Iowa courts are facing a serious shortage. The Gazette's courts reporter Trish Mehaffey talks with Becky Lutgen Gardner on the opportunities available to Iowa job seekers.
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Welcome to careers in coffee. I'm Becky
Becky Lutgen Gardner:Lutgen-Gardner, Product Manager with Corridor Careers. I'm here
Becky Lutgen Gardner:today with a special guest, Trish Mahaffey, who is a
Becky Lutgen Gardner:reporter who covers state and federal courts for The Gazette.
Becky Lutgen Gardner:So we have a lot of great journalists at The Gazette. And
Becky Lutgen Gardner:it's really we feel important that we have conversations with
Becky Lutgen Gardner:people like Trish, about what's going on with workforce
Becky Lutgen Gardner:development, especially as it relates to Iowa. So Trish,
Becky Lutgen Gardner:welcome.
Trish Mehaffey:Hey, thank you. Thanks for asking me to do this.
Becky Lutgen Gardner:Well, you recently you wrote a story,
Becky Lutgen Gardner:basically, about the shortage of court reporters in Iowa. And so
Becky Lutgen Gardner:you mentioned in that that it's, it's beyond a crisis state.
Becky Lutgen Gardner:That's what people were saying. Tell me a little bit about the
Becky Lutgen Gardner:story. Yeah, it's
Trish Mehaffey:basically yeah, it is a crisis beyond crisis
Trish Mehaffey:state, I guess, still. And it's just gotten worse. And so they
Trish Mehaffey:right now, the our district or local district, the sixth, we
Trish Mehaffey:have 10 openings. They have 20, there have 20 for 20 reporters,
Trish Mehaffey:we only have 10 filled. And I guess I think we're losing one
Trish Mehaffey:more, I believe this summer, and with a retirement. So there'll
Trish Mehaffey:be 11. So I think and so then, and the districts across the
Trish Mehaffey:across the state are in the same shape. Everybody's got an
Trish Mehaffey:opening of two or more. And I think we have the most of 10,
Trish Mehaffey:two or more. And there's only one district I think that
Trish Mehaffey:doesn't need anybody. But that's rare. At this time.
Becky Lutgen Gardner:So what what potential problems or
Becky Lutgen Gardner:current problems does that create when you've had that big
Becky Lutgen Gardner:of a shortage?
Trish Mehaffey:Yeah, basically, it means everybody's court cases
Trish Mehaffey:getting bumped because they don't have enough court
Trish Mehaffey:reporters. For the for the court hearings. I mean, the court
Trish Mehaffey:reporters are the eyes and ears of the courtroom. I mean,
Trish Mehaffey:they're taking down verbatim, the live, you know, the the
Trish Mehaffey:court proceedings. And so that's what the court has to rely on,
Trish Mehaffey:to look back on to make rulings you know, and and have an actual
Trish Mehaffey:transcript of the of the actual hearing or trial.
Becky Lutgen Gardner:So you touch on that a little bit about
Becky Lutgen Gardner:exactly what that court reporter does. So for people who don't
Becky Lutgen Gardner:quite understand how do they do their jobs, what do they do?
Becky Lutgen Gardner:Sure,
Trish Mehaffey:they use like, basically, there's, they're the
Trish Mehaffey:ones that are singing up front by the judge, and they're taking
Trish Mehaffey:down everything that everybody's saying. So it's really a you
Trish Mehaffey:have to be a multitasker, because you have to be able to
Trish Mehaffey:listen, and then write down and they're using a steno machine,
Trish Mehaffey:so it's a little bit easier. So they're because they're covering
Trish Mehaffey:things in real time. And so the steno machine, like, lets him
Trish Mehaffey:put in a phrase at a time or sentence at a time or, and they
Trish Mehaffey:build a vocabulary in that in that machine that they can just,
Trish Mehaffey:you know, hit a button. And that's what it is. And so, you
Trish Mehaffey:know, that helps a lot. But, but it does take somebody that can
Trish Mehaffey:multitask, and somebody that wants to stay busy, because they
Trish Mehaffey:are constantly, I mean, they get breaks during, you know, trials
Trish Mehaffey:or court hearings, but still it's a, it's a pretty, it's a
Trish Mehaffey:pretty, you know, sorry to say, what's a
Becky Lutgen Gardner:It's a demanding job and you're you
Becky Lutgen Gardner:can't really doze off? You can't, because you're gonna miss
Becky Lutgen Gardner:out. That's what your job is, is to report, for sure.
