With 38 years of service, Morgan County court reporter retires
By David Blanchette
Photo/Kyla Hurt
For nearly 38 years Mary Ann Beard has been responsible for taking down every word that everyone says on the record in many Morgan County court proceedings. But her first day on the job in April 1986, when Beard was just 23 years old, was probably the toughest.
“The first defendant in criminal court had been in a fight and had his jaw wired shut. I couldn’t understand a word he was saying. The judge helped out quite a bit and kind of interpreted for me but that really threw me,” Beard said. “I’m pretty sure I went home and cried that night. I thought ‘I just don’t think I’m cut out for this.’”
Beard persevered through that rocky start and has since served as the court reporter for Judges J. David Bone, Tim Olson, Richard Mitchell and Chris Reif. She will retire on January 1, but Beard has amassed an impressive career sitting in the front of the courtroom and keeping a word-for-word record of criminal, major civil law, chancery and adoption cases. It’s an incredibly demanding but rewarding profession.
“Every court reporter I know is a little bit different type of person. It’s like being a musician, you either have it or you don’t,” Beard said. “There were well over 100 people in my court reporting class at Southern Illinois University Carbondale when we started and only 19 of us graduated.”
Court reporters use a steno machine that contains blank keys, and each court reporter uses his or her own shorthand system so it looks more like they are playing the piano instead of typing. Since each reporter’s shorthand system is unique, the machine must be programmed with that specific reporter’s “dictionary.” Beard works by entering all court proceedings syllable by syllable.
One must be able to write 225 words per minute with 95% accuracy to pass the Certified Shorthand Reporter’s Licensing Exam through the State of Illinois. Beard has met and surpassed that threshold, and has been certified at 260 words per minute as a Registered Merit Reporter with the National Court Reporters Association.
Beard is also a Certified Real Time Reporter, which means she is one of an elite group of court reporters who can supply a word-for-word transcript of proceedings as they occur through a Wi-Fi system to interested parties who are following the case remotely.
“Back in the olden days we had manual machines where the notes came out on paper, but now the notes are stored digitally on SD cards,” Beard said. “I have paper notes from early in my career that are stored in the courthouse attic. The roof has been blown open twice over the decades so I would hate to have to go up and transcribe from those notes but if I were asked to do it, I could.”
The court reporting program at SIUC from which Beard graduated gave her a well-rounded education including courses in business law, Latin and legal terminology, medical terminology, anatomy and physiology, accounting, and political science. That education has proven its worth in the courtroom, where Beard never knows what she is going to encounter.
“I really hate saying this because it sounds so bad, but I really do like the murder trials. They are so interesting because each one is very different and I like the structure of a jury trial,” Beard said. “I had more of an ‘oh my gosh’ feeling when I first started out but after so many years of hearing about what people are capable of, nothing surprises me. Nothing fazes me, I’ve seen so many gory, horrible things in my career.”
But no matter what’s going on in court, Beard has to maintain her composure.
“There are times that I have to tell myself ‘OK, you cannot laugh, you cannot cry, you cannot show any emotion.’ It’s tough,” Beard said. “I occasionally have to ask people to slow down and most of the time the judges are very good about asking people to slow down for me.”
There was one time, however, where Beard’s composure was sorely tested.
“One of our defendants liked to show up in court after he’d had some alcohol. I was just doing my thing and I looked up and he was sitting there with his hands up wiggling his fingers to imitate me,” Beard said. “That was one of those few times where I couldn’t stop myself from laughing.”
Noisy courtrooms also present challenges for Beard.
“I get annoyed when people in the audience talk in court because it’s very distracting,” Beard said. “The people I work with on a daily basis, they know the ‘stink eye’ from me when they see it.”
A job that requires sitting for hours at a time may sound like it’s not very physically demanding, but Beard said appearances can be deceiving.
“There’s a short series of hand exercises that are intended to prevent carpal tunnel syndrome. But really my neck and shoulders are what feel the pain the most,” Beard said. “It’s a very sedentary job especially during a trial, you can sit there for two hours writing at rapid speed, so I try to stretch and move around.”
Beard, who lives near Arenzville, plans to do some traveling with her husband after retirement in an RV they purchased this year. Beard will also have more time to spend with her mother, who is in an assisted living facility.
“I have been agonizing over this retirement decision for probably two years. I love my job and it has been such a privilege,” Beard said. “I think one day I just decided ‘I don’t want to die here.’ I think it’s time to just move to a different chapter in my life.”
