President’s Message

October 2025

To my fellow Federal Official Court Reporters, it is an honor to represent you as the President of the United States Court Reporters Association. I truly love being a court reporter. This profession has given me so much in my life, and I’m happy to give back where I can.

Being a court reporter allowed me to follow my husband’s 40-year Army career, reporting in nine different states and overseas. I was able to achieve a job as a Federal Official Court Reporter (FOCR), which I’ve always viewed as being the pinnacle of a court reporter’s career. Even though Rob and I are Buckeyes at heart, Alaska has been our home for 23 years. I’m now working in my dream job at the U.S. District Court, District of Columbia in Washington, DC. The flexibility and opportunities this profession offers are tremendous.

Currently, our profession faces many challenges. It is so important that we continue to build relationships with our judges, law clerks and court staff. Being an invaluable team member will go a long way toward job security.

The membership committee recently sent out a survey, and I’ve paid close attention to the responses. I can see that the membership wants USCRA to keep abreast of any changes in the federal courts with the use of electronic recordings and AI. The FOCRs on the Court Reporters Advisory Group (CRAG) will keep advocating for FOCRs and alert you to any changes we see coming through the Administrative Office of the Courts (AO). We have a strong AO committee that will be
on the lookout for changes within the AO as well.

USCRA membership is also concerned about recruiting new reporters into federal positions. We have a dedicated membership committee that is working on ways to provide outreach to students and new court reporters to bring them into federal court. Additionally, USCRA asked about conventions to see what you would like to see at future events.

We have a great convention committee that will be taking all your ideas into consideration. With all this being said, USCRA is led and managed by volunteers. Do not hesitate to reach out to me if you’d like to volunteer. I can assure you that we’d love to have you as part of the team. We all have different backgrounds and experiences with varying views, but things work much better when we come together and learn from each other.

I’m excited to work together to ensure our profession carries well into the future. Let’s continue to be consummate professionals and premier guardians of the record to all federal courts across the nation.

I look forward to working with you over the next year as your President.

Sonja L. Reeves ,
USCRA President 2025-2026