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MARTIN COUNTY OFFICE: <br />(MAIN OFFICE) <br />SUITE 215, COURTHOUSE ANNEX <br />P. O. BOX 2314 <br />STUART, FLORIDA 33495-2314 <br />( 309) 283.6760 EXT. 380 <br />OFFICE OF <br />ELTON H. SCHWARZ <br />PUBLIC DEFENDER <br />NINETEENTH JUDICIAL CIRCUIT OF FLORIDA <br />August 19, 1982 <br />Board of Commissioneys <br />Indian River County <br />2145 14th Avenue <br />Vero'Beach, Florida 32960 <br />Re: Cost of Deposit ons <br />Dear Commissioners: <br />1 <br />DIRECT LINES TO MAIN OFFICE: <br />( 305 ) 2014VI$8 (STUART) <br />(305) 464.D1064 (FORT PIERCE) <br />( 305) 562,M3S (VERA BEACH) <br />(813) 783,7,?$ (OKEECHOBEE) <br />REPLY TO: 41ruart <br />DI.S,TRLBUTION LIST <br />Commissioners <br />Administrator' <br />Attorney <br />Personnel <br />Public Works <br />Community Dev. .- <br />Utilities <br />Finance <br />I have recently ordered a supply of one hour..audiocassettes for <br />usage in the taking pf.depositions in cases involving our in.d1gent <br />clients under State purchasing Contract 480-60-83-1. Although the <br />cost of tapes such as this were not included in our budget request <br />for county funds,I anticipate including these items in our county <br />billing for next monph as a main office expense to be allocated be- <br />tween all four counties within the circuit based upon population. I <br />hope the following will provide an adequate explanation as to this <br />change in our procedures. <br />For over eight Tears I have attempted to minimize the cost of <br />discovery depositionls in criminal cases through the use of in-house <br />cassette dictating moachines and reusable cassette tapes. Since these <br />tapes are allowed.to be reproduced in court when needed during trial, <br />we have been able to keep the transcription cost at a minimum as well. - <br />As a comparison, the court established a -fee for a stenographic court <br />reporter to attend the taking of depositions at $15.00 per hour. The <br />court reporter's notes of the deposition are neither available to or <br />readable by the attorneys handling the cases and the vast majority of <br />these depositions would ordinarily be transcribed. Since Rule 3.220(k) <br />of the Rules of Criminal Procedure provide that "After a defendant is <br />adjudged insolvent, the reasonable costs incurred in the operation of <br />these rules shall be taxed as costs against the county.", our procedure <br />for handling of these depositions has undoubtedly resulted in a sub- <br />stantial savings to the counties and the taxpayers. It has also been <br />our practice to reuse these cassette tapes whenever a case has been <br />concluded and we felt it was unnecessary for them to be retained. <br />Unfortunately, as a result of certain issues being raised by the <br />State Attorney's office, I now find that our <br />practice of reusing these <br />tapes cannot be continued. Rule 2.070 and Rule 2.075 of the Rules of <br />Judicial Administration require that these tapes be -retained for any- <br />where from 5 to 75 years depending upon the type of case and its dis- <br />position. Since these tapes also constitute "court records" they <br />should probably be retained by the Clerk of the Court for7;permanent <br />storage. r <br />12 <br />B 19852 <br />ME 71 <br />