Read - Alabama Court Reporters Association

For The Record is published by the Alabama Court Reporters
Association on a regular basis four times a year.
Publication Schedule for 2006/2007:
June 1, 2006
September 1, 2006
December 1, 2006
March 1, 2007
Deadline for articles and ads is 30 days immediately preceding
the above publication dates. Please submit articles, ads, etc., in
DIGITAL FORMAT attached to an email to:
Suzanne B. Frazier, fraziers@jccal.org
MOVING?
Mail or Email To:
Janet F. Hereford
25 West 11th Street, Box 1
Anniston, AL 36201
janethereford@aim.com
Interested in Advertising with Us?
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Send camera-ready advertisement and check to:
Suzanne B. Frazier, CSR, RPR
Editor, For The Record
801 North Richard Arrington Jr. Boulevard
Criminal Justice Center, Room 604
Birmingham, AL 35203
fraziers@jccal.org
www.alcra.org
THE RECORD NEVER FORGETS
FOR THE RECORD
A Publication of the Alabama Court Reporters Association
ACRA EXECUTIVE BOARD 2005-2006
PRESIDENT
Alan Peacock, CSR, RPR, RMR, CRR, CBC
1960 Old Government Street
Mobile, AL 36606
Office/Home: 251-476-6327
email: Peacock43@Comcast.net
PRESIDENT-ELECT
Randall E. Murphree, CSR
801 North Richard Arrington Jr. Boulevard
Criminal Justice Center – Room 406
Birmingham, AL 35203
Office: 205-325-4867 • Home: 205-274-7249
email: murph1@aol.com
VICE PRESIDENT
Diana L. Battles, CSR, RPR
1504 Country Club Drive, S.W.
Jacksonville, AL 36265
Office: 256-782-5848 • Home: 256-782-0705
email: dlbattles@hotmail.com
TREASURER
Julia S. Isenhower, CSR, RPR
26626 Dean Court South
Daphne, AL 36526
Office/Home: 251-626-8062
email: juliaisenhower@aol.com
SECRETARY
Kathryn L. Hicks, CSR, RPR
801 North Richard Arrington Jr. Boulevard
Criminal Justice Center – Room 509
Birmingham, AL 35203
Office: 205-325-5935 • Home: 205-425-6798
email: langhicks@yahoo.com
IMMEDIATE PAST PRESIDENT
Suzanne B. Frazier, CSR, RPR
801 North Richard Arrington Jr. Boulevard
Criminal Justice Center – Room 604
Birmingham, AL 35203
Office: 205-307-7802 • Home: 205-631-2188
email: fraziers@jccal.org
DIRECTORS
DISTRICT 1
Mary Frances Hicks, CSR, RPR
3404 Blackberry Lane
Northport, AL 35473
Office: 205-349-3870 • Home: 205-330-1101
email: mary.hicks@earthlink.net
DISTRICT 2
Stacy Littleton, CSR
25 West 11th Street
Suite 320
Anniston, AL 36201
Office: 256-231-1824 • Home: 256-463-4676
email: stacy.littleton@alacourt.gov
DISTRICT 3
Sheree W. Cater, CSR
Post Office Box 805
Troy, AL 36081-0805
Office: 334-566-1307 • Home: 334-371-0505
email: shereewcater@hotmail.com
DISTRICT 4
Kathryn W. Sharpe, CSR
Post Office Box 846
Andalusia, AL 36420
Office: 334-428-2504 • Home: 334-388-2521
email: covcourt@andycable.com
From the Desk of
the President
Alan Peacock, CSR, RPR, RMR, CRR, CBC
ACRA President
Dynamic Times!
I hope you enjoy this
information-packed issue of For The Record.
Most of us receive our
FTR’s and read them and
Alan Peacock
enjoy them; yet we rarely,
if ever, think about the work that goes on
behind the scenes to put this publication together. Putting all of this together is literally a labor of love performed by the FTR
Editor Suzanne Frazier, CSR, RPR, and
Kathy Hicks, CSR, RPR. The duties of the
editor are numerous and include countless
thankless hours. Well, I would like to take
a minute and recognize the work of these
two outstanding members and express a
heartfelt “Thank You” to both of them for
producing such an excellent product. I believe our publication is one of the best state
association publications in the country. So
the next time you see one of these ladies
who give so tirelessly of their time and
knowledge, give them a pat on the back
and say thank you!
Now on to the news you need to know.
This has been a busy quarter for ACRA,
filled with much activity. First of all, I
want to acknowledge Randall Murphree,
CSR, our president-elect and convention
chair, for his excellent work in planning
and executing such a wonderful Midwinter
Conference. The conference boasted the
highest number of attendees of any ACRA
conference in our association’s history!
Randall is a true professional and did an
excellent job. See Randall’s article in this
issue for more on the conference, including
some great pictures.
In addition, ACRA’s own Jeanna
Boggs and her band did an amazing job
at the opening reception. They had every
face smiling and every foot tapping! Ku-
Volume 23, No. 1 Spring 2006
dos to all involved for providing a wonderful time.
I’m already looking forward to the
ACRA 2006 Summer Convention, which
will be held right here in my hometown,
Mobile, Alabama. Please mark your calendars now and plan to attend. There’s so
much to do here in Mobile. For those of
you who want to also have a vacation, our
beautiful Gulf beaches are only 45 minutes
from Mobile!
During our last Board meeting, we approved a new method for sending, recording, and tracking membership renewals.
You will be receiving your renewal forms
in the next few months. Remember to renew early! If you do not renew by July 31,
you will not only allow your ACRA membership to lapse, but you will lose your
CSR-points history and certification.
