Rule 36.19.Digital Recording of Court Proceedings

Rule 36.19 is a detailed roadmap for courts that use digital recording instead of a live court reporter to capture proceedings, as authorized under specific Georgia statutes. It does not apply to depositions, which have their own separate takedown rules.

The rule starts with the person running the equipment — the “digital monitor” — who must be at least 18, a high school graduate or equivalent, and have completed training approved by the chief judge of the circuit. That person’s job is to record proceedings accurately and keep an eye on the system so a certified court reporter can later turn the recording into a reliable transcript. The recordings themselves belong to the court that created them, and the clerk, a court administrator, or another designee is responsible for retaining them under the state’s official court records retention schedules.

When someone needs a transcript, the court sends the recording to a certified court reporter authorized by the Board of Court Reporting, who prepares and certifies it under the same standards that apply to transcripts made from live proceedings. If that reporter was not present for the original proceeding, the transcript must carry a certification statement disclosing that it was generated from a recording reviewed after the fact, noting any inaccuracies or limitations the reporter observed.

The rule then sets minimum technical requirements every digital recording system must meet — recording and storing audio digitally, supporting multiple channels, creating backups, allowing quick navigation by timestamp, continuously monitoring microphones and storage, giving the operator a recording indicator, and including individually mutable microphones at counsel tables. Beyond those baseline features, each circuit that adopts a digital recording system is left to write its own internal, written protocols for managing the process.