Texas Judicial

Branch

Court Reporters Certification

Continuing Education 

To search our list of approved continuing education courses, please go to the online certification and licensing system on our home page.

Inquiries Regarding Paperwork

Applications are processed as soon as possible, in the order of which they are received. Due to the volume of applications received, processing times can vary; therefore, we are unable to provide more specific timeframes.

Applicants must confirm receipt of their applications, the status of their applications, and their applications progress by referring to the View Pending Online Applications page of their online profiles. From this page, they can verify the following information 24/7:

  1. Confirm receipt of documents uploaded to their application by looking at the number reflect next to the Document(s) link.
    • If it shows (0), the document was not uploaded (i.e., it was not received).
    • If it shows (1), or any number other than 0, the document was uploaded (i.e., it has been received).
  2. Check their applications status.
    • By hovering their mouse over the status, they'll also be able to see descriptive text that explains what the status means.
  3. Check the progress of their applications status by clicking the View Details link.
    • This will show them which items on their application's checklist have been completed, and which are still pending.

Applicants are also sent automated email confirmations of successful application submission, and when applications are approved.

Inquiries for application status checks or receipt confirmation will not be replied to unless determined by staff that there’s been a delay in processing your application, and you have not received prior notification. We receive many of these inquiries and each email takes time to research and respond to which delays the processing of applications. Thank you for your understanding.

Continuing Education Requirements

Under section 6.9 (a) of the JBCC Rules, court reporters are required to obtain 10 hours of approved continuing education, inclusive of 2.5 hours in ethics, TX rules, or both. Additionally, under this same section of the rules, a certified court reporter or a firm principal may carry forward to the next certification period up to 4 hours of continuing education. Special category CE (i.e., ethics/rules) cannot be carried forward.

  • To clarify, this means, if you reported14 hours of approved CE for your 2024 renewal, a maximum of 4 hours of non-ethics CE can be used towards your 2026 renewal; however, you must select the course and upload the certificate again so that it is attached to your 2026 online renewal application.

We accept applications for approval of continuing education from course providers and court reporters. A course outline must be submitted with each request for approval as well as copies of the speaker bios. The course outline must contain the following information:

  1. Describe course content (i.e., detailed description of each session of the program).
  2. Indicate the time allotted to each segment (i.e., the start and end time of each session of the program in quarter hours for in-person courses or listing each session duration using quarter hour increments for online courses). See examples below:
    • In-person course example: 8:00-8:15, 9:45-11:30, etc.
    • Online course example: .25 hrs., .50 hrs., .75, hrs., 1.0 hrs., 2.5 hrs., etc.
  3. The date and location of the course (i.e., city/state for in-person courses, or website for online courses)
  4. Any sessions in Ethics or TX rules must be identified on the outline as well.

When submitting CE applications online, enter data in the "Course Location" field, as follows:

  1. For in-person courses: enter just the city/cities (for TX courses), or city/cities and state (for non-TX courses), or
  2. For online courses: enter the website address where the course is offered.
  3. Skip the City, State and Zip fields.

Entering the location this way helps to ensure it is displayed properly for those searching our system to see what is available in their area(s). 

For Course Type, please select Seminar, Online, or Other.

The following information must be included on the certificates of completion issued to attendees:

    1. The JBCC assigned program number.
    2. The name of the course provider.
    3. The title of the course.
    4. The date the attendee completed the course.
    5. The number of hours completed by the attendee.
    6. The list of sessions completed by the attendee.
    7. The signature of the course provider.

Approved courses can be found in our online licensing system located on our home page. Courses must be JBCC approved before applicants can claim the hours for renewal purposes.

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Applying for Continuing Education Approval 

Applications will be reviewed to determine compliance with Commission's rules. Applicants will be notified of the determination via an automated email through our licensing system.

Under section 6.9 (c) of the JBCC Rules, notwithstanding Rule 4.3, a certified court reporter must submit requests for approval of continuing education no later than 2 months before the date their certification or registration expires.

To apply for approval of a continuing education course, you must do the following:

  • Submit the request for CE approval request form via the online system located on our home page.
  • Upload a copy of the course outline, issued to you by the course provider, to your online request form.
    • This should be one document not more than a few pages.
    • Do not upload course materials.
  • Upload a copy of the speaker bios to your online request form.
    • If there are multiple bios, they must be uploaded as one complete file. Do not attach multiple documents.

Note: If the course is already approved (i.e., it already has a JBCC program number shown on the certificate), it is not necessary to apply for CE approval.

Additional Information for Course Providers

  • Online courses and in-person courses must be applied for separately.
  • If you have a course you offered in-person and wish to offer all (or part of) it online, you must submit the required course approval form. The in-person and online versions will be assigned separate program numbers.
  • In-person courses are only approved for the actual dates it is being held (i.e., the dates offered). If you wish to offer it again, you must reapply, and a new program number will be assigned.
  • Online courses are only approved the actual dates it is being held (i.e., the dates offered) if it is only being offered on specific days. If the online course is going to be available on demand, the maximum time for approval is one year. If you wish to offer it again, you must reapply, and a new program number will be assigned. 

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Online Continuing Education Courses

When applying for approval of a course being offered online, you must include the following information on your CE form:

  • How the time of each attendee is tracked to ensure credit for time actual participation time, and
  • How the identity of the individual who signed up and the identity of the individual taking the course are verified to ensure the individuals are the same.

Options for Verifying Identification of Online Course Attendees:

  1. Two-factor Authentication,
  2. Proctored courses (live proctor or remote proctor), or
  3. Photo identification required at sign up and at start of course.

CE Hours Calculations

Continuing education hours are to be calculated and reported in quarter hour increments. 

For example:

.25= 15 min., .50=30 min., .75=45 min., and 1 or 1.0=1 hr.

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Updated: 04/17/2024