The new renewal forms are designed
to make renewing an easier and a more
streamlined process for you, the member,
as well as our volunteer administrative
staff. You will not need to enter all of your
contact information this year. Simply review the form and then circle and print any
changes you need to make. Please include
and/or update your email address with us
when you receive the form. Many times
throughout the year we send urgent emails
to everyone. We do not want to miss any
of our members. Also please provide your
“County” on the form. Once all members
have complied and we have everyone in
our database listed with a county, then we
can begin using a new and exciting feature
on the website that I will tell you more
about later. Stay tuned. You’re going to
love this one!
I would also like to note that in the
previous issue of FTR there was a misspelling on the header of the article written by
Deanna Johnson, CSR, RPR, FAPR. The
error was not due to any fault on the part of
the author or the editors of FTR. The printing company inserted the headers after text
was moved and we sincerely apologize to
Deanna and to any members who thought
continued. on page 11
Address SERVICE Requested
THE RECORD N EVER FORGETS
Suzanne B. Frazier, CSR, RPR
801 North Richard Arrington Jr. Boulevard
Criminal Justice Center – Room 604
Birmingham, AL 35203
Permit #590
Montgomery, AL
PAID
Presrt Std
U.S. Postage
TEMNP 5.25x8
Midwinter Musings
Randall Murphree, CSR
Vice President / Convention Chairman
Hello Fellow
Reporters! I hope
you were able to
attend our Midwinter Conference
in Prattville at The
Legends Marriott at
Capitol Hill. Including vendors, there were
150 people in attendance. The conference
began bright and early Friday morning with
programs taught by AOC. Early birds who
participated from Friday morning through
Saturday afternoon earned 1.5 CEU’s, all
that are required for maintenance of CSR
requirements.
The famous Jane Boucher was the
first seminar speaker. Jane is a certified
public speaker and nationally known
author, having written six books. Her best
seller How to Love the Job You Hate has
been endorsed by Dr. Kenneth Blanchard,
respected author of the best-selling One
Minute Manager. Jane’s presentation was
entitled Building a High-Performance
Work Team. We all had an opportunity to
learn more about getting along with others
in the workplace and how to achieve the
goals we want in life.
Dr. Hugh Berryman was the next
seminarian. Dr. Berryman, who served on
the faculty of the Department of Pathology,
University of Tennessee, Memphis, and as
Director of the Regional Forensic Center,
Memphis, for 20 years, spoke on Murders
to Mummies: Selected Days in the Life
of a Forensic Anthropologist. His session
was most interesting! He took all of us on
a long trip from overseas to Mexico and
posed a query for us to decide if a mummy
that had been found was a relative of a
famous person, by taking a photograph
from the family member and comparing it
using the latest technology available. We
decided the evidence was conclusive, but
not 100 percent proof.
One of the best parts of the conference
was Jeanna Boggs and her countrywestern band. Jeanna, you have a great
singing voice and must have nerves of steel
to perform in front of your court reporting
peers! Entertainment ranged from country,
gospel, and rock music from the ‘70’s,
with “Sweet Home Alabama” getting
most everyone out of their seats and onto
the dance floor. Many members got in the
groove and enjoyed some line dancing as
a means of unwinding from a long day of
sessions. I know I am getting old when I see
my classmate’s children out there dancing.
Laura Nichols, her husband, and their two
children -- or I should say young adults - were an attraction to watch on the dance
floor. The “heavy hors d’oeuvres” were
excellent! The Legends did a wonderful job
in setting up the dance floor and keeping
the food supplied.
Saturday morning began with Mike
Carroll from AOC and John Lazenby
from the AG’s Office speaking to us on EFiling. We were told that official reporters
in the near future would not be required
to file paper copies of appeals in criminal
and/or civil appeals, but would instead be
required to file one original and send an efile to the Court of Criminal Appeals or to
the Court of Civil Appeals. The good news
is that compensation for appeal transcripts
filed will not be impacted. E-Filing will be
a more efficient and faster process and will
speed up the appellate process, saving the
State thousands of dollars in paper costs
and postage. Court reporters will be paid
the same rates as before, but will not be
required to make and file the extra paper
copies. Hey, that means no more standing
at the copying machine for hours on end.
The next seminarian was Wendy
Mathis, RN, SANE (Sexual Abuse Nurse
Examiner). Wendy founded the Sexual
Abuse Nurse Examiner Program at The
9/22/05
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Page 1
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15
Prince Institute
Announcement
Learning At Leadership
Happy New Year from Prince Institute! We hope that your 2006 has
gotten off to a great start as ours has. We had some exciting things
take place in 2005, and 2006 is looking even better. We had 12 students graduate in 2005. And in September 2005, Stenograph purchased Prince Institute. Prince Institute is in its 30th year of training
reporters, and we here at Prince and Stenograph want to keep that
excellent tradition going, as we’re sure you do, too.
We have a long list of things going on and many things to accomplish this year. We are getting our Judicial Reporting program and our
Scoping program approved for online and our Captioning program
approved for in house and online. We do have some of our Judicial
Reporting and Scoping courses approved for online, and they are being taught; and we will have the entire Judicial Reporting and Scoping
programs approved for online by the Spring quarter which begins in
April. We are working on our Captioning program and should have it
approved for in house and online by the Summer quarter which begins
in July. And, of course, we are lobbying, along with NCRA, to Congress for some Federal funding to help with our Captioning program.
As a school, we are always hard at recruiting. In the past couple
of months we have done billboards. We have had a couple of articles
in the Montgomery Advertiser in the Business Section. But the best
recruiting is by word of mouth. So keep spreading the word. Who
knows! You could win a red leather laptop bag. Contact the school at
334-271-1670 or 877-853-5569, and we will let you know how.
