Court Reporters
Official court reporters for San Luis Obispo County Superior Court provide the verbatim record of court proceedings in felony criminal and juvenile delinquency and dependency cases as provided by statute and/or local court rule. Please refer to the Court Reporter Coverage section below for information regarding court reporter coverage in family law and civil matters.
To be employed by the Superior Court, a court reporter must possess a valid Certified Shorthand Reporters (CSR) license, which is granted to successful candidates who pass the examination administered by the Department of Consumer Affairs of the State of California.
Court Reporter Coverage
The Court will provide an Official Court Reporter to in forma pauperis litigants in civil and family law matters upon request for the following types of hearings: family law trials, family support hearings, family law requests for order, hearings on requests for civil or family law restraining orders, unlimited jurisdiction civil trials, civil law and motion, probate, conservatorships, guardianships, and mental health proceedings.
In order to be eligible for a court reporter, the litigant must have an order granting a fee waiver on file in the case. In matters that do not require a filing fee, such as requests for civil or family law restraining orders, a party who is eligible for a waiver of fees must file a Request to Waive Court Fees.
In addition, you must also request a Court Reporter. Court Reporter Notice & Request Form
The party requesting a court reporter must file and serve the request no later than seven (7) days prior to the scheduled hearing, with notice to all parties. A failure to file a timely request may be considered a waiver of a court reporter for the scheduled hearing.
If you are not eligible for a fee waiver and wish your matter to be reported, you must hire a reporter privately and are responsible for all fees and costs related to the reporting services.
Purchasing a Transcript
When purchasing a transcript, the person or party is contracting with an individual court reporter for the actual transcript of the proceedings, pursuant to Government Code Section 69950. Transcript costs are governed by the code and all arrangements for preparation, delivery and payment of transcript are between the requesting party and the individual court reporter.
If a court reporter was present at the hearing and you would like to request a transcript, please complete the Transcript Request Form and email it to: transcripts@slo.courts.ca.gov. After a request is made, the court reporter will contact you and give an estimate of cost and an estimate of the amount of time necessary to prepare the transcript. Be sure to include a “Rush” on the form if you need the transcript expedited. There may be an additional cost for an expedited transcript.
The following information will be required before a transcript can be prepared:
- Case number
- Case name
- Date(s) of hearing
- Name of the judge or courtroom in which the hearing was held
- Please specify if you are requesting the entire hearing, or a specific portion of the transcript.
- Email address in which you wish to receive the transcript electronically.
You may view or purchase a copy of the Case Summary at the clerk’s office during regular office hours (8:30 a.m. to 12:00 p.m.).
Request for Juvenile Transcript
All transcript requests for juvenile hearings must complete the "Application for Transcripts of Juvenile hearings" below. Submit the completed application to the courtroom clerk or the clerk’s office at San Luis Obispo Courthouse, Room 220 or the Paso Robles Branch. Upon approval by the Judge of the Juvenile court, you will be contacted with information regarding payments and transcript(s) preparation.