Bill Text: NJ A5429 | 2018-2019 | Regular Session | Introduced


Bill Title: Revises page rate for transcript of stenographic record or other court recordings; eliminates scheduled page rate increases.

Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 2-0)

Status: (Introduced - Dead) 2019-05-20 - Introduced, Referred to Assembly Judiciary Committee [A5429 Detail]

Download: New_Jersey-2018-A5429-Introduced.html

ASSEMBLY, No. 5429

STATE OF NEW JERSEY

218th LEGISLATURE

 

INTRODUCED MAY 20, 2019

 


 

Sponsored by:

Assemblywoman  PAMELA R. LAMPITT

District 6 (Burlington and Camden)

 

 

 

 

SYNOPSIS

     Revises page rate for transcript of stenographic record or other court recordings; eliminates scheduled page rate increases.

 

CURRENT VERSION OF TEXT

     As introduced.

  


An Act concerning transcript fees and amending N.J.S.2B:7-4. 

 

     Be It Enacted by the Senate and General Assembly of the State of New Jersey:

 

     1.    N.J.S.2B:7-4 is amended to read as follows:

     2B:7-4.  Transcript; Fees.  a. When a transcript of a stenographic record or other recording in any court or in any other proceeding recorded at the direction of the Supreme Court is made, at the request of any person, the original and copies thereof shall be prepared in the manner prescribed by the Rules of Court of the State of New Jersey and the standards fixed by the Administrative Director of the Courts and paid for at the rate of [$3.00] $4.29 for each page of an original standard delivery transcript and [$0.50] $0.72 for each of the copies thereof.  If the transcript is furnished to a judge of the court, by court order, the reporter shall be paid at the same rates, and in the same manner and from the same sources as the reporter's salary or per diem fees are paid.

     b.    [Beginning on the first day of July 2005, and on the first day of each fifth July thereafter, the rates and fees set forth in subsection a. of this section shall be increased to reflect changes in the Consumer Price Index (CPI) as follows: the foregoing fees and rates shall be multiplied by a fraction, the denominator of which shall be the CPI for March 2000 and the numerator of which shall be the CPI for the March immediately preceding the applicable July 1.

     For the purposes of this subsection, "CPI" shall mean that table in the Consumer Price Index published by the United States Department of Labor, Bureau of Labor Statistics, now known as the "Consumer Price Index for Urban Wage Earners and Clerical Workers, All Items, New York-Northern  New Jersey (index: 1982-1984 equals 100)." If this CPI shall be discontinued, then the Administrative Director of the Courts shall designate any successor Consumer Price Index of the United States Bureau of Labor Statistics, or any successor agency thereto, for the New York-Northern New Jersey area.] (Deleted by amendment, P.L.    , c.     ) (pending before the Legislature as this bill)

     c.     Except as to transcripts that are to be paid for by the State or county, the person preparing the transcripts may require any person requesting a transcript to prepay the estimated fee therefor in advance of delivery of the transcript.

     d.    The Supreme Court may adopt Rules of Court and the Administrative Director of the Courts may issue directives to implement the purposes of this [act] section.

(cf: P.L.2000, c.30, s.1)

     2.    This act shall take effect immediately. 

 

 

STATEMENT

 

     This bill eliminates automatic scheduled increases correlated to the Consumer Price Index in the page rate for transcript of stenographic records or other court recordings, and fixes the rate at the current price of $4.29 for each page of an original transcript and $0.72 for each page of a copy of a transcript.

     Current law, adopted in 2000, set the original page rate for transcript of stenographic records or other court recordings at $3 for each page of an original transcript and $0.50 for each page of a copy of a transcript, subject to automatic increases every five years to reflect changes in the Consumer Price Index. This cost is next scheduled to increase in July 2020. This bill eliminates the automatic scheduled increases and fixes the rate at the current price, as of 2019, of $4.29 for each page of an original transcript and $0.72 for each page of a copy of a transcript.

feedback