Midwinter Musings
Continued from page 2
Crisis Center in Birmingham and has taught
many emergency room nurses and law enforcement personnel on how best to collect
and preserve evidence in rape and sodomy
cases. Wendy demonstrated a great sense
of humor while instructing on a very delicate subject. The information she provided
will be of assistance to any reporter taking
testimony in this type of case as they will
be better able to understand the techniques
employed.
ACRA’s very own Greta Duckett,
CSR, RPR, emceed Steno Swap. Those
participating had the opportunity to learn
from fellow reporters better and shorter
ways to write shorthand.
And for the final speaker, my good
friend Tom Mesereau, Esq., donated his
time, coming from California to Alabama to
speak at our ACRA conference. Nationally
known, Tom needs no introduction. He has
been on Larry King Live, Barbara Walters
Specials, and all the country’s networks as
well as those in Europe. Tom’s presentation
was High Profile Cases and the Michael
Jackson Trial. After listening to Tom, I
was convinced that the State of California
did not prove that Michael Jackson was
14
guilty. Tom shared much information
concerning the trial that was never heard
in the media. Tom is an attorney who
demonstrates high professional ethics and
morals. He performs many hours of legal
service on a pro bono basis, including
capital murder cases here in Alabama. He
is truly a statesman for the legal profession
and willing to assist people in general
whether they are rich or poor.
I want to say thank you to the people
who made this conference possible:
President Alan Peacock and Past President
Suzanne Frazier, for guiding me through
the planning of the midwinter conference;
the planning committee; board members;
and district directors. Deanna Johnson
came early Thursday night and stayed
up with me until midnight setting up the
registration table. I’d like to thank Joy
Dick and Jennifer Marbut, students from
Gadsden State Community College, and
Stacie Dykes, from Prince Institute, for
their assistance in staffing the registration
table. Callie Dietz and her staff from AOC
helped with the mail-out for the officials
and speakers. Also, thanks go out to our
vendors who were present: Stenograph,
Digital Cat, Legal-Imaging, Legal Link,
Prince Institute, Tahitian Noni Juice
International. Misty Whitworth took
by Diana Battles, CSR, RPR, ACRA Vice President
and Randall Murphree, CSR, ACRA President Elect the many photographs that will be posted
on our website, www.alcra.org . A HUGE
thank you goes to District Three Director
Sheree Cater who single-handedly took
care of acquiring all of the door prizes and
awarding them throughout the conference.
Thanks also to our board members as well
as various persons too numerous to name
who were by my side constantly throughout
the weekend.
Having read all the suggestions that
were made on the evaluation forms turned
in, I will consider those suggestions and
try to make improvements in the upcoming
summer convention. By the way, MARK
YOUR CALENDARS FOR JULY
20TH THROUGH THE 22nd AT THE
RIVERVIEW MARRIOTT HOTEL
IN MOBILE, ALABAMA. Volunteers to
assist in planning this convention are most
welcome! If you have a suggestion for a
speaker, please e-mail me at murph1@aol.
com or let one of your District Directors
know. This summer’s convention is your
convention. You should become involved
in making it a great convention. Take care.
I will see you in July. ~Randall.
We would like to start off by thanking the ACRA Board for providing us the
opportunity to attend NCRA’s Leadership
Conference this past November. It was
an awesome program that really made us
more aware of our responsibilities not only
as ACRA officers, but also as court reporters.
The leadership training in and of itself
was quite intense. NCRA does a tremendous job with its resources. The various
components of teamwork and management
were addressed by very able speakers.
Learning that different personalities and
opinions are necessary to make an association’s board work is nothing new. It was
identifying our own personality that was
interesting. Finding ways to make those
varied personalities work in conjunction
with our ACRA simply reinforces the idea
that all of us are (or should be) working
together to build a better profession. The
information we gleaned was not simply
broad based, but also focused on issues that
could be applied to our own ACRA.
Connecting with other state leaders
from around the country and hearing their
concerns was a great way to find out that
we are not in as bad shape in Alabama as
some other states. With the possibility of
CCR passing, we were able to share that
path to pending success with other states.
NCRA is currently making a push to
investigate what is happening in the realm
of electronic recording, which in some
regions is threatening to replace court reporters. A national task force has been assembled, and ACRA is participating in the
gathering of information for NCRA.
More positive media coverage was also
addressed. The “bad” stories are the ones
that always make the news. We, as court
reporters, should be actively publicizing
the “good” stories. Court reporting school
enrollment is down nationally, but the job
market is going to be wide open with the
new captioning laws that are taking effect.
Networking as a necessity and not just
a trend was explored. How many times
have you mentioned a name in a conversation, only to find out the person you were
talking to knows the person of whom you
were speaking? Networking is one way we
can help ourselves to grow our profession,
our businesses, and ourselves. Participating in ACRA and attending our continuing
education conferences and annual conventions are great ways to network on our state
level. You never know when one contact
will help open the door to the room you
want to enter!
Randall and I received so much information, it is impossible to really do it
justice in an abbreviated way. The major
point that we came away with is: Ours is
a profession of diverse people who have
differing ideas and ways to provide leadership. All we need to do is acknowledge
that, work together for the progress of our
professional association, and lead ACRA
into a better future.
The Latest
From District 3
by Sheree Cater, CSR
District 3 Director
It is such an honor to be
your ACRA District 3 DiSheree Cater
rector. My name is Sheree
Cater. I am happily married and have two
children. My beautiful daughter Hannah is
11, and my handsome son Lane is 2. We
just moved to Greenville, Alabama, one
year ago. Originally from Millbrook, I
have to say I desperately miss my friends
there.
