Courts of record must have a court reporter instead of a recording device.

• A. True
• B. False
• C. It depends on the county
• D. They must have both

Answer: (B)

Courts of record must keep an official record of proceedings, but the method to create that record isn’t fixed to one option. A court reporter can produce a verbatim transcript, but many jurisdictions also use electronic recording devices to capture hearings, sometimes alongside a reporter. Depending on the jurisdiction and the type of proceeding, an electronic recording may satisfy the requirement for the official record, or a transcript may be produced from that recording later. So the statement that courts of record must have a court reporter instead of a recording device isn’t universally true.