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Administrative Order 2026-04 (Court Reporting) is the circuit's consolidated court-reporting order; its §13 expressly supersedes Administrative Orders 2001-02, 2001-19, and prior reporting orders. Governs when proceedings are reported, electronic recording, and transcript logistics circuit-wide.
All divisions, all four counties.
Verbatim from the operative section of this order, re-extracted 2026-07-26; whitespace normalised only. • Use of Approved Court Reporters and Transcriptionists All court-required reporting and transcription services shall be performed only by approved court reporters or approved contractual typists/transcriptionists designated by the Court Reporting Services Office. Nothing in this Order shall be construed to require the automatic preparation of transcripts. Transcripts shall be prepared only upon request, upon order of the court, or as otherwise required by law. The cost for preparation of transcripts shall be governed by applicable law or as otherwise set forth in this Order. No other person or vendor may prepare an official transcript for use in judicial proceedings unless specifically authorized by the Chief Judge or designee. • Service Delivery Strategies The circuit employs a multi-tiered service delivery strategy to ensure efficient and cost- effective court reporting services. These strategies may include: a. Digital Court Reporting for most proceedings at public expense, monitored by trained digital court reporters; b. Centralized Transcription Services utilizing a pool of court-approved contractual typists for transcript preparation; and c. Independent Contract Court Reporters, as authorized, when digital recording is not feasible. The Chief Judge or designee may modify service delivery strategies as necessary to ensure continuous and reliable access to the courts across all counties in the circuit. • Oversight and Participant Responsibilities All court reporting employees and contract service providers are officers of the court and shall comply with all applicable statutes, court rules, and directives issued by the Chief Judge. Court Administration shall provide program oversight to ensure compliance with contracting, performance, and confidentiality standards. Upon separation from employment or upon the conclusion or termination of a contract, all court reporting employees and contract service providers shall deliver to Court Administration all stenographic notes, audio recordings, transcripts, exhibits, and any related work product created or maintained in the course of providing court reporting services, in the manner and timeframe directed by Court Administration. 4 Judges and hearing officers shall notify participants of the recording method in use and remind all persons to speak clearly for the record. Attorneys must advise clients of recording conditions and take reasonable precautions to prevent disclosure of confidential communications. Court deputies shall prevent tampering with equipment and unauthorized microphone use. • Capital Cases Digital recording shall not be used as the in any proceeding in which the State seeks the death penalty or in any capital post-conviction proceeding. These proceedings shall be reported by an approved court reporter capable of real-time transcription or, if unavailable, by a computer-aided transcription qualified reporter. Transcript preparation in capital cases shall receive priority. To promote consistency in the creation of the record in capital cases, the approved court reporter designated under Rule 2.535(i) shall be notified of all scheduled depositions and shall 6 be given the option to provide reporting and transcription services for those depositions. Depositions remain discovery proceedings governed by Rule 2.535(b) and (c). The parties are not required to use the appointed capital-case reporter for depositions, though it is encouraged for continuity, and no provision of this order requires reporting of depositions at public expense. If the parties elect to use the designated reporter, they must engage the reporter directly and comply with all statutory requirements regarding payment for deposition reporting and transcription. • Preventing Recording of Confidential Communications Signs shall be posted inside and outside all rooms in which proceedings are recorded by audio technology advising that conversations may be recorded. Signs at attorney tables shall caution attorneys and clients that private conversations may be captured. Microphones used by counsel and the presiding judicial officer shall include a “hold-to-mute” feature where feasible. Court Administration shall provide periodic training for judges, attorneys, bailiffs, and staff regarding the proper use of recording technology and methods for preventing the capture of privileged communications. • Emergency Coverage When court-reporting services or equipment are unavailable due to emergency or exigent circumstances, the Chief Judge or designee may authorize any reasonable alternative method to capture and preserve the record, with prompt notice to the Chief Judge. • Retention and Custodianship The Chief Judge shall retain ownership and control over the in all formats. Court Administration and the Electronic Court Reporting Office shall have full and complete access to any unedited notes, electronic files, or audio/video recordings used to create the . Court Administration, through the Electronic Court Reporting Office, is the custodian of all multimedia court records and shall ensure their safekeeping, retention, and destruction according to the approved State Courts System Records Retention Schedule. 7
Use of Approved Court Reporters and Transcriptionists All court-required reporting and transcription services shall be performed only by approved court reporters or approved contractual typists/transcriptionists designated by the Court Reporting Services Office. Nothing in this Order shall be construed to require the automatic preparation of transcripts. Transcripts shall be prepared only upon request, upon order of the court, or as otherwise required by law. The cost for preparation of transcripts shall be governed by applicable law or as otherwise set forth in this Order. No other person or vendor may prepare an official transcript for use in judicial proceedings unless specifically authorized by the Chief Judge or designee.
Reviewer note: | Set to in_review 2026-07-26: the order's subject looks practitioner-facing but the extracted text captured only recitals or an effective date, not the operative ORDERED section. This is an extraction defect, not a judgement that the order is unimportant — it needs re-extraction before it goes back on the published surface. | Re-extracted 2026-07-26 from the numbered paragraphs following the order's ORDERED clause, replacing a first pass that had captured recitals and the effective date.
2 verbatim requirements from 4th Circuit Administrative Order 1986-33A.
1 verbatim requirement from 4th Circuit Administrative Order 1987-09.