As a 2003 graduate of Prince Institute
of Professional Studies, I’d like to take this
opportunity in thanking Mrs. Eddie Reed
for her patience, Pat Hill for her encouraging words, and Mark Prince for the great
“takes.” I love you guys and couldn’t have
made it without your friendship and guidance!
I was eight and a half months pregnant
when I finished my last 225, and graduation ceremonies were two weeks after
my son Lane was born. After graduation
I began work as a freelance reporter with
Reagan Reporters in Montgomery. Karen
Drinkard, you are such an inspiration to
Testimony of Faith
and Courage
by Penny Adams, CSR, RPR, CRR
Sunday, January 22nd, Penny gave
this testimony to the church she was
raised in. They had a prayer vigil in her
honor from 12:00 noon on Sunday until
12:00 noon on Monday in honor of her
birthday. To Everyone!
I want to thank you all for the support
and prayers you’ve given my family and
me the past six years. It’s been a long journey for us; and without the prayer, it would
have been much more difficult. The prayers
have kept us going, and all the prayers in
the future will be greatly appreciated. Every time our name is lifted, God hears it and
gives us another blessing for the day. The
only way we get through the days is knowing God will fulfill the prayers and His
healing arms are wrapped around us.
“For I am the Lord, your God, who
takes hold of your right hand and says to
you, Fear not; I will help you.” (Isaiah:
41:13) A quote from a dear friend says:
“God gives grace for the hour, but you
don’t get the grace until the hour comes.”
God is the great physician, and only He
4
me!
After working exactly one year with
Reagan Reporters, I came across an amazing opportunity and applied for an officialship in Pike County. I started my new
position in August of 2004. We have three
judges in our circuit and are all like a little
happy family.
I’ve taken the opportunity with this
article to introduce myself and to make
announcements about happenings within
District 3. If at any time any of you District 3 members have anything special you
want published, please feel free to contact
me.
I will start with an announcement
of a personal nature. Some of you may
know that I lost my mom last October.
She underwent quadruple bypass surgery
in February 2005 and had just begun cardiovascular rehabilitation the week before
she passed away. Thank you to all of my
friends for your words of sympathy and encouragement. You have no idea how you
all touched my heart. I love my court reporting family.
Dixie Boutwell is an official court reporter in Coffee County for Judge Head.
Her son Garrett Boutwell, along with the
3rd Battalion 117th Field Artillery National
Guard Unit from Troy, Alabama, returned
home from Iraq in February 2006. Welcome home, soldiers!
Adreane Barrington is a court reporter who lives in Clanton. She has worked
for the Chilton County district attorney’s
office since graduating from Prince. Adreane is expecting a baby boy. He’s due on
February, 21st, 2006.
Mallory McCutchin is a freelance
court reporter working for Dunn, King &
Associates. Mallory just got engaged to be
married. Congratulations!
Penny Adams has worked as a court
reporter for Federal Judge Inge Johnson.
She and her husband, Billy, have an adorable six-year-old son named Trace. Penny
was diagnosed with breast cancer in 2000
and was in remission until March of 2005
when she was diagnosed with lung cancer.
She has had surgery to remove part of one
lung and underwent chemotherapy. In July
2005 tumors were found in her brain. Even
after treatment, it has spread throughout her
body and into her bones. I am asking right
now for everyone to pray for Penny and her
family. Penny, know that your ACRA family loves you!
can ultimately be the one to heal me.
I know He doesn’t heal everyone, and we
will never understand why He doesn’t heal
everyone. We are never to question why.
The hardest thing I’ve ever done is not
question why He doesn’t heal everyone.
Everyone has their story and their story
is as big as mine, but if we lean on the Lord
it makes it a little easier. Every time we
lift someone’s name in prayer, they receive
a blessing and feel God’s arms wrapped a
little tighter around them, and the burden is
a little easier to bear.
A little bit of history about me for
those of you who don’t know: In May
2000, I had a four-month-old baby boy and
was then diagnosed with Stage III breast
cancer. I underwent all the chemo and radiation my body could withstand. For the
next five years I was doing great. I had
the world by the tail. I had just turned the
BIG 4-0, had a healthy, beautiful four-yearold, a great marriage, was exercising, was
working on the biggest court reporting case
I had ever worked on in my career, and was
walking closer with God than I had ever
walked. I was living the BIG life, the life
I thought was with God. Don’t get me
wrong. I don’t blame God for the news I
was about to receive. I just have never been
this close to God. God has plans for me,
and the plans He has were not the plans I
had. I’m not sure today what those plans
are, but they are being revealed to me daily. Then I went to the doctor. I just
went for a little sinus infection and a
cough. I was losing some weight, but
what 40-year-old doesn’t want to lose a
few pounds? I was tired and fatigued, but
I was working a lot of overtime on that
big court reporting case. Well, the nurse
heard me cough and said: “This isn’t in
your head like a sinus infection; this is
in your chest, like your lungs. Let’s do a
chest X-ray.” They did a chest X-ray and
found a tumor the size of a tennis ball sitting in the lower lobe of my right lung.
Since then I’ve had multiple out-patient surgeries, one major surgery, one trip
to the hospital in an ambulance because of
a seizure. And I can’t count the number
of doctor visits for one thing or another,
whether chemo or radiation or just a checkup. The lung cancer has spread to my brain
twice and to the spine. There’s one tumor
protruding from my back. All of this the
doctors have treated.
