. Transcript fees from transcripts sold to private parties are retained by the official court reporter. Transcripts requested by the court must be furnished free of charge.

Benefits

The judiciary offers a generous benefits package which includes:

• 11 paid holidays
• Paid sick and annual leave
• Medical insurance options (requires employee contribution)
• Life insurance options (requires employee contribution)
• Retirement options including participation in the Thrift Saving Plans (tax deferred or Roth retirement savings)
• Long term care plan options
• Long term disability plan options
• Flexible spending account options

Miscellaneous

• Employees of the federal judiciary serve under "Excepted Appointments" and are considered "at-will" employees and can be terminated with or without cause at any time with the exception of Probation Officers, who must be removed for cause per 18 U.S.C. 362
• All employees of the federal judiciary are subject to a mandatory background check or investigation. The selectee may be appointed provisionally pending favorable results of the background check.
• Employees of the judiciary are required to use direct deposit for their salary payments
• Candidates must be citizens of the United States of America or be eligible to work in the United States
• The court allows court reporters to engage in substantial teleworking (working from home) when not needed in the courthouses subject to certain conditions

How To Apply

Qualified applicants should submit the following documents:

Applications may be submitted via email, hand delivery or mail, as follows:

Via email to: hr_manager@mssd.uscourts.gov (subject: Court Reporter – MSSD-2021-05)

Please note: When submitting via email, documents should be submitted as a single PDF document.

Via mail or hand-delivery to:

Arthur Johnston, Clerk
U.S. District Court, Southern District of Mississippi
501 E. Court St., Suite 2.500
Jackson, Mississippi 39201

Mark envelope confidential

The federal Judiciary is an Equal Employment Opportunity employer.