R. & Regul. Gov. Cert. Ct. Report. XI
Application fee | $ 50.00 |
Examination fee, written knowledge only | $ 75.00 |
Examination fee, skills only | $ 100.00 |
Examination fee, written knowledge and skills | $ 125.00 |
The $50.00 application fee is a one-time, nonrefundable fee. If only the written knowledge portion of the examination is to be taken, the examination fee is $75.00; if only the skills portion is to be taken, the examination fee is $100.00; or if both the written knowledge and the skills portion are to be taken, the fee is $125.00. This $100.00 fee is the same regardless of how many legs of the skills portion (Part A) of the examination are to be taken. First time applicants must pay both the application fee and the examination fee.
Payments are due thirty (30) days before the examination, upon registration. Refunds of the examination fees will be given if the cancellation is received before the deadline of thirty (30) days prior to the examination, or the applicant may apply payment to the next scheduled test. Payments may be in the form of a check or a money order. All checks must be made payable to the Board of Certified Court Reporters.
The skills portion of the test is a three-part dictation consisting of the following: 5 minutes of two-voice dictation of testimony (Question and Answer) given at 225 words per minute; 5 minutes of dictation of jury charge given at 200 words per minute; and 5 minutes of dictation of selected literary material given at 180 words per minute. Each of these legs will have one minute of warm up material. Each applicant shall personally take down the test, either in his/her own handwriting (pen shorthand) by machine shorthand (stenotype), or by his/her own voice (oral stenography/steno mask), and reduce to writing the take on a typewriter, word processor/computer with or without the aid of CAT (computer aided transcription) equipment. The minimum passing grade on each section of Part A of the test shall be ninety-five percent (95%) accuracy. An error shall be charged for each wrong word, each omitted word, for each added word not dictated, for each contraction where read as two words, for two words where read as a contraction, for each misspelled word, for each plural or singular where the opposite was dictated, and for each wrong number. Applicants may use a dictionary during Part A of the test. Applicants shall have seventy-five (75) minutes (1 1/4 hours) to transcribe each leg of the skills examination (Part A). If time permits, the applicant may review his/her transcript but shall use only his/her original shorthand notes (pen shorthand), steno machine notes, or voice file/tape (mask/voice writer) from which his/her transcript was prepared. If applicant passes any one leg of Part A of the test with ninety-five percent (95%) accuracy, he/she need not retake that leg on re-examination and may consider that leg passed.
Applicants for testing must furnish their own equipment and supplies for taking down and transcribing the skills portion (Part A) of the examination. Realtime translation is allowed in the dictation room. However, the screen must be situated in such a manner so that the display will not be visible to other testing candidates. No audio assist or backup of any kind is permitted during test dictation or during transcription. Candidates must disable their computer's and/or writer's microphone by either changing the settings on their computer and/or writer or by bringing an external adapter/plug.
All shorthand notes, steno machine notes, voice files/voice tapes, floppy disks, or any other external storage devices as outlined below, and any printed material becomes property of the Board of Certified Court Reporters. These must be turned in after the examination, and before leaving the testing site, the Chief Examiner shall verify that all tests from Part A (Skills Examination) are deleted from the hard drive of the applicant's word processor or computer and, if applicable, the steno machine's RAM (Random Access Memory) and any other applicable external storage devices. If an applicant's steno machine does not use a disk, e.g. a RAM memory, eliminate any jobs that may be in your steno machine's memory as you will be asked to reformat your steno machine's memory after the exam. If you do not reformat your steno machine's memory, your steno machine will be impounded by the Chief Examiner. Those using steno machines or systems with flashcards/SD cards and/or USB/flash drives will need to bring the equipment necessary to delete the flashcard/SD cards and/or USB/flash drives or will need to turn in the flashcard/SD cards and/or USB/flash drives to the Chief Examiner with a self addressed, padded, and stamped envelope for mailing. Candidates who do not bring a self-addressed stamped envelope will have to forfeit their flashcards/SD cards and/or USB/flash drives.
The approximate allowable number of errors for each leg of the skills examination is:
Testimony (Q&A) | 57 |
Jury Charge | 50 |
Literary | 45 |
The written knowledge examination is a, fifty (50) question, multiple choice test based on the following areas of court reporting. Approximately thirty percent (30%) of the questions will be on reporting and ethics, thirty percent (30%) on transcription; twenty percent (20%) Mississippi court procedures, and twenty percent (20%) grammar, vocabulary, and punctuation. These approximations are intended for general guidance only. Applicants shall have forty-five (45) minutes to complete the written knowledge examination (Part B). If applicant passes Part B (Written Knowledge Examination) with a grade of 75% or more, he/she need not retake Part B and may consider that portion passed.
Materials recommended for study in preparation for the written portion of the examination include but are not limited to:
National Court Reporters Association Professional Education Series, (a) English, (b) law, and (c) medical;
National Court Reporters Association Publications: (a) Systematic Guide to Medical Terminology, (b) Grammar for Shorthand Reporters, and (c) Punctuation for Shorthand Reporters:
Mississippi Rules of Civil Procedure applying to the duties and responsibilities of court reporters;
Mississippi Rules of Appellate Procedure.
Rules and Regulations Governing Certified Court Reporters
Test results are mailed four (4) to six (6) weeks after the examination. No results will be given over the telephone. The written knowledge examination candidates receive the numeric scores, in addition to Pass or Fail conclusions. The skills examination candidates receive numeric scores as well as a Pass or Fail conclusion on each leg.
All appeals must be in writing to the Board of Certified Court Reporters and must be postmarked no more than twenty (20) days from the mailing date of the examination results. Applicants may request a regrade. The regrade fee is $50.00 and is due at the time of the appeal.
R. & Regul. Gov. Cert. Ct. Report. XI