Continued on page 6
13
Student Mentor
Committee
Jennifer L. Kissic, CSR
Student Mentor Committee Chair
Earning
Those
Enjoying
Sheree Cater giving away those
FABULOUS door prizes!
CEU’s
I hope that everyone is having a
great start to the New
Year. I wanted to first
of all apologize for not
being more prompt in
getting students assigned to a mentor. I
do have a reason. I had been preparing for
my maternity leave and am currently taking
care of my precious little baby girl who was
born January 11. As many of you know,
this wonderful bundle of joy changes your
life and takes quite a bit of adjustment. She
is truly a blessing!
I do hope to email everyone very soon
with their assigned student/mentor. I appreciate everyone’s answer to my request
for participants in the student mentor program and for your patience and understanding. I was overwhelmed by your response.
Jennifer Kissic
Homecoming
by Captain John F. Kilpatrick
(a.k.a. John F. Kilpatrick, CLVS)
Jane Boucher and Randall Murphree’s
boots were boogying
12
Full Name_____________________________________________________________
Name while attending Prince (if different) _ __________________________________
Home Address__________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________
Home Phone Number____________________________________________________
Place of Employment____________________________________________________
Employment Address_ ___________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________
Employment Phone Number_______________________________________________
Email Address________________________ Year Graduated_____________________
You can fill the form out and return by:
Thank you all!
Friday Night Reception,
The Reporter Roundup
IF YOU ARE A GRADUATE OF PRINCE INSTITUTE,
WOULD YOU PLEASE GIVE US YOUR LATEST
CONTACT INFORMATION?
It’s hard to believe that
over 14 months have
passed since I was called
to active duty and deCaptain John F.
ployed to Kosovo. ThankKilpatrick
fully, my tour is complete
and I have returned home to my family. I
left Kosovo on January 15th and then spent
12 days at Ft. Lewis, WA, out-processing.
I made it back home to Mobile on January
27th and was greeted by a large group of
family and friends. The week following my
return was nothing more than an emotional
blur while I tried to get reacquainted with
my family. You can imagine the emotions
of trying to relate to your two-year-old who
hasn’t seen you for over a year. It’s been
Mail
Prince Institute of Professional Studies, Inc.
7735 Atlanta Highway • Montgomery, AL 36117
Fax: 334-271-1671 • Email: courtreporter@princeinstitute.edu
two weeks now, and every day brings me
closer to normal, though I’m not sure what
that really means. I spent several days in
Birmingham this week with my partner,
Skip Warren, discussing the state of business and our industry. There is much work
to be done, and I am anxious to begin.
As most of you know, the ACRA Legal Video Committee was put on hold status last year, pending my return from military duty. We will reactivate the temporary
committee with the hopes of making it a
permanent committee by year’s end. I
think it’s safe to say that video depositions
are here to stay, and the use of legal video
will continue to grow. NCRA published a
paper recently on the state of legal video. I
would encourage all court reporters to read
it. If you’d like a copy, email me and I’ll
forward it to you.
NCRA’s paper discusses the need for
legal videographers to develop good working relationships with the court reporters
we support. That has been my goal from
the time I began Legal Imaging and the
main reason I suggested forming a legal
video committee for ACRA. As we push
for required certification for court reporters, we must also lobby for certified legal
videographers as well. The video we produce is a vitally important part of the record and must be produced by capable and
competent certified professionals. Without
legislation, we videographers have only
ourselves to govern our industry. The
NCRA paper discusses the rapid growth
of legal video and the influx of unqualified
videographers. I highly encourage all of
you to use and recommend only Certified
Legal Video Specialists in your business.
I look forward to working with all of
you this year. Thanks to all of the ACRA
family who extended prayers and support
during my deployment. Please continue to
pray for all our service members who are
deployed around the world.
5
Application Changes
for Renewal
and New Membership
by Diana Battles, CSR, RPR
Vice President and Membership Chair
In 2006 there will be
some changes to the
forms used for ACRA
membership renewal and
new membership applications. Please read them
carefully and answer them
completely. The information you provide
will be used in the ACRA online database
as well as in the next year’s membership
roster. Complete information will speed
the process of acknowledging payment,
mailing certificates, etc.
Testimony of Faith
and Courage
Continued from page 4
Tomorrow, on my 41st birthday, I begin
radiation to protruding tumors in my arm,
my neck, and whole brain radiation to my
brain. I had a friend of mine say this weekend: “Well, at least you have a brain.”
You remember I said God gives grace
for the hour, but you don’t get the grace
Speaking of the roster, please accept
my humble apologies for the erroneous
listings for some of our CSR’s. Some
of you were mistakenly listed as general
members instead of certified members.
The CSR designation was included with
your listing though and will show you as
a certified member. If anyone was listed
without the CSR designation, please let me
know and I’ll be sure to note that for next
year’s printing.
Don’t forget to get your dues renewed
on time. Late renewal becomes a sensitive issue for CSR’s when dues are late, as
they face losing their CSR status. Circle
the June 1st date on your calendar now to
help you remember.
One last note. Whenever you have
a change in your name, address, e-mail
address, any phone numbers, or the like,
please go online to www.alcra.org and update your information. This will help us
contact you with any information that may
need your immediate response. If you’ve
never accessed your information, your last
name is your default password. It is case
sensitive and is capitalized as a proper
noun would be. After that, please change
your password so no one else will be able
to change your data.
