OKLAHOMA CITY – The state Supreme Court has upheld revocation of the professional license of a shorthand reporter in southwest Oklahoma for “gross incompetence and gross or habitual neglect of duty” in transcripts of at least 15 felony cases.
Kimberly Idleman’s license was suspended by the State Board of Examiners of Certified Shorthand Reporters, for multiple offenses, and the Supreme Court upheld the decision, 8-0. Chief Justice Richard Darby – who previously served as a district judge in District 3, which encompasses Jackson, Kiowa, Tillman, Greer and Harmon counties – disqualified himself from participating in the case.
Idleman was hired in May 2019 to be a court reporter in District 3, and District Judge Brad Leverett began holding weekly meetings with her “regarding her incomplete and/or missing transcripts” in criminal proceedings, court records relate. However, Idleman, of Altus, “continually misrepresented the status of the transcripts” during her sessions with the judge.
In April and May 2020 “transcripts became due to be filed as part of appeal records” but Idleman did not file them. As a result, court clerks in southwest Oklahoma began filing “notices of non-completion.”
The Oklahoma Court of Criminal Appeals notified the state board in August 2020 that Idleman had been summoned to appear before the court to “show cause as to the status of certain missing transcripts of court proceedings,” but she failed to appear or provide an explanation why.
Consequently, four cases were remanded to Judge Leverett for a hearing to determine the status of the appeal records and to advise the appellate court “as to the completion” of the record in each case. Those were appeals of a domestic abuse case, an arson case and a child pornography case, all from Jackson County, as well as a drug case from Tillman County.
Subsequently the appeal record in the domestic abuse case was filed with the Court of Criminal Appeals; the transcripts in the arson and pornography cases contained scrivener’s errors and were sent back with instructions for the court clerk to make corrections; and the appeal in the drug possession case was dismissed.
The Court of Criminal Appeals in October 2020 informed the Board of Examiners of Official Shorthand Reporters that Idleman’s “behavior and continued failure to ignore the directives” of the appellate court and the district court “constitutes habitual neglect of duty…”
As a result, the Board of Examiners initiated an investigation of Idleman on Nov. 2, 2020.
Eleven days later the Court of Criminal Appeals told District Attorney David Thomas that a court transcript in the felony case of a woman who pleaded guilty of committing forgery in Jackson County in 2018 had not been completed. Idleman had not requested an extension nor notified the appellate court of the failure.
Numerous complaints,
disciplinary actions
The investigation revealed numerous complaints against Idleman, including:
Ÿ She conducted herself as a court reporter “in an unreliable and unprofessional manner,” and her appearance was deemed unprofessional.
Ÿ Idleman was late for court hearings, failed to show up for some hearings, and failed to answer telephone calls or text messages from judges and bailiffs.
Ÿ She used cellphone recordings as backup audio for official court transcripts.
Ÿ She failed to complete transcripts. Consequently, some matters “had to be remanded to redo hearings.”
Ÿ Idleman “did not file the proper paperwork with the court clerk for transcripts.”
Ÿ She failed to appear for a meeting requested by District Judge Leverett “regarding her transcripts and conduct.”
Ÿ She lied to Leverett “about a loose controlled drug in pill form found in the courtroom,” claiming the medication didn’t belong to her, “but later admitted it was hers.”
Ÿ Idleman “failed to produce, or produced after a significant delay,” transcripts for 11 felony cases: 10 from Jackson County and one from Greer County. Those included firearms offenses, sex crimes, domestic assault and battery, first-degree manslaughter, aggravated assault and battery on a police officer, and child abuse/neglect.
Leverett fired her from working in Jackson County on May 5, 2020.
Idleman also had faced prior disciplinary actions, court records show.
Ÿ Her Certified Shorthand Reporter license was suspended in 2006 for failure to fulfill a continuing education requirement.
Ÿ Her license was suspended again in November 2007, April 2008 and February 2010 for failure to complete continuing education and failure to pay renewal fees.
Ÿ Idleman’s license was suspended yet again, in April 2010, for failure to comply with a continuing education requirement for 2009.
Ÿ She received a temporary certificate in October 2016, but it expired in March 2017, and she failed the CSR exam. She passed the exam in October 2017, records show.
The state board held a hearing on Idleman’s case on July 8, 2021, but she did not attend. The board voted that day to revoke her license, and the Supreme Court concurred on April 12, 2022.