How to Become a Court Reporter in North Dakota

A court reporter, also known as a court stenographer, real-time writer, or certified shorthand reporter (CSR), is responsible for transcribing every spoken word during legal proceedings, such as trials.

This role plays a crucial part in the justice system.

For those aspiring to become a court reporter in North Dakota, a license is required, and I’ll outline the necessary steps for obtaining it.

Complete Your Education as a Court Reporter in North Dakota

To become licensed as a court reporter in North Dakota, you must first complete an approved training program.

To be eligible for enrollment in such a program, you should meet the following criteria:

• Be at least 18 years old.
• Have a high school diploma or GED.

These training programs cover various areas of court reporting, including:

• CART/Captioning
• Judicial Reporting
• Scoping/Proofreading
• Professional Transcription
• Office Assistant
• Court and Realtime Reporting

Prospective students should ensure that their chosen program is approved by CASE (Council on Approved Student Education) and includes courses in subjects such as:

• Applied Writing I
• Medical Terminology
• Legal Terminology
• Civil and Criminal Law Terminology
• Realtime Reporting I
• Realtime Reporting II

These programs are typically offered at the postsecondary, non-degree level.

Certificates, diploma programs, as well as associate’s and bachelor’s degrees, are all accepted.

Schools Offering Court Reporter Programs

Here are some institutions to consider for your training in North Dakota:

The SUNY College of Technology at Alfred

It provides two distinct degree programs in the field of court reporting.

These include a 2-year undergraduate certificate program in Court Reporting and Captioning.

The course consists of 40 credit hours.

There’s also a 2-year Associate of Applied Science program in Court and Realtime Reporting, which encompasses 64 credit hours.

This institution is characterized as a medium-sized public university, annually admitting over 3,700 undergraduate students.

With a faculty and staff cohort numbering around 400, they facilitate more than 80 programs available at the university.

Downey Adult School

This school, situated in California, is a publicly-funded institution that provides a court-reporting certification program.

This certification can typically be finished within a span of 2 to 4 years.

To successfully complete this certification, students are expected to dedicate approximately 1,110 hours of coursework and training annually.

Graduates of this program are eligible to pursue careers as Certified Shorthand Court Reporters in this state.

It’s worth noting that Downey Adult School has earned accreditations from both the Western Association of Schools and Colleges and the Council on Occupational Education.

Auburn University

The course covers court reporting, closed captioning, and CART.

Students have access to online, self-paced learning, with no enrollment requirements.

The goal of the program is to help individuals reach a writing speed of 225 words/minute.

The cost of the course is $6,104 without the steno machine and $7,899 with it.

CAT program access while enrolled; purchase for career use.

Become Licensed as a Court Reporter in North Dakota

Upon completing your education, you’ll need to pass an exam to obtain your court reporter license.

You have 18 months to do so from the time you complete your training.

During this period, you can acquire a temporary license, but please note that it cannot be renewed.

To earn your license, you can pursue one of the following nationally recognized certifications:

• NVRA’s (National Verbatim Reporters Association) Certified Verbatim Reporter (CVR)
• NCRA’s Registered Professional Reporter (RPR) certification

To obtain the North Dakota-specific license, you must also pass a skills exam administered by one of the following organizations:

• NCRA
• NVRA
• ACRA

This process involves:

• Paying the appropriate fees ($200 for the license, $50 for the application).
• Providing proof of graduation from the training program.
• Completing the application form.

The ACRA test is similar to both the NCRA and NVRA exams.

The NCRA skills test can be taken online, while the other two tests require in-person participation.

To become a registered professional reporter, the fees are as follows:

• $120 (non-member)
• $95 (member)
• $77 (student member)

The NVRA exam fee is $125. If you want to become a certified verbatim reporter and are already a registered professional reporter, you can pay a $50 transfer fee.

Court Reporter License Renewal in North Dakota

Like many licenses, a court reporter’s license in North Dakota requires annual renewal, due on September 30th each year.

A reminder email is typically sent around August 1st.

There is a grace period until November 30th, after which unrenewed licenses expire.

The renewal fees vary:

• $200 for on-time renewals
• $240 for renewals until September 31st
• $280 for renewals by November 30th

To renew your license, you must complete 5 hours of continuing education each year.

Any extra hours can be carried over to the next year.

These hours should be obtained through organizations like NCRA, NVRA, and ACRA, as personal development classes are usually not accepted.

Court Reporter Salary in North Dakota

In North Dakota, the median salary for court reporters is $59,361 per year.

The table below highlights cities with the highest median salaries in this profession.

[salarytable-northdakota]

Court Reporter by State