KS Court Reporter study guide
KS Court Reporter · Work through your exam, one topic at a time.
Kentucky court reporter certification is a state-level credential for verbatim stenographic reporters who want to work in Kentucky's courts and in related legal settings such as depositions and administrative hearings. Certification signals that a reporter can capture live speech at speed and turn it into an accurate, properly formatted transcript that others can rely on. The KS Court Reporter study guide has 7 sections and about 2,521 words.
01Court Reporting Skills: Literary, Jury Charge, and Testimony Transcription
The exam splits transcription into three graded skills because each demands a different habit of mind. Literary material is dictated prose - letters, articles, reports - that you punctuate and paragraph yourself.
385 words, about 2 min02Kentucky Court System, Jurisdiction, and Court Procedure
Kentucky's 1975 Judicial Article created a unified Court of Justice: Supreme Court, Court of Appeals, Circuit Court, District Court. Knowing which court a proceeding sits in determines the caption, the routing of the transcript, and who may order it.
356 words, about 2 min03Court Reporter Ethics, Professional Responsibility, and Confidentiality
Accuracy and impartiality. The transcript is the official record; you do not summarize, improve, or omit.
358 words, about 2 min04Transcript Preparation, Certification, Formatting, and Record Retention
Caption page: court, county, style of the case, case number, judge, title of the proceeding, date, and the reporter's name and identification. Appearance page: parties, counsel, and any interpreter.
358 words, about 2 min05Legal and Medical Terminology, Spelling, Punctuation, and Grammar
Latin and Law French persist: voir dire, res ipsa loquitur, mens rea, actus reus, habeas corpus, prima facie, sua sponte, ex parte, de novo, nunc pro tunc, quantum meruit. Precision pairs: assault/battery, larceny/robbery, libel/slander, liable/libel, plaintiff/petitioner, judgment (U.S.
332 words, about 2 min06Depositions, Discovery, and Pretrial Proceedings
Kentucky's discovery rules sit in the Civil Rules. CR 26 sets the scope: matter relevant to the subject matter, nonprivileged, and reasonably calculated to lead to the discovery of admissible evidence.
381 words, about 2 min07Kentucky Rules of Evidence and Courtroom Procedure Basics
The Kentucky Rules of Evidence track the Federal Rules article by article, with Kentucky variations. Rules you will hear constantly: KRE 103 rulings and offers of proof; 104 preliminary questions.
351 words, about 2 min