The Department of Licensing is responsible for the regulation of the Court Reporting Practice Act for Washington State under the Revised Code of Washington (RCW) 18.145. The following rules set forth standards of professional practice for court reporters and also detail the requirements for transcript preparation:
It is the responsibility of each licensed court reporter to make sure that she or he follows these rules. Failure to follow these rules can result in revocation of the court reporter’s certificate or other disciplinary sanctions under RCW 18.235.020(2)(vi) and RCW 18.235.110.
It has come to our attention that there is software available that stretches transcripts so that there are fewer characters per standard line. This is a reminder to all licensed court reporters in Washington State that it is your responsibility to adhere to the requirements of WAC 308-14-130 and WAC 308-14-135.
Part of your responsibility includes certifying only those transcripts that comply with the mandatory guidelines of WAC 308-14-135. Therefore, if you do not format your own transcripts, it is advisable to review the final version of the formatted transcript prior to signing the certification sheet.
It is never advisable to sign blank certification sheets, in fact, signing a blank certification sheet may violate RCW 18.235.130(4), which allows us to discipline any court reporter who engages in “incompetence, negligence, or malpractice that results in harm or damage to a consumer or that creates an unreasonable risk that a consumer will be harmed or damaged.” Further, it is unlawful under WAC 308-14-135 to certify a transcript that has been stretched so that it no longer complies with the requirements for transcript preparation.