(1) Certification must be renewed on or before the expiration date shown on the certificate. The expiration date is the certificate holder's birth date. Effective July 1, 2011, each certified court reporter shall verify they have completed a minimum of five continuing education units annually at renewal in a manner defined by the director. Excess continuing education units from the previous reporting year shall not be carried over. Failure to renew the certificate by the expiration date will result in a penalty fee in an amount determined by the director. Certification may be reinstated for up to three years by payment of all renewal fees and a penalty fee for the period for which the certification had lapsed and documentation of five continuing education units completed in the past year.

(2) Continuing education units shall have direct relevance to the professional development of the certified court reporter. The program must be led by an instructor, be interactive, and involve assessment or evaluation. Approved programs include, but are not limited to, the following:

(a) Language skills:

(i) English or a foreign language;

(ii) American Sign Language;

(iii) Grammar;

(iv) Punctuation;

(v) Proofreading;

(vi) Spelling;

(vii) Vocabulary;

(viii) Linguistics, including regional dialects or colloquialisms;

(ix) Etymology;

(x) Word usage.

(b) Academics:

(i) Medical terminology and abbreviations related to any medical or medically related discipline (e.g., anatomy, psychiatry, psychology, dentistry, chiropractic, podiatry);

(ii) Pharmacology;

(iii) Surgical procedures and instruments, with emphasis on terminology and concepts encountered in litigation;

(iv) Pathology and forensic pathology, including DNA and other terminology encountered in litigation;

(v) Legal terminology and etymology;

(vi) Legal research techniques;

(vii) Presentations on various legal specialty areas (e.g., torts, family law, environmental law, admiralty, corporate law, patent law);

(viii) History of legal systems;

(ix) Technical subjects, with emphasis on terminology and concepts encountered during litigation (e.g., construction, accident reconstruction, insurance, statistics, product testing and liability, various engineering fields).

(c) Case law, federal and state statutes, and regulations:

(i) Federal and state rules of civil and criminal procedure and rules of evidence;

(ii) Codes of federal and/or state regulations;

(iii) Presentations on legal proceedings (depositions, trials, federal and state appellate procedure, administrative proceedings, bankruptcy proceedings, workers' compensation proceedings);

(iv) Any changes to (a), (b), and (c) of this subsection as they affect the certified court reporter.

(d) Technology and business practices:

(i) Computer skills;

(ii) Voice recognition technology;

(iii) Videotaping, video conferencing;

(iv) Reporting skills and practices (e.g., readbacks, marking exhibits, administering oaths);

(v) Transcript production, formats, indexing, document management;

(vi) Technological developments related to court reporting, real-time reporting, CART, or captioning;

(vii) Office practices, office management, marketing, accounting, personnel practices, public relations;

(viii) Financial management, retirement planning, estate planning;

(ix) Partnerships, corporations, taxation, insurance.

(e) Professionalism and ethics:

(i) Standards of court reporting practice applicable to individual states or governmental entities;

(ii) Professional comportment and demeanor as it relates to judges, attorneys, fellow reporters, witnesses, litigants and court and law office personnel.

(f) CPR/first-aid classes.

(g) In-house courses offered by court reporting firms.

(h) Vendor sponsored training, with the exception of sales presentations.

(i) Community based programs.

(j) Meetings that include educational or professional development presentations that otherwise meet Washington state criteria for award of continuing education units;

(k) Documented pro bono services on an hour-for-hour basis including, but not limited to:

(i) Presence at a court hearing or deposition;

(ii) Transcription;

(iii) Editing;

(iv) Proofreading.

(l) Documented teaching, research or writing for a planned, directly supervised continuing education experience that fulfills continuing education criteria where no payment is received. Continuing education units will be awarded only once for each separate item.

(3) Any course or activity previously approved by any nationally or state recognized association for court reporting professions shall be approved for continuing education units.

(4) Courses offered with a documented grade of C or better at an accredited college or university will be awarded continuing education units at the following rates:

(a) Semester course: 6 continuing education units.

(b) Trimester course: 5 continuing education units.

(c) Quarter course: 4 continuing education units.

(5) Activities that are not acceptable for continuing education units include, but are not limited to, the following:

(a) Attendance at professional or association business meetings or similar meetings convened for the purpose of election of officers, policymaking, or orientation;

(b) Leadership activities in national, state, or community associations and board or committee service;

(c) Attendance at entertainment, recreational, or cultural presentations;

(d) Recreation, aerobics, massage, or physical therapy courses or practice or teaching of same;

(e) Classes in the performing arts, studio arts, or crafts or teaching of same;

(f) Tours of museums or historical sites;

(g) Social events at meetings, conventions, and exhibits;

(h) Visiting vendor exhibits or attending vendor sales demonstrations;

(i) Jury duty;

(j) Any event for which the attendee receives payment for attendance;

(k) Any event which is part of the attendee's regular employment or is attended for the purpose of gaining employment;

(l) On-the-job training or other work experience, life experience, previous work experience.

(6) Individuals shall maintain documentation of continuing education units for at least three years and provide them to the department on request.

(7) An individual who fails to renew their certification by the expiration date forfeits all rights to represent themselves as a "shorthand reporter," "court reporter," "certified shorthand reporter," or "certified court reporter" until the certificate has been reinstated.

(8) An individual who has allowed the certification to expire for three years or more is required to file a new complete application and fee and must pass the state-approved examination. Upon passage of the exam a certificate will be issued.