Title BPC — California Bus. & Prof. Code

The board shall: (a) Determine the qualifications of persons applying for certificates under this chapter. (b) Make rules for the examination of applicants and the issuing of certificates provided for in this chapter. (c) Grant certificates to such applicants as may, upon examina…

The board has the following powers and duties: (a) To adopt a seal. (b) By affirmative vote of at least three members of the board, to suspend, revoke, or impose any other disciplinary action against a certificate for any cause specified in this chapter. (c) To charge and collect…

Disciplinary proceedings under this chapter shall be conducted in accordance with Chapter 5 of Part 1 of Division 3 of Title 2 of the Government Code and the board shall have all the powers granted therein.

Information regarding a complaint against a specific licensee may not be disclosed to the public until an accusation has been filed by the board and the licensee has been notified of the filing of the accusation against his or her license and the disciplinary proceedings to be co…

The board shall promulgate, by regulation, a definition of a “full-time student” for the purposes of this chapter.

This chapter is designed to establish and maintain a standard of competency for those engaged in the practice of shorthand reporting, for the protection of the public, in general, and for the protection of all litigants whose rights to personal freedom and property are affected b…

(a) No person shall engage in the practice of shorthand reporting as defined in this chapter, unless that person is the holder of a certificate in full force and effect issued by the board. This section does not apply to a salaried, full-time employee of any department or agency …

The practice of shorthand reporting is defined as the making, by means of written symbols or abbreviations in shorthand or machine shorthand writing, or by voice writing, of a verbatim record of any oral court proceeding, deposition, court ordered hearing or arbitration, or proce…

For purposes of this article: (a) “Voice writer” means a certified shorthand reporter that makes a verbatim record or a proceeding using a closed microphone voice dictation silencer, steno mask, or similar device using oral shorthand and voice notes. (b) “Voice writing” means a v…

A natural person who holds a valid certificate as a shorthand reporter, as provided in this chapter, shall be known as a “certified shorthand reporter.” Except as provided in Section 8043, no other person, entity, firm, or corporation may assume or use the title “certified shorth…

A violation of any provision of this chapter is a misdemeanor. Any person who directly or indirectly assists in or abets the violation of, or conspires to aid or abet in the violation of, any provision of this chapter, is guilty of a misdemeanor.

Any person over the age of 18 years, who has not committed any acts or crimes constituting grounds for the denial of licensure under Sections 480, 8025, and 8025.1, who has a high school education or its equivalent as determined by the board, and who has satisfactorily passed an …

(a) (1) The California state licensing examination shall consist of the following three divisible parts: (A) English. (B) Professional Practice. (C) Dictation/Transcription (Machine/Skill). (2) (A) The passing grades for the Dictation/Transcription part of the examination is 95 p…

Examinations shall be held at least semiannually, and at such times and places as the board may designate.

(a) Each applicant for a certificate under this chapter shall file an application with the executive officer, on a form as prescribed by the board. The last date to file an application shall be a set number of days as established by the board’s regulations. The application shall …

No certificate shall be issued until the applicant has passed the examination prescribed by the board.

If an applicant for a certificate is from a country where the principal language spoken is one other than English, the board may, in addition to any other examination required by this chapter, examine the applicant on his or her knowledge of the English language.

(a) All certificates issued pursuant to this chapter shall be valid for a period of one year, except for the initial period of licensure as prescribed by the board, and shall expire at 12 midnight on the last day of the month of birth of the licensee unless renewed. (b) (1) The b…

Every person to whom a certificate is issued shall, as a condition precedent to its issuance, and in addition to any other fee which may be payable, pay the initial certificate fee prescribed by this chapter. Prior to receipt of an initial certificate fee, the board may issue an …

(a) Except as otherwise provided in this article, a certificate that has expired may be renewed at any time within the period set forth in Section 8024.5 by doing all of the following: (1) Applying for renewal on a form prescribed by the board. (2) Paying the renewal fee prescrib…

A suspended certificate is subject to expiration and shall be renewed as provided in this article, but such renewal does not entitle the holder of the certificate, while it remains suspended and until it is reinstated, to engage in the activity to which the certificate relates, o…

A revoked certificate is subject to expiration as provided in this article, but it may not be renewed. If it is reinstated after its expiration, the holder of the certificate, as a condition precedent to its reinstatement, shall pay a reinstatement fee in an amount equal to the r…

A certificate that is not renewed within three years after its expiration may not be renewed, restored, reinstated, or reissued thereafter. The holder of the certificate shall return the expired certificate to the board. To obtain a new certificate, the holder shall pay all of th…

(a) A certificate holder shall give written notice to the board at its office in Sacramento of a name change within 30 days after each change, giving both the old and the new names. A copy of the legal document affecting the name change, such as a court order or marriage certific…

The board shall establish an inactive category of licensure for persons who are not actively engaged in the practice of shorthand reporting. (a) The holder of an inactive license issued pursuant to this section shall not engage in any activity for which a license is required. (b)…

(a) The board shall maintain records showing which certificate holders have qualified through shorthand or machine shorthand writing and which certificate holders have qualified through voice writing. The board shall treat certificate holders equally regardless of the method of q…

