United States Courts is hiring: Court Reporter in Kansas City

Overview of the Position

The Western District of Missouri has approximately 285 employees (judges and staff) and is a fully consolidated court which includes the District and Bankruptcy Courts and Probation and Pretrial Services Office. The Western District is divided into five divisions: Western (Kansas City), Central (Jefferson City), Southern (Springfield), Southwestern (Joplin), and the St. Joseph division. The primary office is in Kansas City with two divisional offices located in Jefferson City and Springfield. The U.S. District Court for the Western District of Missouri is accepting applications from qualified candidates for a full-time floating court reporter position. This position reports directly to the Court Reporter Supervisor. The incumbent will be a pool reporter (available to assist any judge at any location as needed). Therefore, although the position is in Kansas City, travel to the divisional offices in Jefferson City and Springfield will be required from time to time for court proceedings as necessary.

Responsibilities

• A court reporter performs court reporting services for any judicial proceeding as may be required. The position requires the ability to record and transcribe verbatim testimony of courtroom proceedings, to read back all or any portions of the court records, to work well under pressure, and to work extended court and transcription projection hours within strict time limitations.
• At the request of a party or by order of the court, the court reporter provides transcripts within the time frames and cost requirements of the Judicial Conference and is responsible for determining that billings and formats comply with the Judicial Conference requirements.
• Court reporters must adhere to the Court Reporter Management Plan of this district and maintain accurate, legible records which are subject to audit. This position involves completing record-keeping forms, documenting the information contained in reports, as well as maintaining and safeguarding records until their disposition according to the statutory requirements and Judicial Conference policy.
• Court reporters are responsible for their own office supplies, office equipment (including computer hardware and software), postage, and delivery charges.
• Additionally, all court employees are at will, and therefore serve at the pleasure of the court and must comply with the requirements of the Judicial Conference of the United States and The Court Reporters’ Manual published by the Administrative Office of the United States. The court requires employees to adhere to a Code of Conduct for Judicial Employees.

Qualifications

All newly appointed court reporters employed by this court are required to have the ability to utilize Realtime court reporting skills and equipment, in addition to skill and experience in computer-aided transcription (CAT). Current court reporters utilize Eclipse or Case CATalyst software. If incumbent does not have Realtime certification when hired, they must test for and obtain Realtime certification (Certified Realtime Reporter examination by NCRA or equivalent as defined by the United States Courts) within three years (156 weeks) from appointment date. During the three-year period, the court reporter must demonstrate they have taken the scheduled certification test required each time it is offered and provide test results to the Court.

Additional Minimum Qualifications

• The incumbent must possess a minimum of one year of prime court reporting experience in the freelance field of service or in other courts or a combination thereof.
• Must have qualified by testing for listing on the registry of professional reporters (RPR certification) of the National Court Reporters Association (NCRA) or passed an equivalent qualifying examination.
• Equivalent Qualifying Examinations
• The NCRA examination for listing on the registry of professional reporters (RPR) consists of a written knowledge section plus a skills section. 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.
• Professional associations (other than the NCRA) and state license examinations may be acceptably equivalent to the NCRA testing, but the requirements for the examinations at the time of administration should be evaluated on a case-by-case basis as the requirements change from time-to-time.
• The qualifications do not require that court reporters have active membership in the NCRA or another association to qualify for appointment or promotion in the federal courts. The only requirement is that the reporter have attained the credential by passing the qualification examination.

Employee Benefits

The Court offers a robust benefits package to include the following:

• 11 Paid Holidays each calendar year
• 13 days of paid annual leave (for up to three years of federal service)
• 20 days of paid annual leave (from 3-14 years of federal service)
• 26 days of paid annual leave (15 or more years of federal service)
• 13 days of paid sick leave (with unlimited accumulation)
• Insurance plans: Health, Dental, Vision, Life, Long-Term Care, and Long-Term Disability
• Flexible Spending Accounts: Healthcare and Dependent-Care reimbursement accounts
• Retirement System
• Thrift Savings Plan participation (with up to 5% employer matching contributions)

Application Info

Qualified applicants must submit all the following to be considered:

• A detailed resume
• Contact information for three professional references
• Copies of Certifications (e.g., NCRA Certified Realtime Reporter, Registered Merit Reporter, Registered Professional Reporter, etc.), if applicable

The federal Judiciary is an Equal Employment Opportunity employer.