(a) Whenever a transcript is furnished to a litigant or other party interested in any industrial accident case heard before any state department, board, or commission, or to any petitioner, remonstrator, intervener, or any other party in any proceeding before the utility regulatory commission, the fee for the transcript shall be the property of the reporter employed by the state department, board or commission who has prepared the transcript.(b) A party litigant in an industrial accident case or a party in a proceeding before the utility regulatory commission may be provided a transcript at state expense if the party litigant or party files a verified application for provision of transcript and it is established in a hearing upon the application that: (1) the applicant will perfect an appeal for which the transcript is requested;(2) no other person or party in the proceeding has filed a request for a transcript which transcript would be available to the applicant; and(3) the applicant lacks sufficient resources, and cannot reasonably obtain sufficient resources, to pay for the transcript.(c) Whenever any state department, board, or commission orders that a transcript be provided to a person or party litigant under subsection (b), the reporter to whom the fee is due shall prepare a statement, under oath, of the cost of preparation of the transcript. Upon receipt of the statement, the state department, board, or commission shall certify the statement and present it to the state comptroller who shall pay the cost of the transcript out of the state general fund.(d) Whenever any state agency is required by federal law to provide a person or party litigant with a copy of a transcript at reproduction cost only, the reporter to whom the fee is due shall prepare separate statements of the cost of production of the transcript and the cost of reproduction of the transcript. The statement for production of the transcript shall be presented to the state agency which shall pay the statement out of the funds appropriated to it, and the statement for reproduction of the transcript shall be presented to the person or party litigant who has requested the reproduction of the transcript.Amended by P.L. 9-2024,SEC. 100, eff. 7/1/2024.(Formerly: Acts 1935, c.218, s.1.) As amended by Acts1979 , P.L. 26, SEC.1; P.L. 23-1988, SEC.2.