January 22, 1975

Mr. James V. Guffey
Department of Commerce and
  Consumer Affairs
Capitol Building
Pierre, South Dakota 57501

OFFICIAL OPINION NO. 75-4

Can a court reporter's charge for transcription be billed directly to the party which appeals an adverse Commission decision to Circuit Court provided said charge is recoverable by a successful appellant as part of the costs of the action?

Dear Mr. Guffey:

You have asked for an official opinion as to whether or not a party who ap­peals an adverse ruling of the Human Rights Commission to the Circuit Court can be charged directly by the court reporter for transcribing the commission's proceeding for the appellant.

SDCL 20-13 does not contain any language which would require your agen­cy to give a copy of the agency's hearing testimony to an appellant appeal­ing from the decision of the commission. There being no requirements for your agency to pay for such a copy of the testimony for the appellant, if ap­pellant wants a copy, he will have to bear the cost, or be content with using the commission's copy of the testimony as provided by SDCL 20-13-51. If,however, the appellant prevails in his appeal to the Circuit Court, SDCL 15-17-4 would in my opinion permit appellant to recover such transcript fees as costs if the court allows costs to the appellant.

Respectfully submitted,

WILLIAM J. JANKLOW
ATTORNEY GENERAL

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