D.S.D. Civ. LR 28.1

The officer taking the deposition, or any other person with whom such officer

has a principal and agency relationship, will not enter into an agreement for

reporting service which does any of the following:

1. Requires or allows the court reporter reporting the deposition to

relinquish control of an original deposition transcript and copies of the

transcript before it is certified and delivered to the custodial attorney;

2. Requires the court reporter to provide special financial terms or other

services that are not offered at the same time and on the same terms to

all other parties in the litigation, or in any way offers any incentives or

rewards to the attorneys, parties to the litigation or to anyone else who

has an interest in the litigation;

3. Gives an exclusive monetary or other advantage to any party;

4. Compromises the authenticity of the record or the impartiality of the

court reporter or results in the appearance that the authenticity of the

record or the impartiality of the court reporter has been compromised;

5. Allows a person, other than the court reporter or reporting firm, to

establish the rates charged by the court reporting firm.

Contracts for court reporting services for federal, state, or local governments and

subdivisions thereof are excluded. Negotiating or bidding reasonable fees, equal

to all parties, with the court reporter on a case-by-case basis is not prohibited.

These provisions may not be waived by disclosure, agreement, stipulation, or by

any other means unless a request for waiver is contained in the notice of

deposition.

Any deposition taken in violation of these provisions will result in the court

imposing an appropriate sanction.