CORPUS CHRISTI, Texas — The Nueces County Board of Judges considered increasing the pay for court reporters as the county continues to lose employees.
Leslie Reyes has been a court reporter for nearly four years and said while her job is rewarding, compensation in Nueces County is not in line with other Texas counties.
"It is discouraging because I know if I move two hours away or if I move one hour away you know I could be getting almost double," Reyes said.
319th District Court Judge David Stith said Nueces County has faced a shortage for years because they tend to leave for better-paying jobs.
"When you have a professional that says, 'okay I can live in Corpus, and get $68,000, or I can go across the bridge and get $112,000, or I can move to another city and get $125,000 to $128,000,'" Stith said.
Stith said as court reporters leave the county, it slows down the county's justice system.
"It is a really concerning factor for us right now because we, the courts can't do their business, if we do not have court reporters right? The courts basically shut down," Stith said.
Reyes said the role of a court reporter is essential to a courtroom.
"It is really important to have a verbatim record of what exactly happened what was the argument, what was the case quoted what was the specific circumstance a decision one way or another," she said.
The Board of Judges did not vote to increase salaries Tuesday, earlier this year they approved a five percent increase.
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