Honorable Wayne 

County Attorney 

Kaufman County 

Kaufman, Texas 

September 13, 1957 

Pearson Opinion No. WW-257 

Re: May an individual serve 

as an official court 

reporter and perform the 

duties prescribed by 

Article 2324, V.C.S. and 

Article 2324a, V.C.S., 

when the individual is 

under the age of 21 years 

and is unable to take . _ 

Dear Mr. Pearson: shorthand notes:, 

You have requested an opinion concerning the 

qualifications of an official District Court Reporter. In 

your request you have posed the following questions: 

"1 . Under Article 2324, do stenotype notes 

constitute 'full shorthand notes?' 

“2. Is a person under the age of 21 years, 

and who has had his dis&bilities of minority 

removed and who is -otherwise competent, qualified to serve as an official shorthand court 

reporter? 

“3. Under Article 2324-A, is an official 

District Court reporter, who is not a notary 

public, and who, by reason of age, can not qualify 

as a notary public, qualified to perform the acts 

enumerated in said Article'?" 

We shall answer your questions in the order presented. 

Article 2324, Vernon's Civil Statutes, reads in 

part as fGllows: 

"Each official court reporter shall: 

"Attend all sessi,ons of the court; take full 

shorthand notes of all cr.21 testimony offered in 

every case tri,ed in said court, together with all 

objections to the admissibility of the evidence, 
Honorable Wayne Pearson, Page 2 (WW-257) 

the rulings and remarks of the court thereon, and 

all exceptions thereto; take full shorthand notes 

of closing arguments when requested so to do by the 

attorney for any party to such case, together with 

all objections to such arguments, the rulings and 

remarks of the zourt thereon, and all exceptions 

thereto; . . . 

The above quoted provisions require that the official court reporter keep an adequate record of oral testimony 

offered in each case, along with certain other pertinent oral 

statements. We believe that the purpose of these provisions 

is to insure the preservation of such oral statements as 

might be required upon an appeal of the decision of the trial 

court. We further believe that the use of the phrase "full 

shorthand notes" is not to be construed as limiting the 

transcription of oral statements to this method alone, but 

rather may be taken as an indication of the degree of detail 

required in such records. For this reason, it is our opinion 

that the inclusion of the phrase "full shorthand notes" in 

the provisions of Article 2324, Vernon's Civil Statutes, does 

not preclude the use of notes made by akenotype machine, or 

any other mechanical device, so long as the method used provides a complete and accurate transcription of such oral 

statements as are required to be recorded under the provisions 

of the statute. For this reason your first question must be 

answered in the affirmative. 

Article 2321, Vernon's Civil Statutes, provides for 

the appointment of official district court reporters. We have 

failed to find any age requirement within the provisions of 

this or any other statute relating to official court reporters. 

For this reason, we are of the opinion that a person under the 

age of 21 years is qualified to serve as an official court 

reporter, and therefore, must answer your second question in 

the affirmative. 

Article 232&a, Vernon's Civil Statutes, provides in 

part as follows: 

"Section 1. All official District Court 

reporters are authorized to take depositions of 

witnesses, and to i?eCeiVe, execute and return 

commissions, administer oaths and affidavits, in 

connection with such depositions, and make a certificate of such fact, and do all other things 

necessary in the taking of such depositions in 

accordance with existing laws. 

"Sec. 2. Said reporters shall have authority 
Honorable Wayne Pearson, Page 3 (W-257) 

to perform the above mentioned acts only within 

any county within the judicial district that such 

reporter was appointed and serving In connection 

with his official business, in the State of Texas." 

Article 2321 provides in part as follows: 

"Each district and criminal district judge 

shall anpoint an official court reporter who 

shall be-a sworn officer of the court and shall 

hold his office during the pleasure of the court. 

. . . (Emphasis added) 

We believe that the above quoted provisions clearly 

indicate that an official district court report is an officer 

of the court and as such, his powers and duties extend to the 

boundaries of all counties within the judicial district. We, 

therefore, believe that when a district court reporter undertakes to perform the functions as set forth in Article 2324a, 

he acts as an officer of the court and functions under the 

authority vested in him by virtue of that office. For this 

reason, we believe that he may perform all of the acts set 

forth in this statute, irrespective of the fact that he may 

or may not be a notary public. For this reason we must also 

answer your third question in the affirmative. 

SUMMARY 

An Individual may serve as an official district 

court reporter and perform the functions required 

of him by Article 2324, Vernon's Civil Statutes, 

and Article 2324a, Vernon's Civil Statutes, even 

though that person is under twenty-one years of 

age and is unable to take shorthand notes. 

Very truly yours, 

WILL WILSON 

WCR:pf:jl 

APPROVED: 

OPINION COMMITTEE 

nd C. Rivers, Jr. 

Assistant 

Gari. P. Blackburn, Chairman 

J. C. Davis, Jr. 

John Reeves 

iilyie pert 

E Allen 

REVIEWED FOR THE ATTORNEY GENERAL 

BY: James N. Ludlum