Trish Mehaffey:I mean, that's kind of what I do. I cover
Trish Mehaffey:trials in real time, but nothing like they I mean, I'm not taking
Trish Mehaffey:down verbatim, you know, I'm writing like normal like notes
Trish Mehaffey:to myself. And then like, you know, so people can read it,
Trish Mehaffey:though and follow along with the trial in real time. And so, but
Trish Mehaffey:their job is pretty, it is pretty demanding. And, but it
Trish Mehaffey:does really pay well. That's, that's a big thing. You know, it
Trish Mehaffey:pays well, it starts out about it. I think it's like $58,000,
Trish Mehaffey:here in Iowa. And then nationwide, I think it can be
Trish Mehaffey:starting out pay can be like 62 or $65,000. So that's fairly
Trish Mehaffey:good. And they can I mean, sometimes it's court reporters
Trish Mehaffey:can make up to $100,000 a year. They can do besides besides
Trish Mehaffey:court, besides court hearings and court proceedings, they can
Trish Mehaffey:also be freelancers they can like do depositions for like law
Trish Mehaffey:firms, you know, civil, there's always these civil law cases
Trish Mehaffey:going on. And so you can stay quite busy even as a freelancer.
Becky Lutgen Gardner:So what does it take? If I'm interested
Becky Lutgen Gardner:in becoming a court reporter or learning more about it was it
Becky Lutgen Gardner:take for me to be certified?
Trish Mehaffey:Sure, you have to go you do have to go through
Trish Mehaffey:a program. It's called a real time court reporting program.
Trish Mehaffey:And they only have one in this day and it's offered at said Des
Trish Mehaffey:Moines Community College DMAC, which people might know it does.
Trish Mehaffey:And there's a there's an actual they're doing the program
Trish Mehaffey:online. So you can do the program online now. But it does
Trish Mehaffey:take two years to get through and then you get certified then
Trish Mehaffey:you have to go or take a certification test to pass and
Trish Mehaffey:it's not easy, but you know, many people have done it and
Trish Mehaffey:they're There are plenty of openings. I mean, I think
Trish Mehaffey:they've predicted like the the court administrators said that
Trish Mehaffey:he could guarantee jobs 4848 job openings, like in the next, you
Trish Mehaffey:know, several years. And so but that's the only thing it's like
Trish Mehaffey:it does take a while to get through the program. So that's
Trish Mehaffey:kind of the lag time that there are some people going through
Trish Mehaffey:the program, but it's just gonna take you know that two years to
Trish Mehaffey:get him in and get them out. And so but
Becky Lutgen Gardner:it does sound like they decided that the
Becky Lutgen Gardner:online certainly with only having that one program that was
Becky Lutgen Gardner:available and making it available to more people online,
Becky Lutgen Gardner:I'm sure fleet will keep upping the number of people who are
Becky Lutgen Gardner:registering to go through the program.
Trish Mehaffey:Yeah, right. Yeah. Because there are, there
Trish Mehaffey:are some in there, I think there's like, I think there was
Trish Mehaffey:like 48 in there. But, of course, that's going to, you
Trish Mehaffey:know, take a while to get them out too. So that that's the only
Trish Mehaffey:thing. But once they get out, they are honestly guaranteed a
Trish Mehaffey:job.
