Cobb grand jury criticizes transcript fees, urges further probe

By Janel Davis

The Atlanta Journal-Constitution

A Cobb County grand jury said Thursday that court reporters should not be allowed to charge fees for providing transcripts in addition to earning a salary.

The opinion was issued as part of presentments for the May-June session of the grand jury.

The jury also said the county’s court reporters should not be allowed to charge private attorneys for transcripts. Any fees paid should “go into the county’s coffers rather than the pockets of the court reporter,” since the transcripts would be deemed county property and not property of the court reporters, the grand jury said.

The grand jury recommendation follows a joint investigation of court reporters’ compensation in the metro area by The Atlanta Journal-Constitution and WSB that found the court reporters -- full-time employees in Cobb County -- were paid more  than $472,000 in transcript fees from June 2009 to June 25, 2010. Salaries for the 24 Cobb court reporters average $47,615.

The transcript fees are legal and apply to court reporters statewide. Fees are set by the Georgia court reporting board, which is established in state statute.

The grand jury’s opinion was based on information provided by Superior Court Clerk Jay Stephenson, who has lobbied for the fees to be eliminated. Because Stephenson’s information was provided late in the grand jury’s work, the finding was presented without sufficient time for input from court administration or court reporters.

Because of the one-sided information provided, the grand jury recommended that the next grand jury look further at the issue, as well as the funds involved.

In a follow-up to previous probes, the May-June grand jury continued work on an investigation into the county school system’s transportation department.

A January-February grand jury committee first investigated the high volume of calls received by the district attorney’s office about management of the district’s bus drivers and mechanics, along with public safety. Previously, 16 serious issues were found with the department, and several recommendations were issued to improve the system.

This time, the department was deemed to have made progress in many areas of management. But the grand jury said the department must transition its paper record system to a digital system so that information on bus failures, warranties and costs can be tracked better.