MCRA PRESIDENT’S MESSAGE 2025-2026

CANDACE O’BARR JONES, CCR

I am honored to serve as your president this year. I am thankful that the lobbying efforts of our legislative committee were successful and SB2899 was passed to give official court reporters a long overdue salary increase.

I am particularly excited to welcome our new officers and board members. It is truly inspiring to see young court reporters stepping into officer roles, alongside some of the most seasoned veteran reporters I know. I am proud that at least two of those in leadership are voice writers. In addition, I now have a family member, who is my business partner, supporting this association as an associate member, Adam Jones. We are thankful to him for his media support this year. It takes a lot of work to grow this association. Together, I know we can make a significant impact on the future of court reporting in Mississippi.
We will return to the MS legislature during the 2026 legislative year to continue to further advocate in general, but also for specific needs such as a page rate increase. The last increase was in the nineties. I am committed to developing a strategy and vision to recruit young reporters into the profession, retain our veteran official reporters, and ensure there is a court reporter in every courtroom in Mississippi.

Establishing guardrails around generative AI and the official record is a priority I plan to devote significant time to. While I recognize the usefulness of AI in everyday tasks, I firmly believe it should not be used to prepare official transcripts, as this exposes personal and trademark information to the worldwide web. And there is absolutely no way to authenticate, much less certify, the record. My mission is to educate the legal profession and our lawmakers, in MS, D.C. and beyond, about the dangers of allowing AI, digital reporters, and electronic recorders to generate an official record. We must ensure these irresponsible technologies are kept out of our depositions and courtrooms.

We are at a crucial juncture where the future of our profession is at stake. Now more than ever, we need your involvement and support to address the challenges we face. Please consider joining a committee. Your insights and passion are vital in advocating for our profession, influencing policy changes, and driving initiatives that uphold our standards.

If you would like to join a committee, or have any suggestions or comments, please do not hesitate to contact me.