§ 7A-198. Reporting of civil trials. - North Carolina Statutes

§ 7A‑198. Reporting of civil trials.

(a)        Court‑reporting personnel shall be utilized, ifavailable, for the reporting of civil trials in the district court. If courtreporters are not available in any county, electronic or other mechanicaldevices shall be provided by the Administrative Office of the Courts uponrequest of the chief district judge.

(b)        The Administrative Office of the Courts shall from time totime investigate the state of the art and techniques of recording testimony,and shall provide such electronic or mechanical devices as are found to be mostefficient for this purpose.

(c)        If an electronic or other mechanical device is utilized, itshall be the duty of the clerk of the superior court or some other persondesignated by him to operate the device while a trial is in progress, and theclerk shall thereafter preserve the record thus produced, which may betranscribed, as required, by any person designated by the Administrative Officeof the Courts. If stenotype, shorthand, or stenomask equipment is used, theoriginal tapes, notes, discs, or other records are the property of the State,and the clerk shall keep them in his custody.

(d)        Reporting of any trial may be waived by consent of theparties.

(e)        Reporting will not be provided in trials before magistratesor in hearings to adjudicate and dispose of infractions in the district court.

(f)         Appointment of a reporter or reporters for district courtproceedings in each district court district shall be made by the chief districtjudge for that district. The compensation and allowances of reporters in eachdistrict shall be fixed by the chief district judge, within limits determinedby the Administrative Officer of the Courts, and paid by the State.

(g)        A party to a civil trial in district court may request aprivate agreement from the opposing party or parties to share equally in thecost of a court reporter to be selected from a list provided by theAdministrative Office of the Courts. If the opposing party does not consent toshare this cost, the requesting party may nevertheless pay to have a courtreporter present to record the trial and, in the event that the opposing partyappeals the case, that party shall reimburse the party providing the courtreporter in full for the costs incurred for the court reporter's services andtranscripts.

In the event that the recording device in a civil trial conductedwithout a court reporter fails for any reason to provide a reasonably accuraterecord of the trial for purposes of appeal, then the trial judge shall grant amotion for a new trial made by a losing party whose request pursuant to thissection to share the cost of a court reporter was not consented to by theopposing party. (1965, c. 310, s.1; 1969, c. 1190, s. 18; 1985, c. 764, s. 13; 1985 (Reg. Sess., 1986), c. 852,s. 17; 1987, c. 384, s. 2; 1987 (Reg. Sess., 1988), c. 1037, s. 19; 1996, 2ndEx. Sess., c. 18, s. 22.11.)