A bill to increase the hiring of more court reporters for the Oklahoma Corporation Commission won approval this week in a House subcommittee.
Rep. Nick Archer (R-Elk City) proposed HB3177 in an effort to increase the number of full-time reporters in the commission’s judicial court system.
He said the corporation commission is “grossly understaffed” because it is “currently at four of seven FTE and as far as I can tell, they’ve never been at the full FTE number.” Rep. Archer addressed the issue during a meeting of the House Appropriations and Budget Natural Resources Subcommittee.
The legislator explained that many legal reporters can go to other court rooms where they “can have access to much more transcript–they can ultimately make more money.” His bill would remove a cap on what the court reporters can make at the corporation commission and allow them to receive competitive pay.
As Rep. Archer explained to the hearing, “that base is very much the same but again in that county courtroom there are a lot of opportunities for additional work for additional compensation whether that’s through transcripts of other things through their much larger dock system.”
The commission is allocated seven full time positions. Archer’s bill would amend a bill passed in 2023 in which court reporters were to be paid $53,000 a year. The measure would also give latitude in the hiring of more reporters for the commission.
“Each court reporter regularly engaged by the Corporation
Commission shall be paid a salary determined by the Director of
Administration of the Corporation Commission that is commensurate with the court reporter’s qualifications, experience, and additional duties.”
The subcommittee approved Do Pass by a 9-1 vote with Rep. Jim Shaw in opposition.