2023 CODE OF GEORGIA › Title 5 - APPEAL AND ERROR (§§ 5-1-1 — 5-7-6) › Chapter 3 - SUPERIOR AND STATE COURT APPELLATE PRACTICE (§§ 5-3-1 — 5-3-21) › Section 5-3-14 - Audio or video recording, reporting, or transcription; expense of preparation; transcripts prepared from recollection; corrections; stipulations

(a)
In civil cases and misdemeanor criminal cases, a lower judicatory may require the audio or video recording, reporting, or transcribing of the evidence and proceedings in the lower judicatory on terms prescribed by the lower judicatory.
(b)
Except as provided in subsection (c) of this Code section, in civil cases where a transcript of the evidence and proceedings in the lower judicatory has not been prepared and a transcript is necessary to conduct a review under this chapter, the petitioner shall prepare a transcript at the petitioner's expense from recollection or otherwise only if the petitioner is financially able to pay the costs of transcribing.
(c)
In civil cases, a lower judicatory may require the parties to share the cost of reporting or transcribing the evidence and proceedings in the lower judicatory; provided, however, that a lower judicatory shall not require a party to share such costs if that party is financially unable to pay. If the lower judicatory determines that any or all of the parties are financially unable to pay such costs, the lower judicatory, in its discretion, may authorize the trial of the case to go unreported.
(d)
Any party shall have the right to have any criminal or civil case in a lower judicatory reported or transcribed at the party's own expense.
(e)
If a proceeding in a lower judicatory is reported, the court reporter shall report and transcribe all:
(1)
Motions;
(2)
Colloquies;
(3)
Objections;
(4)
Rulings;
(5)
Evidence, whether admitted or stricken on objection or otherwise;
(6)
Copies or summaries of all documentary evidence;
(7)
The charge of the court; and
(8)
Other proceedings before the court.
(f)
If a proceeding in a lower judicatory is reported, the lower judicatory shall ensure that all matters listed in subsection (e) of this Code section are included in any transcript or record transferred to the reviewing court.
(g)
If matters in a lower judicatory are not reported, such as objections to oral argument, misconduct of the jury, or other like instances, and a party requests a transcript of such matters, the lower judicatory shall order a transcript be prepared from recollection or otherwise and included as a part of the record transferred to the reviewing court.
(h)
A transcript of the proceedings in a lower judicatory shall not be reduced to narrative form unless all parties agree; but if the transcript of the evidence and proceedings is not available and the transcript is prepared from recollection, such a transcript may be prepared in narrative form.
(i)
If a court reporter transcribes the evidence and proceedings in the lower judicatory, the court reporter shall complete the transcript and file the original and one copy of the transcript with the clerk of the lower judicatory along with the court reporter's certificate attesting to its correctness. Upon filing of the transcript by the court reporter, the transcript shall become part of the record.
(j)
The clerk of the lower judicatory shall ensure that a true copy of the transcript of the evidence and proceedings in the lower judicatory is included in the record transmitted to the reviewing court under this chapter.
(k)
If the parties cannot agree regarding whether the transcript or record truly or fully discloses what transpired in the proceedings in the lower judicatory, the lower judicatory shall schedule a hearing with notice to all parties to resolve the dispute and conform the record to the truth.
(l)
A transcript of evidence and proceedings that is prepared from recollection with an attached statement that all parties agree to its contents shall carry the same authority as a transcript prepared by a court reporter; but if the parties cannot agree regarding the correctness of a transcript prepared from recollection, the lower judicatory shall decide whether it is correct. If the lower judicatory is unable to recall what transpired in the case under review, the lower judicatory shall issue a decision stating that fact. The lower judicatory's decision under this subsection is final and not subject to review.
(m)
If anything material to any party is omitted from or misstated in the record under review, the parties may stipulate, or the lower judicatory may direct, that the omission or misstatement be corrected before or after the record is transmitted to the reviewing court. The clerk of the lower judicatory shall promptly transmit to the reviewing court any correction of the record made after the record is transmitted to the reviewing court.
(n)
The lower judicatory may transmit a supplemental record to the reviewing court.
(o)
The lower judicatory or the reviewing court may order the clerk of the lower judicatory to send up any original documents, exhibits, or other items in the case under review. The reviewing court shall return such original documents, exhibits, or other items to the lower judicatory after the final disposition of the case under review.
(p)
If a lower judicatory does not allow a party to file a document for inclusion in the record for a petition for review, such party may file the document in the reviewing court with an attached notation of the lower judicatory's disallowance. In such case, the document shall become part of the record under review.
(q)
If all parties agree, in lieu of a transcript of the evidence and proceedings in the lower judicatory, they may file in the lower judicatory a stipulation of the case showing how the question under review arose and was decided along with a statement of facts. In such cases, the parties shall provide sufficient information in the stipulation and statement of facts to enable the reviewing court to conduct a review. Such stipulation and statement of facts must be approved by the lower judicatory prior to transmission to the reviewing court as part of the record.
Added by 2022 Ga. Laws 875,§ 1-1, eff. 7/1/2023, app. to petitions for review filed in superior or state court on or after such date.