(a) To preserve a record in cases tried before the municipal courts of record, the city shall provide a court reporter. The governing body of the city shall determine the qualifications and compensation of the court reporter.
(b) The court reporter may preserve the record of proceedings by written notes, transcribing equipment, recording equipment, or any combination of those methods. The court reporter is not required to take or record testimony in a case in which neither the defendant, the prosecutor, nor the judge demands it.

Ask a legal question, get an answer ASAP!
Click here to chat with a lawyer about your rights.

Terms Used In Texas Government Code 30.00130

  • Appeal: A request made after a trial, asking another court (usually the court of appeals) to decide whether the trial was conducted properly. To make such a request is "to appeal" or "to take an appeal." One who appeals is called the appellant.
  • Court reporter: A person who makes a word-for-word record of what is said in court and produces a transcript of the proceedings upon request.
  • Defendant: In a civil suit, the person complained against; in a criminal case, the person accused of the crime.
  • Evidence: Information presented in testimony or in documents that is used to persuade the fact finder (judge or jury) to decide the case for one side or the other.
  • Impeachment: (1) The process of calling something into question, as in "impeaching the testimony of a witness." (2) The constitutional process whereby the House of Representatives may "impeach" (accuse of misconduct) high officers of the federal government for trial in the Senate.
  • Reporter: Makes a record of court proceedings and prepares a transcript, and also publishes the court's opinions or decisions (in the courts of appeals).
  • Testimony: Evidence presented orally by witnesses during trials or before grand juries.
  • Written: includes any representation of words, letters, symbols, or figures. See Texas Government Code 311.005

(c) Testimony, exhibits, and evidence given by a witness in a proceeding in a municipal court of record are solely for the purposes of that proceeding or an appeal from that proceeding, and in any civil proceeding, evidence relating to the testimony, exhibits, evidence, or reproductions of testimony, exhibits, or evidence is privileged and not admissible except for impeachment purposes.
(d) Repealed by Acts 2003, 78th Leg., ch. 1263, Sec. 1.