(a) For purposes of this section, “valid email address” means an email address at which the applicant or certificate holder is currently receiving email regarding their licensed activities at the time the application or renewal is submitted to the board. A personal email address …

A certificate issued under this chapter may be suspended, revoked, denied, or other disciplinary action may be imposed for one or more of the following causes: (a) Conviction of any felony or any misdemeanor if the misdemeanor is substantially related to the functions and duties …

(a) In addition to the causes for discipline or denial of certification set forth in Section 8025, the board may suspend or revoke any certificate, or deny certification, on any of the following grounds: (1) That the applicant or licensee is incapable of performing the duties of …

A plea or verdict of guilty or a conviction following a plea of nolo contendere made to a charge substantially related to the qualifications, functions and duties of a certified shorthand reporter is deemed to be a conviction within the meaning of this article. The board may orde…

(a) As used in this section, “school” means a court reporter training program or an institution that provides a course of instruction approved by the board and the Bureau for Private Postsecondary Education, is a public school in this state, or is accredited by the Western Associ…

In addition to the authority to conduct disciplinary proceedings under this chapter, the board, through its duly authorized representatives, shall have authority to issue administrative citations or assess fines for the violation of any rules and regulations adopted by the board …

All fees and other revenues received by the board shall be reported promptly to the State Controller and shall be deposited with the State Treasurer to be placed in the Court Reporters’ Fund, which fund is continued in existence in the State Treasury, and shall be available, upon…

The board may use existing resources to undertake efforts to publicize the availability of the Transcript Reimbursement Fund, established pursuant to Section 8030.2, to prospective applicants through appropriate entities serving these applicants, including the State Bar of Califo…

(a) (1) To provide shorthand reporting services to low-income litigants in civil cases, who are unable to otherwise afford those services, funds generated by fees received by the board pursuant to subdivision (c) of Section 8031 in excess of funds needed to support the board’s op…

As used in this chapter: (a) “Applicant” means a qualified legal services project, qualified support center, other qualified project, or pro bono attorney applying to receive funds from the Transcript Reimbursement Fund established by this chapter. The term “applicant” includes a…

(a) The board shall disburse funds from the Transcript Reimbursement Fund for the costs, exclusive of per diem charges by official reporters, of preparing either an original transcript and one copy thereof, or where appropriate, a copy of the transcript, of court or deposition pr…

(a) For purposes of this chapter, documentation accompanying an invoice is sufficient to establish entitlement for reimbursement from the Transcript Reimbursement Fund if it is filed with the executive officer on an application form prescribed by the board that is complete in all…

The amount of the fees required by this chapter is that fixed by the board in accordance with the following schedule: (a) The fee for filing an application for each examination shall be no more than forty dollars ($40). (b) The fee for examination and reexamination for each of th…

A shorthand reporting corporation is a corporation which is authorized to render professional services, as defined in Section 13401 of the Corporations Code, as long as that corporation and all of its shareholders, officers, directors, and employees rendering professional service…

It shall constitute unprofessional conduct and a violation of this chapter for any person licensed under this chapter to violate, attempt to violate, directly or indirectly, or assist in or abet the violation of, or conspire to violate any provision or term of this article, the M…

The name of a shorthand reporting corporation and any name or names under which it may be rendering professional services shall contain and be restricted to the name or the last name of one or more of the present, prospective, or former shareholders or of persons who were associa…

Except as provided in Section 13403 of the Corporations Code, each director, shareholder, and officer of a shorthand reporting corporation shall be a licensed person as defined by Section 13401 of the Corporations Code.

The income of a shorthand reporting corporation attributable to professional services rendered while a shareholder is a disqualified person, as defined by Section 13401 of the Corporations Code, shall not in any manner accrue to the benefit of such shareholder for his shares in t…

A shorthand reporting corporation shall not do or fail to do any act the doing of which or the failure to do which would constitute unprofessional conduct under any statute, rule or regulation now or hereafter in effect which pertains to shorthand reporters or shorthand reporting…

The board may formulate and enforce rules and regulations to carry out the provisions of this article, including rules and regulations requiring (a) that the articles of incorporation or bylaws of a shorthand reporting corporation shall include a provision whereby the capital sto…

(a) It is the intent of the Legislature to enhance the regulation of licensed shorthand reporters and shorthand reporting corporations pursuant to this section, by imposing specific penalties in addition to other remedies permitted by this chapter that seek to discourage practice…

(a) On and after July 1, 2022, an entity that is not a shorthand reporting corporation may, wherever headquartered in the United States, engage in the conduct described in subdivision (b) of Section 8050 if it is approved for registration by the board after meeting all of the fol…

For purposes of this chapter, the following terms mean the following: (a) “Advertising medium” includes banner, sign, placard, poster, streamer, and card. (b) “Alternative fuels” means: (1) “Biodiesel,” a fuel comprised of mono-alkyl esters of long chain fatty acids derived from …

(a) The sale of compressed natural gas by persons who sell compressed natural gas at retail to the public for use only as a motor vehicle fuel, and who are exempted from public utility status by subdivision (f) of Section 216 of the Public Utilities Code, is a sale of a motor fue…