It is your responsibility to keep your
contact information up to date so that your
ACRA renewal forms, etc., will be received
in a timely fashion. Thanks for helping
keep your contact information current.
until the hour comes? That’s one thing
I’ve learned: The grace will come, but not
until the hour comes. For some that grace
comes sooner than later, and we are not
to question why or when. We are just to
pray for peace and guidance and believe
in what the Bible says in Joshua and Matthew: “I will be strong, vigorous, and very
courageous. I will not be afraid, neither
will I be dismayed, for the Lord my God
is with me wherever I go. He never rejects me but has promised to be with me
always.”
No one knows what the next year
brings. No one knows how close our walk
will be with God, but with your prayers I
know my family and our walk with Jesus
will be greater.
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THE NEW POWER OF REPORTING.
ACRA DISTRICT 4 DIRECTOR – Kathryn W. Sharpe, CSR
ACRA LEGISLATION CHAIR – Parian Holderfield, CSR, RPR, RMR
ACRA PAST PRESIDENT – Suzanne Frazier, CSR, RPR
ACRA PHOTOGRAPHER – Misty Whitworth, CSR
ACRA PRESIDENT – Alan Peacock, CSR, RPR, RMR, CRR, CBC
ACRA PRESIDENT-ELECT – Randall Murphree, CSR
ACRA PUBLIC RELATIONS CHAIR – Margaret Turner, CSR, RPR
ACRA SECRETARY – Kathy Hicks, CSR, RPR
ACRA TREASURER – Julia Isenhower, CSR, RPR
ADVANTAGE SOFTWARE – SEARCHMASTER
AMERICAN COURT REPORTING
BAIN & ASSOCIATES
BOGGS REPORTING – Jeanna Boggs, CSR
DIXIE BOUTWELL, CSR
COVER YOUR ASSETS
DICTATION EQUIPMENT COMPANY – Ron Allen
ESQUIRE DEPOSITION SERVICES
FREEDOM COURT REPORTING
HUNTSVILLE REPORTING, INC. – Tammy Hastings, CSR, RPR, CRR
ISBELL & ASSOCIATES
LEGAL IMAGING – Skip Warren
LIVINGSTON ENTERPRISES STENO REPAIR – Ross Livingston
PRATT PUB
PRINCE INSTITUTE OF PROFESSIONAL STUDIES
PROCAT
REAGAN REPORTERS – Karen B. Drinkard, CSR
LOIS ROBINSON & ASSOCIATES
SASSER SCOPING – Joyce Sasser, CSR
STENED
STENOGRAPH – Gil Claborn
STENOVATIONS – Andrea Martin, CSR, RPR, RMR, RDR, CRR, CBC
T-3 TOTAL TRANSCRIPT TRANSFER
TAHITIAN NONI INTERNATIONAL
TYLER, EATON, MORGAN, NICHOLS & PRITCHETT, INC.
From the Desk of the President
Continued from front cover
we/she did not know how to spell.
In other news, Deanna Johnson, CSR, RPR, FAPR, has resigned her position as chairman of ACRA’s Long-Term Convention Planning Committee. We would like to thank Deanna for
her many years of service in this position. The new chairman
of this committee is Celeste Owen Riddle. If any of you have
any suggestions for future sites for a conference or convention,
contact Celeste at owenriddle@alltel.net. Thank you, Celeste,
for jumping into this important area of responsibility and for your
willingness to continue to give to ACRA.
Karen Reagan Drinkard, CSR, also has resigned her position
as Membership Retention Chairperson. Karen recently decided to
go back to school and is currently enrolled at Auburn University
at Montgomery. Chairing the committee and going to school full
time can be overwhelming, so Karen is stepping down to focus on
her studies. We wish her the best! Her position has been filled
by Janet Russo Hereford. Janet has agreed to step in and is very
excited about starting this new position. Her enthusiasm is contagious, and we are all happy to have Janet on board.
Later this month, three of our members will be attending
the NCRA Legislative Workshop. Attending as representatives
of ACRA will be Mary Hicks, CSR, RPR, and Sheree Cater,
CSR. Candace Reed, CSR, will be attending as a representative
of Prince Institute. We will look forward to hearing about their
adventures in D.C. in the next issue of FTR.
I would like to say “Welcome Back Home” to John Kilpatrick, CLVS, Chairman of ACRA’s Certified Legal Video Task
Force. John has been on a tour of duty with the National Guard,
and he has been serving primarily in Kosovo. We all owe him a
salute and a thank you for his service. Welcome home, John. If
any of you would like to write John personally, his email is john.
kilpatrick@legal-imaging.net.
That’s the news for now from my corner of the state. Oh,
yeah. One last wish: I hope everyone has a Happy Mardi Gras!
Laissez les bons temps rouler!
11
Distinguished Service Award
Nominations
Distinguished Service Award Nominations are currently being accepted by the DSA Committee. The purpose of the DSA is to encourage and recognize work amounting to distinguished service
by individual members in good standing of ACRA for the benefit
of the profession. That may include work as a member, committee member, director, or officer of the association, for the ACRA
newsletter, or in the field of public affairs or public relations. No
officer, director, or member of the DSA Committee is eligible to
receive the award while serving in such capacity. Nominations of
candidates may be submitted by an ACRA member in good standing to the DSA committee, together with supporting information.
The DSA Committee is comprised of Paul D. Smith, CSR, RPR,
2005 DSA Recipient; Alan Peacock, CSR, RPR, RMR, CRR, CBC,
ACRA President; and Suzanne Frazier, CSR, RPR, ACRA Immediate Past President. Nominations should be submitted to Alan
Peacock no later than March 31, 2006, at peacock43@comcast.
net or by mailing to 1960 Old Government Street, Mobile, AL
36606.
