What is an official court journalist? Official court reporters can be state or federal employees. In our case, ''officials'' are state employees who work for the judge on the main circuit in which they are employed. Official court reporter must have a license in the state of Illinois as a Certified Shorthand Reporter (CSR). The official court reporters work in the county court and record a literal record during the proceedings so that a transcript can be filed as an official registration of the case. In many cases, these transcripts will be used to appeal to the Court of Appeal.