Becky Lutgen Gardner:I think you also talked to some current
Becky Lutgen Gardner:court reporters, what do they really like about their jobs?
Becky Lutgen Gardner:Right,
Trish Mehaffey:they like you because it is it does keep them
Trish Mehaffey:busy. You know, they do stay busy, they enjoy and they enjoy
Trish Mehaffey:being like, the insider, you know, listener on all the all
Trish Mehaffey:the other court proceedings, especially like, if you're a
Trish Mehaffey:crew trot or a true crime fan, it would be it would be great
Trish Mehaffey:for someone because that's, that's, you know, what I love
Trish Mehaffey:about it too, is because you get to know, you get to, you know,
Trish Mehaffey:know all the details of the case, which you don't get until
Trish Mehaffey:you usually get to trial, or you get in a hearing of some kind.
Trish Mehaffey:But that's what they love about us. They keep busy. And they
Trish Mehaffey:just they just think it's been a great career for them.
Becky Lutgen Gardner:Yeah, it sounds. Yeah. Sounds very
Becky Lutgen Gardner:interesting. And that's one of the reasons I invited you to
Becky Lutgen Gardner:talk about this. Just Sure. There's, you know, we were
Becky Lutgen Gardner:talking about workforce in general, where are those
Becky Lutgen Gardner:opportunities? And certainly, that kind of struck a chord
Becky Lutgen Gardner:there, too. In your story, you know, you also, you know, just
Becky Lutgen Gardner:talked about the future and people's concerns about, you
Becky Lutgen Gardner:know, whether it's the judges or the administrative folks within
Becky Lutgen Gardner:the courthouse, the concerns with the lack of the court
Becky Lutgen Gardner:reporters, and the fact that judges can't, they can't rely on
Becky Lutgen Gardner:the fact that they're not going to have the same person because
Becky Lutgen Gardner:they don't there's just not enough of them. And so used to
Becky Lutgen Gardner:be your record record, it was in your courtroom, and and you you
Becky Lutgen Gardner:knew them very well, and you still probably know them very
Becky Lutgen Gardner:well. But, you know, what are those other challenges of judges
Becky Lutgen Gardner:and others are talking about?
Trish Mehaffey:Sure. I mean, that's basically it. I mean, and
Trish Mehaffey:sometimes there's like one court reporter for like three judges.
Trish Mehaffey:I mean, it's happened like that. And they've all got like
Trish Mehaffey:hearings. And so it's been interesting, because I mean,
Trish Mehaffey:those court reporters, they're honestly running back and forth,
Trish Mehaffey:to different courtrooms, you know, because it's, it's never
Trish Mehaffey:in the same courtroom, it's always a different courtroom.
Trish Mehaffey:And some of the some of the hearings have been delayed,
Trish Mehaffey:because they have to wait for the court reporter finish up
Trish Mehaffey:with the, you know, the previous hearing. And so it's just been,
Trish Mehaffey:it has been really crazy. I mean, it's so different, even
Trish Mehaffey:when, than when I first started, because there were just, you
Trish Mehaffey:know, there were numerous court reporters, and, and nobody was
Trish Mehaffey:waiting like that, necessarily. And so without the court
Trish Mehaffey:reporter also, it means that the the trial schedule is going to
Trish Mehaffey:be delayed, or the court hearings are going to be
Trish Mehaffey:delayed. So it kind of has to, you know, if there's just no
Trish Mehaffey:court order, they can't do it, because they have to have that
Trish Mehaffey:court reporter there, especially in the criminal cases they do.
Trish Mehaffey:And most of the civil cases, now they're getting more backed up,
Trish Mehaffey:because they're not the priority on the schedule. That's the
Trish Mehaffey:criminal that takes priority and like, custody issues with kids
Trish Mehaffey:and juvenile cases. And so those are those are just being backed
Trish Mehaffey:up more, and the judge is basically I mean, the chief
Trish Mehaffey:judge sent out a letter saying that for criminal or for civil
Trish Mehaffey:cases that they would, you know, they couldn't probably give a
Trish Mehaffey:quart per quarter per why can you do it longer than five days?
