The Tax Court records all courtroom oral arguments and trials for all case types. The Magistrate Division is not a court of record; the court records its courtroom hearings for its own convenience, but recordings are only available to parties for a limited period of time following the hearing. Certain other Magistrate Division hearings are not recorded. To request a copy of the audio (sound) recording from a hearing or trial you must submit a request to court staff (see below).
If you are filing an appeal of your Regular Division case to the Oregon Supreme Court, you may need a transcript of the hearing and not an audio copy. An audio copy is a sound recording that you listen to. A transcript is a written record of the hearing that you read. Transcripts are made by a professional transcriber who listens to the audio (sound) recording and types the spoken words into a written document.
State law restricts who may receive audio copies of hearings and trials if a protective order is in place. If you are requesting an audio copy from a case where there is a protective order, your request may be denied or you may be required to complete additional paperwork, show identification and pick up the copies in person.
Audio copies of hearings and trials are generally provided on a Compact Disc (CD-R). To listen to recordings provided on CD-R you must have a personal computer (PC) with a sound card and speakers. The court uses a program called “For the Record” (FTR) to record the audio during hearings and trials. Audio copies provided on CD-R will contain a link to download a free copy of the
FTR Player program. Follow the directions for downloading FTR Player from the FTR website. Court staff cannot assist you if you encounter problems with downloading the FTR Player. If you encounter technical difficulties with the FTR Player, you will need to contact technical support at FTR.
In addition to the audio recording, you may request a copy of the audio log, which is a general time-stamped index of the recorded hearing or trial that lists major events during the hearing, such as when a witness begins testimony or when an objection is made. For hearings originally recorded using FTR, the audio log is provided in HTML format on the CD-R.