O-2012-3433 Municipal Court of Record

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(a) Appointment; duties generally. Subject to the approval of the municipal court judge, the city manager shall appoint a qualified individual to serve as the clerk of court for the court. The clerk of court shall keep the records of the court, issue process and generally perform the duties that a clerk of a county court at law exercising criminal jurisdiction performs for that court. In addition, the clerk of court shall maintain an index of all court judgments in the same manner as county clerks are required by law to prepare for criminal cases arising in county courts. The clerk of court shall perform his or her duties under the direction and control of the presiding judge. (b) Subject to personnel policies. The City of La Porte personnel policies and rules shall be applicable to the clerk of court and deputy clerks. Sec. 46-30. - Court reporter; duties; compensation. The municipal court judge shall appoint one or more court reporters to preserve a record in cases tried before the court in which the proceedings are not recorded by a good quality recording device. The court reporter must meet the qualifications provided by law for official court reporters. The court reporter may use written notes, transcribing equipment, video or audio recording equipment, or a combination of those methods to record the proceedings of the court. The court reporter shall keep the record for the 20 -day period beginning the day after the last day of the proceeding, trial or denial of motion for new trial, or until any appeal is final, whichever occurs last. The court reporter shall not be required to record testimony or any proceeding in a case unless the municipal judge or one of the parties requests a record in writing. The party requesting the services of the official court reporter shall bear the cost of those services. When an electronic recording device is being used to record the proceedings, it is not necessary to have a court reporter present to record the proceedings nor to certify the statement of facts. Sec. 46-31. - Recording of court proceedings. The court reporter or court staff is not required to record testimony in any case unless the judge or one of the parties requests a record in writing, and files the request with the court before trial. All proceedings before the court, to the