In the life of: a stenographer

Thursday, September 24, 2009

Smiling, Debbie Oakleaf quickly types the keys of the odd-looking black machine. It spits out a handful of letters on a purple sheet of receipt paper:

R O B G

K H A U B G

S K W RA U BG

The group of letters wouldn’t make sense to the untrained eye, but to Oakleaf, a stenographer — AKA court reporter — for the Douglas County District Court, the phrase is familiar. It says “Rock Chalk Jayhawk.”

Although Oakleaf enjoys using her steno machine for fun to type phrases such as this one, her work is very serious. As the stenographer, it is her job to take down a perfect record of what is said in court and to maintain the exhibits of the court.

Contributed photo

Typo: Debbie Oakleaf shows a piece of paper from her steno that reads “Rock Chalk Jayhawk.”

Oakleaf has been a stenographer for 32 years. She’s seen the court reporter apparatus change from a typewriter to what reporters use now, the steno machine. The contemporary steno machines use a jump drive to record the coding that is typed on the steno paper, but Oakleaf still uses her floppy disk machine. She’s just too busy copy-editing testimony — there’s no spell check on the steno — and researching court cases, she says, to learn the new technology.

People interested in becoming stenographers must complete a two-year program online or at a college and be able to type 225 words per minute on the steno to receive state certification. Oakleaf says the most difficult part of her job has nothing to do with typing, listening or technology, though; it’s keeping her emotions at bay during trials.

“You have to learn to shut your emotions off, because when you’re in a murder or rape trial, you can’t get emotional,” she says.

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