Ohio Court Reporters Association

10/28/2015

Celebration in honor of OCRA member Vanessa Edwards

Hancock County's The Courier featured Edwards' retirement and career

Congratulations, Vanessa, from your OCRA friends and family on your recent retirement!

Story and photograph courtesy of The Courier's October 23rd "Longtime court reporter retires." 

After more than 30 years of recording the spoken word in courtrooms, Hancock County Common Pleas Court reporter Vanessa Edwards is retiring today.

“It’s a little happy and a little sad because I’ll be missing the work camaraderie that we have,” Edwards said. “But happy because I’m on a new journey.”

Edwards accepted her first job as a court reporter in the Hancock County Common Pleas Court in 1984 after she completed training at Ferris State University in Big Rapids, Michigan.

As a court reporter, Edwards is responsible for documenting what is said during hearings in the courtrooms of Judges Reginald Routson and Joseph Niemeyer. She uses a machine called a stenograph.

The machine creates a shorthand record, which is later transcribed into a full report of the court proceedings.

“It’s phonetics that I’m typing on my little machine, what the word sounds like,” said Edwards, 55. “Then we put the letters together (later) to make up words, like, ‘ladies and gentlemen of the jury.’ The purpose is to type fast” when using the stenograph machine.

During some of her first few cases, while in her early 20s, she said she was “mortified” to learn some of the back stories of some of the incidents that came before the court.

“In this setting, you hear a lot of criminal and domestic stuff. In the beginning, it was eye-opening,” she said.

Some of the cases throughout her career have also been taxing.

“Sometimes you have to have children testifying about things that have occurred to them by family members of others. Other times, family members are testifying and it can be incredibly emotional,” said Judge Routson. “We’re talking about a whole spectrum of human emotions and her job is to dispassionately take it all down.”

Routson, who has worked with her since he became a common pleas court judge in 1998, said at the appropriate times, court staff will try to make each other laugh. However, Edwards is good at keeping a “poker face,” he said.

“We have some fun here. We have to keep our mental health. But when the clock starts and the trial begins, we all assume our positions and our roles, and she’s right there with the rest of us,” Routson said.

He said the court staff has “total confidence” in her.

Judge Niemeyer, who has worked with Edwards for the duration of her career, said she has been a dedicated employee.

“She’s a real genuine lady that’s dedicated to her trade,” Niemeyer said.

Niemeyer also said she has taken on other duties beyond court reporting.

“She’s the keeper of the evidence. She’s always been incredibly careful about that and always makes sure she knows where the record is,” Routson said.

This is important because a defendant may request records from a court proceeding years after it occurred.

She has also worked with other common pleas judges, including Judges Robert D. Walker, John T. Patterson, interim judge Stephen C. Betts, and Richard J. Rinebolt.

“They’re all a little different and they make it their own. They’ve all been great to work with,” Edwards said.

Changes in technology have made her job more efficient. When she first started, she dictated her notes to a typist, but it involved multiple drafts on carbon paper.

After computers, she still dictated to a typist. Today, the entire system is computerized, making it easier to edit and correct a transcript.

If a person in the courtroom is talking too fast or softly, she can request for them to repeat it.

“It’s up to me to get the record and I want a clean record, so when I have to transcribe it that I’m not guessing what was said,” Edwards said.

Director of Court Services and Chief Probation Officer Kimberly Switzer said Hancock County has received several compliments from the 3rd District Court of Appeals, Lima, for the court’s records.

“We’re known for the quality. Our court reporters have always produced,” she said.

Overall, Switzer said, Edwards kept the court in “a great position.”

Several courtrooms, including Hancock County’s, are now relying on digital recordings of proceedings, though a “live” person is preferred.

“Even when the recording system is working perfectly, when someone goes to transcribe what the digital system took down, you (sometimes) can’t hear voices on the recording. Sometimes the record is incomplete,” Switzer said. “That can create a huge problem.”

Switzer said a search for another court reporter is now underway.

Edwards said now is the right time to retire. She plans on traveling and spending time with family.

Click here to view OCRA's position opening for an official court reporter in Hancock County