Court Report And Captioning

The Court Reporting program prepares students for two industry recognized certificates:  

  • Certified Shorthand Reporter (CSR) license awarded by the Court Reporters Board of California 
  • California CART (CCG) administered and awarded by California Court Reporters Association 
Court Reporting License (CSR)

The Certified Shorthand Reporter license is required to report in courts and to take depositions. Application fees and exam costs are estimated at $115 USD.  

The examination has three parts. An applicant must take and pass all three parts of the examination within three (3) consecutive years to have passed the examination. If an applicant fails to pass all three sections of the exam within the three-year period, they will have to take all three sections again. The three-year period shall begin from the date of the examination for which the applicant is first scheduled and continues to toll even if you skip one or more exams during the three-year period. 

Captioning Certificate (CCG)

The California CART certificate will validate the skills attained through the Court Reporting program to help with employment in real-time captioning.  

The Generalist certification incorporates the skills for an emerging CART captioner at the basic level necessary to provide real-time communication access of some classroom and community assignments. The Specialist certification incorporates the skills for an advanced CART captioner at the intermediate/advanced level necessary to provide real-time communication access of all levels of classroom and community assignments. 

The skills exam will be 15 minutes total (5-minute lead-in and 10 minutes graded) LITERARY, dictated at 180 words per minute. To obtain the CCG certification, candidates must successfully pass both the skills and written knowledge portions of the examination. A written knowledge portion will be offered as a learning module with a post-test. 

Price

$50 Registration Fee 
$100 Grading Fee (Optional)

Type of Permit 
  • License
  • Industry recognized certificate 
Requirements

To take the CSR exams students must complete the application packet and meet qualification verification via school transcript or employment.  

The eligibility requirements are as follows (Section 8020, Business & Professions Code): 

  1. Over 18 years of age; 
  2. High school education or its equivalent; 
  3. Has not committed any acts or crimes constituting grounds for denial of licensure

The applicant must submit satisfactory evidence that he or she has originally obtained one of the following: 

  1. 12 months of full-time work experience in making verbatim records of hearings, or judicial or related proceedings by means of machine shorthand writing and transcribing such records. Only records of multiple-voice proceedings, such as court and deposition proceedings, will be considered in calculating the required hours. Time spent in transcribing taped recordings or in reporting lectures, etc., will not be considered. A letter from an employer, on their business letterhead, signed by the official in charge, is required when submitting your application as proof of your experience. If you are a freelance reporter or have owned your own business, three letters from clients you have worked for will be required. Letters should list date of employment, whether it was full-time or part-time, your duties, and what percentage of time was spent in each of those duties. In addition, job/work sheets documenting at least 1400 hours will be required. Each job sheet or work sheet should indicate the kind of job reported and the number of hours actually spent reporting. 
  2. A verified certificate of satisfactory completion of a prescribed course of study from a CALIFORNIA RECOGNIZED COURT REPORTING SCHOOL, or certification from such school evidencing equivalent proficiency, and of the ability to make a verbatim record of material dictated in accordance with regulations adopted by the board contained in Title 16 of the California Code of Regulations. 
  3. A National Court Reporters Association RPR Certificate or Certificate of Merit or National Verbatim Reporters Association CVR Certificate stating the original issuance date of the certificate. 
Resources

For Court Reporting License (CSR) Exam:

For California CART Generalist (CCG) Skills Exam:

Contact

Tanya Paredes
Administrative Assistant, Career Education
[email protected]
(415) 457-8811 x8200

COM Program

Visit the Court Reporting program website to learn details about related program offerings.