Trish Mehaffey:Because they just they can't spare them. And so, but a lot of
Trish Mehaffey:the civil cases, too, they like hire their own, they get
Trish Mehaffey:freelancers to do it. So that's more the route they're going to
Trish Mehaffey:take for sure. Now.
Becky Lutgen Gardner:Yeah, it sounds like for somebody who
Becky Lutgen Gardner:might be interested in doing this, you know, I think you
Becky Lutgen Gardner:spoke to that to attention to detail, huge because you want to
Becky Lutgen Gardner:pick up on everything and then be able to work fast and timely.
Becky Lutgen Gardner:so you don't miss something. But so is there anything else that
Becky Lutgen Gardner:that whether it's your courts, or anybody else is doing in this
Becky Lutgen Gardner:crisis to get that word out about not only the fact that,
Becky Lutgen Gardner:you know, there's a need, but try to let people know that
Becky Lutgen Gardner:there's a huge opportunity here for somebody who is looking for
Becky Lutgen Gardner:a good paying position going for or is there anything else
Becky Lutgen Gardner:they're doing as far as trying to get that awareness out there?
Becky Lutgen Gardner:Yeah, I
Trish Mehaffey:think they've expanded their advertising on
Trish Mehaffey:that. And then also, they set up a task force even to look into
Trish Mehaffey:that. And some of the they've even, like reached out to other
Trish Mehaffey:workers, you know, in the system, like employees of the
Trish Mehaffey:court system, that maybe they were like clerks, usually other
Trish Mehaffey:clerks, to see if anybody had an interest in it. And they would
Trish Mehaffey:help them, you know, they were working around their schedule to
Trish Mehaffey:get them to take the classes to be a court reporter. So it's
Trish Mehaffey:even come to that, you know, even inside, you know, inside it
Trish Mehaffey:turned internally, they would, you know, move a move a person
Trish Mehaffey:into the quarter quarter, if that's what they wanted to do.
Trish Mehaffey:And it would be, you know, a better paying job for them than
Trish Mehaffey:a clerk's position. So
Becky Lutgen Gardner:sometimes that hiring from within is your
Becky Lutgen Gardner:best opportunity, right? Training and down. Move that
Trish Mehaffey:they Yeah, so the task force will continue to
Trish Mehaffey:study this and come up with ideas that they can try to try
Trish Mehaffey:to get people into these because they really do need them. But
Trish Mehaffey:and it is, you know, it's like I said, it is happening
Trish Mehaffey:nationwide. So they're everybody's kind of having the
Trish Mehaffey:same problems.
Becky Lutgen Gardner:Yeah, well, that sounds like we're
Becky Lutgen Gardner:putting together a task force. Everyone's trying to find out,
Becky Lutgen Gardner:how can we learn from others the best way to help solve our
Becky Lutgen Gardner:current crisis and, and see what we can do moving forward. But
Becky Lutgen Gardner:taking that two years to get somebody trained, you just gonna
Becky Lutgen Gardner:have to constantly keep people in that pipeline. And that
Becky Lutgen Gardner:awareness. So talked about, you know, for sure.
Trish Mehaffey:And that's what they're kind of trying to do
Trish Mehaffey:right now. So it's kind of slowly but surely, maybe it'll
Trish Mehaffey:happen.
Becky Lutgen Gardner:So anything else about about the
Becky Lutgen Gardner:story or about the shortage of court reporters?
Trish Mehaffey:I don't think so. I just think a lot of people
Trish Mehaffey:probably aren't even aware of court reporters, you know,
Trish Mehaffey:because they are the ones that, you know, they're the eyes and
Trish Mehaffey:ears, but they're supposed to just kind of be like, you know,
Trish Mehaffey:into the background, they don't want to draw any attention on
Trish Mehaffey:them for sure. And so, you know, there's their to do their job.
