(A) Freelance reporting activities shall mean the reporting or transcription by court reporting personnel of oral statements from, including but not limited to: depositions; arbitrations; grand juries; mental health board hearings; any non-Judicial Branch public or private agency or organization hearing or meeting; or proceedings of any nature whatsoever, other than those required by these rules.

   (B) Except as provided for by these rules, court reporting personnel may engage in freelance reporting activities during normal working hours only if the court reporting personnel takes approved accrued leave and said activities are determined by the judge who appointed the court reporting personnel to be in the interest of the public, provided, however:

   (1) The taking of approved accrued leave shall not be required if the freelance activity occurs outside the court's normal working hours, while the court reporting personnel is on vacation leave, or while the court reporting personnel is taking compensatory time off.

   (2) Freelance reporting activities shall not be performed during any period in which the court reporting personnel is granted an extension to complete and file a bill of exceptions except for those activities related to the specific bill of exceptions for which the extension has been granted.

   (3) Freelance reporting activities shall not be performed when the presence of the court reporting personnel is required by these rules, by the judge who appointed the court reporting personnel, by said judge's substitute, by a judge to whom the court reporting personnel has been assigned by the Nebraska Supreme Court, or by the Nebraska Supreme Court.

   (C) All other outside employment during normal working hours is prohibited.

   (D) Court reporting personnel shall neither provide nor cause to be provided any public office space to any of the court reporting personnel's employees or associates.

   (E) Court reporting personnel shall not use any publicly-owned supplies or equipment in connection with any freelance reporting activity. Provided, however, that permission to utilize state-owned equipment for purposes outside the scope of court reporting personnel duties may be given by the Nebraska Supreme Court if: (1) the equipment is to be used for purposes of recording proceedings of other public entities; and (2) operation of the recording equipment by the court reporting personnel will not be during working hours nor in any other way interfere with the court reporting personnel's official responsibilities.

   (F) All approved accrued leave taken for the purpose of engaging in freelance activity shall be pre-approved by the supervising judge and in accordance with the leave policies of the Nebraska Supreme Court Personnel Policies and Procedures and recorded on the monthly timesheet. 

   (G) Court reporting personnel shall not be eligible for injury leave or workers' compensation benefits for injury sustained while on approved accrued leave.

   (H) Court reporting personnel shall not evade the provisions of this rule by contracting with substitute court reporting personnel to perform their official duty.

Rule 11(A), (B), and (F) amended June 19, 1996. Renumbered and codified as § 1-211, effective July 18, 2008; § 1-211 amended June 9, 2010; § 1-211(F) amended January 30, 2014; § 1-211 amended June 16, 2021, effective January 1, 2022.