10
Dates To Remember
March 7-18, 2006 – NCRA’s CLVS seminar,
San Mateo, California
March 19, 2006 -- NCRA Certified Legal Video Forum,
San Mateo, California
March 31-April 2, 2006 -- NCRA Midyear Conference,
Nashville, Tennessee
Saturday, April 8, 2006 -- ACRA Board meeting,
the offices of Dunn, King & Associates,
431 South Court Street, Montgomery, 10:30 a.m. July 20-22, 2006 – ACRA Summer Convention,
Mobile, Alabama, Riverview Marriott
August 3-6, 2006 -- NCRA Annual Convention and Exposition,
New York
To pique your interest, keep the following in mind:
FUTURE ACRA CONFERENCE AND CONVENTION SITES
2007 -- Midwinter Conference, Tuscaloosa
Summer Convention, Opelika
2008 – Midwinter Conference (Undecided)
Summer Convention, Alabama Gulf Coast
2009 – Midwinter Conference (Undecided)
Summer Convention, Alabama Gulf Coast
Note that the “undecided” locations include:
The Legends at Prattville; Sheraton 280, Birmingham; Embassy
Suites, Montgomery; Cruise departing from Mobile;
The Shoals in North Alabama. If you have a preference, please
contact Celeste Riddle, ACRA Convention Planning
Chairperson at owenriddle@alltel.net
HB201 and SB20’s Progress
in 2006 Legislative Session
By Suzanne B. Frazier, CSR, RPR
Legislative Committee Chair
Politics! “Gotta” love it?
As part of a legislative
update on the progress of
ACRA’s Certified Court
Reporter bill in the 2006
Session of the Alabama
Legislature, let me enSuzanne Frazier
lighten you on the process
that must be completed for the bill to be
passed into law. First the bill is filed, as
ours were, by the respective sponsors in the
House and Senate. No bill can become an
act until it has been read on three separate
days in each branch. Reference to committee immediately follows the first reading of
the bill. When the bill is considered and
adopted, this is called a third reading. It is
at the third reading of the bill that the whole
branch gives consideration to the bill’s passage. At this time, the bill may be studied
in detail, debated, amended, and read at
length before final passage. Therefore, the
third reading is essential to the passage of
our bill.
HB201 and SB20 were identical bills
filed in the Alabama House of Representatives and Senate to expedite passage
through the legislative system. HB201
has successfully passed through the House
and SB20 has successfully passed through
the Senate. That would appear to be news
that the CCR bill is ready to go to Governor Riley for his signature. Unfortunately,
that is not the case, but it is not far from
being it. I will do my best to offer an explanation of the CCR bill’s status at FTR
press time. As HB201 passed through the
House of Representatives, it was amended.
The amendments were inconsequential;
however, any variance in wording between HB201 and SB20 need to be clarified. Your ACRA Legislative Committee
is diligently attempting to tie up any and
all loose ends that stand in the way of passage. We have gotten clarification from the
Legislative Reference Department’s Richard Kennemer as to the wording needed. It
seems that a change was made in the initial HB201 bill so that “Judicial Council”
would be worded “Judicial College.”
The other amendment to HB201 had
to do with standard Sunset Law provisions.
Mr. Kennemer clarified the “standard” language for us novice court reporting “politicians.” The Sunset Law language simply
indicates that every four years all bills establishing a board come under the provisions of the Sunset Law of 1981. As the
Certified Court Reporter bill would establish an Alabama Board of Court Reporters,
the CCR bill would also come under the
provisions of the Sunset Law of 1981.
Thank you, Rep. Bill Clark, for your
diligence again this year in securing passage of our CCR bill, HB201, through the
House of Representatives. Thank you,
Sen. Zeb Little, for your persistence this
year in seeing that SB20 passed successfully through the Alabama Senate and did
not fail passage as happened in the 2005
legislative session.
Passage of either bill – HB201 or SB20
-- will accomplish our long-awaited goal:
certification for court reporters in the state
of Alabama! Be part of history in the making. Contact your House representative
today and ask for passage of SB20 in their
branch of the legislature. You can easily locate your representative’s contact information at: www.legislature.state.al.us . Once
you access that website, simply click on the
“House” link. From there, click on “Find
Your Representative.” You can select by
“Zip Code” or by “District.” PLEASE
send a letter to your representative now and
call to urge their support of SB20. YOUR
action may just be the catalyst needed for
CCR’s success! Watch your email for updates as this legislative session progresses.
‘
Where Are They Now?
By Mary Frances Giattina, CSR, RPR, RMR, RDR,
CRR
HOME FROM THE SERVICE OF
OUR COUNTRY
Dixie Boutwell’s son Garrett Boutwell returned home in February from his tour of duty with
the 3rd Battalion 117th Field Artillery of the National
Guard Unit from Troy, Alabama. Dixie is an official
court reporter in Coffee County for Judge Head.
ACRA’s very own Captain John Kilpatrick
returned from a 14-month tour of duty in Kosovo.
Special thanks to Garrett, John, and the many others who serve
our United States Armed Forces.
CONGRATULATIONS TO NEW
NCRA CERTIFIED REPORTERS
Congratulations and well done to the following
ACRA members for the new certifications they
earned from NCRA in November 2005:
New CRR: Leah J. Sharp, CSR, RPR, CRR
(Certified Realtime Reporter) – Birmingham, AL
New RDR: Sabrina Lewis, CSR, RPR, RMR,
RDR (Registered Diplomate Reporter) – Birmingham, AL
New CCP: Andrea Martin, CSR, RPR, RMR, RDR, CRR,
CBC, CCP (Certified CART Provider) – Dothan, AL
WEDDING BELLS
Shannon Pynes, a freelance reporter from
Millbrook, became Shannon Yost on
November 5, 2005.
