HOUSE DOCKET, NO. 1305        FILED ON: 1/13/2009

HOUSE  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  No. 3519

The Commonwealth of Massachusetts

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In the Year Two Thousand Nine

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An Act relative to transcript fees..

Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives in General Court assembled, and by the authority of the same, as follows:
 

SECTION 1.  Section 88 of Chapter 221 of the Massachusetts General Laws, as appearing in the 2006 Official Edition, is hereby amended by striking, in line 4, the words “three dollars” and inserting in place thereof the words “five dollars”;

And in said section by striking, in lines 4 and 5, the words “one dollar” and inserting in place thereof the words “two dollars”;

And in said section by striking, in line 7, the words “four dollars” and inserting in place thereof the words “seven dollars”;

And in said section by striking, in line 8, the words “one dollar and fifty cents” and inserting in place thereof the words “three dollars”;

And in said section by inserting, in line 8, after the words “additional copy” the following: “Should transcription services be requested to be expedited to less than ten business days, but not overnight, the rate shall be six dollars and twenty-five cents per page for the original and two dollars and fifty cents per page for each copy ordered at the same time”;

And in said section by inserting after line 13, the following: “The transcript rates as described in this section shall be reviewed every ten years and adjusted to reflect the average annual cost of living increase over that period of time”;

And in said section by inserting the following at end thereof: “For transcripts ordered for the purpose of appeal in both civil and criminal cases, in all circumstances, the court reporter shall be entitled to produce an original and one copy at the expense of the appellant. In criminal cases, both the original transcript and a copy shall be furnished to the clerk’s office in the county in which the transcript was ordered, and may be copied and distributed by said clerk’s office to all parties relevant to the appeals process in that case.  In civil cases, the court reporter shall file the signed original transcript at the clerk’s office in the county in which the appeal was filed, and the copy shall be delivered to the appellant. The appellee may obtain a copy of the transcript from the court reporter at the copy rate.