Court transcript fees in province more than double

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This article was published 22/04/2019 (2445 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

FEES for court transcripts in Manitoba are more than doubling, as the province finalizes an agreement to outsource the production of official court records.

Transcript prices increased by 141 per cent as of Monday, to $7.25 per page as a starting rate, up from $3 per page. The hike, introduced to help the province secure a new transcription contract, is thanks to an updated Law Fees and Probate regulation the provincial government passed April 12.

The change comes as a Saskatchewan-based firm prepares to open a Winnipeg office to handle transcript requests. Although Manitoba Justice wouldn’t offer confirmation, sources say Royal Reporting Ltd. is taking on a new contract with the province.

“The tendering process for transcription services is still underway, so we are not able to provide further details at this time,” a spokeswoman for Manitoba Justice wrote in an email.

When reached by the Free Press, an employee at Royal Reporting said the company is in the midst of its hiring process for a planned Winnipeg office. The company has produced Manitoba’s court transcripts in the past.

In September, the province put out a tender notice for a two-year court transcript contract — acknowledging it may need to update its prices, which remained at $3 per page for more than a decade. The new fees include charges to listen to digital audio recordings at Transcription Services ($10 for the first 30 minutes, and 25 cents a minute thereafter) and a flat fee of $25 for a digital copy of audio provided on a disc or USB stick.

Last summer, Manitoba courts experienced an up-to-seven-month wait for official court transcripts.

The verbatim records are crucial to the court process, and are often requested by lawyers, judges, self-represented litigants and interested members of the public. At the time, there were a handful of independent contractors completing the transcripts — too few to meet demand.

Those working within the justice system expressed concerns that a lack of timely access to court transcripts slowed down the entire system.

katie.may@freepress.mb.ca

Twitter: @thatkatiemay

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