Gwinnett County Superior Court judges on Friday asked the district attorney's office to examine the procedures and billing practices of court reporters.

The Atlanta Journal-Constitution reported last week that two court reporters each billed the county for more than $170,000 in 2007 —double or triple the amount that eight other court reporters took home. The newspaper obtained the court reporters' billing information through an open records request.

Gwinnett District Attorney Danny Porter said last week he thought court reporters Pamela Lennard and Mike Ables exploited a "loophole" to overbill the county for thousands of dollars.

"It's too early to say where this is going to go," Porter said of the investigation. "I'm not ruling out the possibility of criminal charges depending on what we find."

Lennard and Ables, both veteran court reporters, have said they were doing nothing wrong and were followed long-established procedures.

Lennard said Friday she is fine with the inquiry because "I've done all the work I say I've done."

Ables could not immediately be reached for comment on Friday afternoon.

Investigators from the District Attorney's office will be poring through billing statements for all the Superior Court court reporters, Porter said.

The Superior Court bench appointed a committee of judges in October to inquire into court reporting issues after the pay disparity came to light. The committee was organized in part to bring uniformity to court reporting practices.

The judges asked the district attorney's office for help with the inquiry because his office has more manpower and resources to conduct investigations, Porter said.

In Gwinnett, court reporters are subcontractors, not full-time employees. They are licensed through the state to document judicial proceedings and prepare transcripts. Lennard works for Judge William Ray, Ables for Judge Richard T. Winegarden.

Lennard and Ables 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.

The pair made more money last year than Superior Court judges, who were paid about $161,210, and the district attorney, whose salary is $155,484.