Rule 30 - Verbatim Recording of Judicial Proceedings(a)Transcripts of court proceedings; standards. A transcript is a document containing a verbatim record of the spoken words of a court proceeding prepared from either the certified reporter's notes or other verbatim record of the proceeding. Transcripts certified for use by any court shall be: 1. Prepared and certified by an authorized transcriber in accordance with the standards set forth in the Arizona Manual of Transcript Procedures. The current version of this manual is available from the Administrative Office of the Courts.2. For purposes of this rule, an "authorized transcriber" means: b. an individual or a transcription service under contract with an Arizona court; orc. An individual employed by a court whose official duties include the preparation of transcripts.(b)Use of Court Reporting Resources.1. Request for certified reporter. Any party to any action in superior court may request that any proceeding in that action be recorded by a certified court reporter. The court shall grant the request if it is made pursuant to and meets the requirements of A.R.S. § 38-424(B) or (C). The court may exercise its discretion for other requests and requests that do not meet the requirements of A.R.S. § 38-424(B) or (C). In the absence of a request for a certified reporter and except as provided by law, the record will be made in a manner within the court's sound discretion.2.When a certified reporter is required. The court must use a certified reporter to make the record, and not solely electronic means, as follows. a. Grand jury proceedings;b. As required by A.R.S. Title 36, Chapter 5;c. When the trial or hearing arises out of an indictment or information and either party requests a certified reporter, if the following requirements are met: (1) the request is in writing;(2) a certified reporter is available on the day of the trial or hearing; and(3) the request is made at least five court days before the trial or hearing. If a request for a certified reporter was granted because the requirements in (b)(2)(c)(1) through (b)(2)(c)(3) were met when the request was granted but a certified reporter later becomes unavailable, the court may begin the trial using an electronic recording device if doing so is necessary to comply with a victim's or defendant's right to a speedy trial;d. 3706When a trial or hearing is held pursuant to A.R.S. Title 36, Chapter 37 and either party requests a certified reporter, if the following requirements are met: (1) the request is in writing;(2) a certified reporter is available on the day of the trial or hearing; and(3) the request is made at least five court days before the trial or hearing;e. All proceedings in a first degree murder case, pursuant to A.R.S. § 13-1105, unless or until the State declines to file a notice of intent to seek the death penalty.3. Official record. a. In all circumstances, when an-court-employed or court-contracted certified reporter records a proceeding in a superior court, the court-employed or court-contracted certified reporter's record is the official record.b. In the absence of a court-employed or court-contracted certified reporter, the court's electronic recording of a proceeding is the official record, unless a party provides at least five-days' written notice to the court and all other parties of the intent to provide a certified reporter to make the official record. In that case, the party's certified reporter's transcription is the official record. If more than one party provides this notice, the parties may stipulate to which certified reporter's transcription is the official record and must notify the court of this stipulation at least three days before the proceeding. Absent timely notification of a stipulation, the court will designate which certified reporter's transcription will be the official record before the proceeding.c. The notice required in (b)(3)(b) must contain the name and business address of the certified reporter or court reporting firm the party intends to use.d. A certified reporter who keeps the official record under (b)(3)(b) must agree to transcribe their notes within 45 days of the conclusion of the proceeding. The party whose certified reporter keeps the official record under (b)(3)(b) shall bear the cost of the transcript. Upon receiving the transcript from the certified reporter, the party must file with the court the transcript and a request that the court adopt the transcript as the official record. Upon a request and at the expense of the requesting party, the certified reporter must provide a copy of the transcript to that party.e. A certified reporter provided by a party and who keeps the official record under (b)(3)(b) must take and subscribe to the official oath which must be on the record and administered by the judge.f. For a proceeding that is recorded by electronic recording equipment only, the official record is the transcript prepared by a court-employed or court-contracted certified reporter or authorized transcriber as defined in (a)(2)(b) and (a)(2)(c).g. The transcript in any case certified by the certified reporter or other authorized transcriber as defined in (a)(2)(b) and (a)(2)(c) is prima facie a correct statement of the testimony taken and proceedings held. No transcripts of the proceedings of the court are to be considered as official except those made from the records certified by the designated certified reporter, court-employed or court-contracted certified reporter, or authorized transcriber as defined in (a)(2)(b) and (a)(2)(c), unless the court orders otherwise.Added Sept. 18, 2006, effective 1/1/2007; amended Dec. 8, 2021, effective 1/1/2022; amended Aug. 29, 2022, effective 9/24/2022; amended Dec. 8, 2022, effective 1/1/2023.[2021] COMMENT
Rule 30(a). This rule is not intended to prevent a party from retaining a transcriber, at the party's expense, to prepare an unofficial transcript of all or part of a proceeding. An unofficial transcript cannot be referenced or used in any court proceeding.
Rule 30(b)(1). In the absence of a timely request for a certified reporter, the court may still approve use of a certified reporter or electronic recording device to make the record of court proceedings. In exercising its discretion under subsection (b), the court should consider the following factors: the unique demands of making the official verbatim record in felony jury trials and initial determinations of sexually violent person status; the availability of a certified reporter; the probability that a transcript will be requested; the number of litigants; convenience of the parties and the court's schedule; sufficiency of another form of record to convey the substance of the matters discussed at the proceeding; whether testimonial evidence will be presented at the proceeding; presence of non-native English speakers as witnesses or parties; the likelihood that technical or otherwise difficult terminology will be used; the need for formal or informal proceedings; the need for a real-time transcript; the likelihood that daily transcripts will be required; and any other factor which in the interests of justice warrants a particular form of record, or as otherwise required to serve the interests of justice.
Rule 30(b)(3)(b). In designating the official record, the court should consider factors such as which party filed notice first, whether the notice was timely, and whether the notice included the required information about the certified reporter.
HISTORICAL NOTES
Former Rules 28 through 30 which were contained in Part V, Admission and Discipline of Attorneys, were deleted in the revision to that part in 1984.