Two Gwinnett County court reporters are making more money than the judges for whom they work.

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Jessica McGowan/SPECIAL (ENLARGE)

District Attorney Danny Porter said 'a loophole' was exploited.

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A committee is examining how court reporters in Gwinnett County Superior Court prepare and bill for documents because of glaring discrepancies in pay, Gwinnett District Attorney Danny Porter said.

Pamela Lennard, who works in Judge William Ray's courtroom, billed the county last year for $186,457, according to documents obtained by The Atlanta Journal-Constitution through an open-records request. Mike Ables, who works for Judge Richard Winegarden, billed the county for $173,442.

Eight other court reporters billed the county anywhere between $41,000 and $85,000. Court reporters document judicial proceedings and prepare transcripts. They are licensed through the state.

Lennard and Ables said they did nothing wrong and were following long-established procedure, but Porter says they exploited "a loophole."

"I'm concerned about it, but I don't know that there is a violation of criminal law," Porter said.

Porter said he will wait to see the committee's decision before deciding whether to take the case to the grand jury.

Lennard and Able were transcribing everything said during court hearings that could involve multiple defendants, such as arraignments or trial calendar calls, then attaching that full transcript to each case file. That meant hundreds of extra copies for which they could bill the county, Porter said.

Technically, a certified copy of those proceedings must be made part of the court record but doesn't have to be included with each defendant's case file, Porter said. It can be filed separately with the Clerk of Court.

At least one court reporter, Ables, is more than a year behind in finishing certain trial transcripts, but "by God those calendars get turned in because he's getting to bill $2,000 for it," Porter said.

The Georgia Board of Court Reporting, which sets the standards and fees for court reporters, referred questions about the practice to the county's court administrator, Philip Boudewyns.

Boudewyns said a committee was established to review court reporter billings, as well as procedures regarding court reporters' work, Boudewyns said.

The committee is co-chaired by Superior Court judges Tom Davis and Michael Clark and includes Boudewyns. They have met once since the pay disparity came to light late last year.

Lennard and Ables contend their work has been above reproach and said they're following procedures established long ago. Lennard has been a court reporter 14 years, Ables 37.

Lennard says the expense reports alone are an unfair basis for comparison.

She said some court reporters only work part-time — one month on and one month off.

And some judges with higher caseloads may have two or more courtrooms running at once, Lennard said, which can dilute pay for those court reporters.

Even so, three other full-time court reporters only billed the county between $50,000 and $82,000, less than half of what Lennard and Ables did.

Their pay outstrips even the Gwinnett Superior Court judges, who make about $161,210 a year, and the district attorney, who makes $155,484.

Both those figures include local supplements.

Judge Winegarden could not be reached for comment Thursday. Judge Ray said that until November, none of the Superior Court judges knew such vast discrepancies existed between the court reporters' billing because payment invoices are submitted to the county administrator.

"It would be unfair for anybody to criticize any person's billings unless they had personally audited and looked at the invoices. I haven't done that, so I can't criticize," Ray said.

Ables, reached by phone on Thursday, said he's done nothing wrong.

"I wouldn't jeopardize my job for a few dollars," Ables said. "I take pride in what I do and I've never charged the county for work I didn't do."

In Gwinnett, court reporters are subcontractors, not full-time employees.

Other counties handle court reporters differently. In Fulton County, for example, some court reporters are freelancers while others draw a salary.

Full-time Fulton court reporters make between $48,000 to $69,000, in addition to fees they can charge for copies of transcripts, according to Don Plummer, spokesman for Fulton County Superior Court.