Mission of LACCRA

The purposes of the Association shall be to act as a non-profit organization dedicated to promoting and protecting the professional status and economic welfare of its members; to represent its members in negotiations concerning employment conditions; and to conduct other activities in the interest of its members, consistent with the laws of the State of California.

History of LACCRA

By Gary Cramer and Arnella Sims

The Los Angeles County Court Reporters Association (LACCRA) is the present name of the professional association representing the official court reporters employed by the Superior Court of Los Angeles County.  LACCRA was established in the early 1980's as an amalgam of the Los Angeles Municipal Court Reporters Association and the Los Angeles Superior Court Reporters Association.

LACCRA brought together two of the largest local court reporter associations in the nation, the approximately 100 members of the Municipal Court Reporters Association and the approximately 300 members of the Superior Court Reporters Association.  Both associations had been in existence and actively representing their respective members for many years prior to LACCRA's establishment.

In 1980 the Los Angeles Municipal Court Reporters affiliated with the Service Employees International Union for purposes of collective bargaining, and in 1982 the Superior Court Reporters Association affiliated with SEIU for the same purposes of collective bargaining.  Today LACCRA is in joint council with SEIU Local 721 in representing court reporters for purposes of collective bargaining.

The Los Angeles Superior Court is the largest court of its kind in theUnited States.  It consists of more than 500 judicial bench officers, 47 courthouses and employs more than 4,000 people.  Today the more than 415 court reporters employed by the Court make LACCRA the largest local court reporter association in the nation.  

In addition to being in joint council with SEIU Local 721 for purposes of collective bargaining, LACCRA provides continuing education seminars and training related to court reporting issues, develops and distributes to its members research materials, and works with the management of the Los Angeles Superior Court to provide the best possible court reporting services to the citizens of Los Angeles County.

Members of LACCRA have distinguished themselves over many decades as a result of their extracurricular activities such as serving as leaders in court reporting associations at the state and national levels, having won various court reporter speed contests, having been the first reporter ever seen on live television at the Kefauver Committee Hearings into organized crime held in 1950 and 1951, and having reported the Japanese Surrender aboard the USS Missouri in 1945.

LACCRA is affiliated with the California Court Reporters Association and the National Court Reporters Association.  LACCRA takes pride in its recognized professionalism and that of its members.