Trish Mehaffey:And it's, you know, it's a it's a really demanding job. So
Becky Lutgen Gardner:it's sounds very interesting. I mean,
Becky Lutgen Gardner:court record, numbers everywhere, right, every
Becky Lutgen Gardner:different type of trial and everything from your, your crime
Becky Lutgen Gardner:type stuff, but also your your other opportunities that arrive.
Becky Lutgen Gardner:So I would think it would be pretty interesting, if you are
Becky Lutgen Gardner:curious about what's going on?
Trish Mehaffey:Yeah, I think it is, too. And they always, all
Trish Mehaffey:the corporates have said to me that they always they love it,
Trish Mehaffey:because they learn something new every day, you know, for
Trish Mehaffey:different cases and things like that. I mean, that's true. Like,
Trish Mehaffey:you know, my job I have, I've learned that stuff, too, you
Trish Mehaffey:know, just like following. Like, you're you're learning all the
Trish Mehaffey:medical stuff, if there's like an autopsy involved, or, you
Trish Mehaffey:know, if it's a civil case, you're learning about, you know,
Trish Mehaffey:a civil law that you probably don't even know about, you know,
Trish Mehaffey:the something that, you know, it could be anything, you know,
Trish Mehaffey:based on it, like maybe it's an automobile accident, or maybe
Trish Mehaffey:some other kind of, you know, horrible accident of some kind
Trish Mehaffey:of somebody, somebody's suing somebody. And so, there's just
Trish Mehaffey:all kinds of things, you know, you can learn in the court
Trish Mehaffey:system.
Becky Lutgen Gardner:Yeah, I put things up pretty fascinating
Becky Lutgen Gardner:on that. So I think we have finally, I think you touched on
Becky Lutgen Gardner:the fact that we two years to get certified, but online is a
Becky Lutgen Gardner:possibility. And right now that if if I was interested, GMAC is
Becky Lutgen Gardner:going to be the place I would want to go to figure out or find
Becky Lutgen Gardner:out more about that training.
Trish Mehaffey:Yes, they Yeah, definitely to go to them. And
Trish Mehaffey:then there's also they're supposed to be there's another
Trish Mehaffey:couple of schools that are looking into, like having a
Trish Mehaffey:program but they don't have it yet at this time. And so anyway,
Trish Mehaffey:but so maybe hopefully, that would help too, if they would,
Trish Mehaffey:you know, have other programs in the state to
Becky Lutgen Gardner:offer I think even destroying the
Becky Lutgen Gardner:awareness, if it's more widespread would be definitely
Becky Lutgen Gardner:helpful. Certainly, anybody can join anywhere. But certainly
Becky Lutgen Gardner:that awareness of the need, in that the major shortage, a big
Becky Lutgen Gardner:idea with that, but I just want to leave those job seekers with
Becky Lutgen Gardner:that thought just saying, hey, you know, there are this
Becky Lutgen Gardner:opportunity is a big opportunity. And here's how you
Becky Lutgen Gardner:can take that next step towards maybe even putting yourself out
Becky Lutgen Gardner:there towards getting this training because it just sounds
Becky Lutgen Gardner:like a crucial leap right now in the state.
Trish Mehaffey:Right, and it is a job opening and it does pay
Trish Mehaffey:well. So that's good to
Becky Lutgen Gardner:Well, thank you. Thank you so much for
Becky Lutgen Gardner:talking a little bit more about your story with me and and
Becky Lutgen Gardner:joining us for careers and coffee. And thank all of you for
Becky Lutgen Gardner:listening and we'll continue this series of working with our
Becky Lutgen Gardner:reporters and really trying to get dive into where where's the
Becky Lutgen Gardner:need in the state as far as workforce development and those
Becky Lutgen Gardner:jobs that folks may not even know that there's an opportunity