GWINNETT COUNTY: Court reporters take home triple pay

Only a full inspection of court reporter billing can determine why some court reporters are making more money than the judges for whom they work, said Gwinnett County District Attorney Danny Porter.

Porter has analyzed a random sample of bills submitted by court reporters. However, he still cannot figure out why two of the court reporters billed the county for double or triple the amount that eight other court reporters took home.

“If we really want to get to the bottom of it, we’re going to have to do a full forensic audit,” Porter said.

Phil Boudewyns, the Gwinnett County court administrator, said the Superior Court judges are trying to determine how much a full audit would cost, and who could do it. He said the judges have made no final decision as to whether a forensic audit will be conducted.

A random sample of 10 trial transcripts, calendar calls and other court documents submitted by the two highest-paid court reporters contained “minor violations of state court reporting procedures,” according to Porter.

The violations involved straying from the font size and spacing rules, which can lengthen the transcript, Porter said. Court reporters charge by the page.

However, those differences alone don’t account for the glaring pay disparity. Pamela Lennard, who works in Judge William Ray’s courtroom, billed the county last year for $186,457. Mike Ables, who works for Judge Richard T. Winegarden, billed the county for $173,442.

That’s more than the Superior Court Judges, who are paid a total of $168,463 and the district attorney, who takes home $162,564.

Eight other court reporters billed the county anywhere between $41,000 and $85,000.

“If you extrapolate it out, there would have been higher billing rates by the people who were not following the rules strictly. But it doesn’t account for the size of the discrepancy,” Porter said.

The district attorney reviewed the procedures and billing practices of court reporters at the request of the Gwinnett County Superior Court judges. The judges looked to Porter to investigate the pay problems after an AJC story exposed the issue in January.

Porter said his office will not bankroll a full forensic audit of court reporter billing. He has notified the judges of his findings and the ball is now in their court, Porter said.

“I was doing this basically as a favor to the judges,” Porter said. “Given the fact this is not a criminal investigation, at this point I’ve told them I’m not paying for a forensic audit on my budget. They will have to decide whether that’s something they want to do.”

In Gwinnett County, court reporters are subcontractors, not full-time employees. They are licensed by the state to document judicial proceedings and prepare transcripts.