Full Opinion

Serial: 264285 IN THE SUPREME COURT OF MISSISSIPPI No. 89-R-99027-SCT FILED OCT 21 2026 OFFICE OF THE CLERK SUPREME COURT COURT OF APPEALS IN RE: MISSISSIPPI RULES OF APPELLATE PROCEDURE EN BANC ORDER Now before the Court is the Petition to Amend Appendix III of the Mississippi Rules of Appellate Procedure filed by the Mississippi Board of Certified Court Reporters. The petition seeks to amend Section I of Appendix III of the Mississippi Rules of Appellate Procedure. - After due consideration, the Court finds that the petition should be granted as set forth in the attached Exhibit A. [T IS, THEREFORE, ORDERED that the Petition to Amend Appendix III of the Mississippi Rules of Appellate Procedure is hereby granted. Appendix TI] of the Mississippi Rules of Appellate Procedure is amended as set forth in the attached Exhibit A. The amendments shall be effective November 19, 2026. IT IS, FURTHER ORDERED, that the Clerk of this Court shall spread this order upon the minutes of the Court and send a certified copy to West Publishing Company for publication in the advance sheets of Southern Reporter, Third Series (Mississippi Edition), and in the next edition of the Mississippi Rules of Court. SO ORDERED, this the Av day of October, 2026. EF Chon i 1OSAH DENNIS COLEMAN, PRESIDING JUSTICE EXHIBIT A APPENDIX II MISSISSIPPI SUPREME COURT RULES GUIDELINES FOR COURT REPORTERS I. TRANSCRIPTS - HOW PREPARED Transcripts of all administrative and judicial proceedings shall be uniform in and for all state courts throughout the State of Mississippi. The form, size, spacing and method of transcript preparation are as follows: (a) All proceedings shall be typewritten only on one side of every leaf of paper eight and one-half (8 ’4) inches wide and eleven (11) inches long, prepared for binding at the left margin. The purpose of this requirement is to facilitate a system-wide transfer from legal size paper to letter size paper effective July 01, 1993. See M.R.A.P. 11, 32, and M.R.C.P. Rule 7. Voluntary compliance with this Rule is to begin January 01, 1993; mandatory compliance will become effective July 01, 1993. The cost of transcription shall be two-dottars-forty-cents {$246} per page set by statute. See Miss. Code Ann. § 25-7-89 (2026). The court reporter shall make an electronic disk of the transcript. No charge shall be made for the electronic disk or for the copy of the transcript provided for under Section II of this Appendix. (b) Type size or print shall be nine to ten characters per inch. (c) Each page shall be numbered consecutively at the top right hand corner. In cases where proceedings have been taken by more than one reporter, each court reporter shall consecutively number his or her portion of the transcript in the upper right hand corner of each page. After completion of the entire transcript, including all pretrial and post-trial hearings, the entire transcript shall be consecutively numbered in the center of the bottom of each page, beginning with page one and continuing throughout the remainder of the proceedings. This final numbering of the pages shall be the responsibility of the court reporter who reported the trial on the merits, or, in the case of disposition prior to trial on the merits, the court reporter who reported the majority of the proceedings prior to disposition. The final numbering of the pages, which may be made by hand or machine, shall be made by the designated court reporter within 20 days of receipt of written notification from the trial court clerk that all portions of the original transcript have been completed and are awaiting final numbering for appeal purposes. (d) All margins, measured from the edge of the paper, shall be not more than one (1) inch from the top and exactly one and one-half inches at the left, three-quarters of one inch (3/4) from the bottom, and one-half ('4) inch at the right. 3 (¢) There shall be no fewer than twenty-five (25) typed lines per page. Each typed line is to be numbered at the left margin. All typing shall extend to the right margin, and shall be double spaced with no more than a double space between paragraphs. (f) Colloquy material shall begin on the same line following the identification of the speaker, but in no event shall there be more than two spaces between the identification of the speaker and the commencement of the colloquy. The identification of the speaker in colloquy shall begin no more than fifteen (15) spaces from the left margin and carry-over colloquy shall be indented no more than ten (10) spaces from the left margin. The identification of the speaker in colloquy shall be capitalized. (g) Each question and answer shall begin on a separate line no more than five (5) spaces from the left margin with no more than five (5) spaces from the "Q." or "A." to the text. Carry-over question and answer lines shall be brought to the left margin. (h) Identification of the witness and type of examination shall appear at the top left comer of each page above the first line of numbered text. In all jury trials when the jury is out, the top of each page shall be so marked (Jury Out). (i) Opening statement and closing arguments shall begin at the left margin and extend to the right margin of the transcript. (j) The transcript shall be prefaced with a title page setting out the style, number and counsel appearances. A comprehensive table of contents of the entire transcript numbered seriatim at the right top, shall immediately follow the title page. A Court Reporter's Certificate shall conclude the transcript. In cases involving more than one court reporter, the certification shall appear at the end of the section of the transcript prepared by that reporter. (k) Exhibits shall be identified in all capital letters. Where possible, all exhibits shall be marked on the front page with an exhibit label. [Amended effective June 3, 2004; November 19. 2026.] Comment Miss. Code Ann. § 25-7-89 (Rev. 2004 establishes the rate to be charged by the court reporters for transcripts at $2.40 per page. Under the statute, the reporter is also required to file with the clerk an additional copy of the transcript at no additional charge. [Adopted effective June 3, 2664-2004.]