Jennifer Kissic, of Alpine, gave birth to Layla Madilyn
Kissic January 11, 2006, at 12:42 p.m. at St. Vincent’s Hospital in Birmingham. Layla weighed 6 pounds 13 ounces
and was 20 inches long at birth.
Mia Jacobs-Turner, of Marion, gave birth to Nia BellaMarie Turner January 31, 2006.
Ashley Dickey, of Birmingham, gave birth to Morgan
Brooke Dickey Tuesday, February 21, 2006, at 6:30 p.m. at
St. Vincent’s Hospital. Morgan weighed 7 pounds 12 ounces and was 20 inches long at birth. Daddy Brad says he has
the two prettiest babies in the world – Ashley and Morgan!
WISHING YOU A
SPEEDY
RECOVERY!
Winters O. “Butch”
Hope, of Birmingham, was
finishing last-minute Christmas decorations outside his
home when he suffered an
accident. Seven feet off the
ground on a ladder, he became off balance. Attempting to
keep from getting tangled in the ladder and possibly hitting
his head in the inevitable fall, Butch jumped to the ground
and knew instantly he was injured. He suffered a severe
compression fracture to T-12 and a shattered right heel. He
reports that his boot looks similar to something a cyborg
would wear. Currently getting around on crutches, Butch
is facing long-term physical therapy but vows to beat his
current disability. Get well soon, Butch!
NEW MOMMIES
Laura Fant, of Mobile, gave birth to
Wyatt Austin Fant October 18, 2005.
Wyatt weighed 8 pounds 10 ounces at
birth. His mommy says he is gorgeous!
Wyatt makes three sons for the Fant
family: eight years, seven years, and
three months.
church where she keeps busy with volunteer activities.
After chatting for an hour and a half
on a Sunday afternoon with Sara, I felt I
had caught up with an old friend. Sara told
me she’d love to hear from other friends
within the association and from her former
students. Her email address and contact information are listed here. Welcome back to
Alabama, Sara!
Ms. Sara G. Prince
504 Seminole Drive
Montgomery, AL 36117
(334) 269-9270
saraprince@knology.net
If you have someone in mind you think
we’d like to “catch up with,” please email
Mary Frances Giattina at mfgiattina@aol.
com. Or if you happen to read this article
and know you’ve been off ACRA’s radar
screen for a while and have some interesting news, contact Mary Frances as well.
DUNN, KING & ASSOCIATES, L.L.C.
REGISTERED PROFESSIONAL REPORTERS
Pat Higgins, CSR, RPR, Firm Owner
Jenny Dunn, CSR, RDR, CRR, CBC, Founder
Dee Johnson, RPR
Greta Duckett, CSR, RPR
Dawn Ashcraft, Graduate of Prince Institute
Wendy Lewis, Graduate of Prince Institute
Sherry Mack, Graduate of Prince Institute
Carla Henderson, Graduate of Prince Institute
LOOK WHO’S EXPECTING!
Adreane Barrington, Clanton, is expecting a
baby boy February, 21, 2006
Stacy Littleton, of Anniston, is expecting a
baby boy in May
Tasha Scott, Montgomery, is expecting her
bundle of joy July 28, 2006
Have you ever wondered
where a former classmate
or teacher went that you’ve
lost contact with over the
years? On the long trip
back from our Annual Convention in Gatlinburg last
year, I thought of people who had a great
impact on our training and success as court
reporters who are no longer in our circle
of friends and that we seldom or rarely see
at conventions or have contact with in our
day-to-day lives. So, in this and future publications of For The Record, I will attempt
to locate some of our dear friends and colleagues from the past and give you an update on what they are up to.
The first person I thought of locating
hasn’t really been away from us very long
– she has just moved on to new and interesting “chapters” in her life. I’m sure most
everyone in our association knows Sara
Prince, the founder and former owner and
director of Prince Institute of Professional
Studies in Montgomery. After retiring and
handing over the reins in January of 2000
-- after almost 25 years as a court reporting educator -- Sara set about completing
a novel she had started while still at Prince
Institute. Sara’s sister lured her down to
Port Richey, Florida, about six months after her retirement when a condo went on
the market next door. Sara moved to Florida. She continued work on her novel and
has had a few things published.
Last summer, after having become
disenchanted with the progress on her
book, Sara made plans to join her daughter Kathy and move to Washington, D.C.,
for a change of scenery. When Stephanie,
Sara’s other daughter, was diagnosed with
rheumatoid arthritis, Sara decided to nix
the Washington plans and move back to
Montgomery to live with Stephanie as she
battles RA. They purchased a home in the
Arrowhead section of Montgomery. Sara
is still working on her novel. I am sure
we will hear about it when it’s published.
Stay tuned! Sara remains in contact with
friends she and her late husband, Charles,
knew from the Air Force and friends at her
SINCEREST SYMPATHIES
Rachel Isbell, of Branchville, lost her nine-year-old son Lane
Ford in a four-wheeler accident on September 12, 2005.
Rachel invites the prayers of all her ACRA family of reporters as she and her family deal with their tragic loss.
In Memory of Dustin Lane Ford ~ September 21,
1995 to September 12, 2005
COURT REPORTERS OFFERING:
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Schedule proceedings online at www.dunnking.com
431 South Court Street • Montgomery, Alabama 36104
(800) 359-8001 or (334) 263-0261• Fax: (334) 263-1243
email: admin@dunnking.com
MEETING AND EXCEEDING STANDARDS OF EXCELLENCE SINCE 1982
9