Melody Jeffries Peters, RDR, CRR, CRC - Upon graduating from the Stenotype Institute of South Dakota in 1982, Melody secured a position as an official-freelance reporter in Missoula. She established Jeffries Court Reporting in 1985, Montana's largest court reporting firm. Melody has obtained both the Registered Professional Reporter and Registered Merit Reporter certifications. In 1992-1993 she served as President of the Montana Court Reporters Association and remains active in that association. In 1993 Jeffries Court Reporting was awarded the contract as the Official Court Reporters for the Twenty-First Judicial District and continued in that capacity until July of 2002. In November 1995 Melody passed the Registered Diplomate Reporter, a designation which only 236 reporters in the United States shared. In May of 1996 she became the first court reporter in Montana to achieve the Certified Realtime Reporter certification. MCRA chose her as the recipient of the Distinguished Service Award in 2000. In 2004 she was awarded the Citizen of the Year Award by the Montana Trial Lawyers Association. She served on the National Ethics First Task Force from 2010 to 2012. In 2016, Melody passed the Certified Realtime Captioner certification. Her free time is spent with her husband Todd and children Kyle and Kaylee. Her hobbies include lake activities, walking, downhill skiing and scrapbooking.
Deborah Meredith, RPR, CRR - Debi graduated Valedictorian from Empire Business College in Santa Rosa, California, in the spring of 1990. Shortly thereafter, she joined the court reporting firm of Schiller & Hillabrand where she proceeded to get her federal clearance and do federal grand jury work and New York Stock Exchange Arbitration. In the fall of 1991 she joined Jeffries Court Reporting as an independent contractor in the Hamilton office. Debi obtained her national certification as a Registered Professional Reporter in late 1992. Debi served two terms as President of the Montana Court Reporters Association from 2001-2003. Her hobbies are hiking, gardening, needlework and Griz games. In June 2014, Debi passed the Certified Realtime Reporter test.
Steve Gerger, CSR – Steve retired in the fall of 2015 but remains active as a proofreader. He is a self-taught court reporter and passed the Arizona CSR in July of 1968. He became an official court reporter for the Superior Court of Maricopa County, Phoenix, Arizona, in November 1968 and held that position until the spring of 1973 when he moved to San Luis Obispo, California. Steve worked there for approximately two and a half years and moved to Kalamazoo, Michigan in 1975. Working as a freelance reporter for O'Brien and Bails in Kalamazoo, he specialized in pharmaceutical patent infringment litigation. In 1988 he opened his own freelance firm (with a partner), and retired in 2002. Along the way, in the mid 1990s he purchased a medical transcription franchise and developed a rather large medical transcription business, employing over 40 transcriptionists. Steve became bored with retirement, and still enjoying "hearing the stories," went back to his old firm as a commission reporter for two years and then moved to Montana in 2004 and joined Jeffries Court Reporting on a part-time contracted basis. He still loves the business. Steve holds certifications in AZ, CA, NV and MI as a Certified Shorthand Reporter. He also passed the NSR Certification test in the testimony portion of the merit examination in 1969. Steve officially retired in 2016, but continues to add his expertise proofing for reporters in the office.
Terra Rohlfs, RPR – Terra graduated from Alfred State College in New York in 2004 with an AAS degree in court reporting after attending the on-line courses for three years. In June of 2010 she passed the national test and is now certified as a Registered Professional Reporter. She is originally from Northern California and relocated to Montana in 1994 to be closer to her mother and mentor, Debi Meredith. Terra worked in the Adult Probation Department in Hamilton for five years. She is married to Cary Rohlfs and has a 17-year-old son, Ryan. Her hobbies include working outside in her yard, enjoying the Montana wilderness and Griz football games.
Jennifer K. Wells - Jennifer moved with her family from New Mexico to Montana at the age of four. Growing up in Billings and Missoula, she graduated from Big Sky High School with honors in 1993. She went on to earn her BA in English in 1996, graduating Cum Laude from Northwest Nazarene University in just three years. She received her teaching certificate from the University of Montana in 2000, earning a 3.8 GPA at the graduate level, just shy of her MA in education. Jennifer received her training for court reporting through Alfred State University, New York, contracting with Jeffries Court Reporting in March 2006. Professionally, Jennifer splits her time between freelance work and serving as the official court reporter for John W. Larson in the Montana 4th Judicial District Court. She also enjoys covering depositions, real estate hearings, and community meetings. Personally, Jennifer loves to partake in everything Montana outdoors has to offer! She enjoys kayaking, camping, hiking, gardening, snowshoeing, rockhounding and is a fledgling fly-fisherman. Also dear to her heart is volunteering with refugee resettlement ministries.
Debra Price – Debra grew up in Belle Plaine, Minnesota, and received her court reporting degree at the Minnesota School of Business in Minneapolis in 1991. She moved to Montana in 1994 and freelanced in Missoula through 1996. She then opened Deposition Express and independently owned and operated that business in Hamilton until the fall of 2006, when she started freelancing with Jeffries Court Reporting. She can now cover your reporting needs in both Phoenix and Missoula. Debra and Dan are kept busy trying to keep pace with their six children. Her hobbies include enjoying her children's sporting activities and scrapbooking.
Emily Brandon – Emily was born and raised in Missoula, Montana, and graduated from Big Sky High School in 2002. Emily graduated from Alfred State College in New York in 2009 completing the online Court and Realtime Reporting program with an AAS. She enjoys spending time at Flathead Lake, Salmon Lake, any activity involving her son Jack, and Griz football.
Melissa Gum, RDR, CRR, CRC - Melissa has been a Certified Shorthand Reporter and Registered Professional Reporter since 1986. She spent the first 12 years of her reporting career reporting depositions. She obtained the Registered Merit Reporter designation in 1989 and became a Certified Realtime Reporter in 1994. She became an official court reporter for Kern County Superior Court in Bakersfield, California, in 1999. While working for the court system, Melissa began providing captioning services to hard-of-hearing consumers who needed assistance to participate in court proceedings and became a Certified Realtime Captioner in 2008. She has served on the National Court Reporters Association CART Community of Interest Committee and assisted in updating the guidelines for Certified Realtime Captioners. In the summer of 2018, Melissa and her husband decided to make the beautiful Bitterroot Valley their home. Her spare time is spent with her husband, David, and Border Collie, Stevie Lynn. Her hobbies include cooking, baking, and exploring the great outdoors in Big Sky Country!
Office Staff:
, Office Manager -
Rona Chenoweth, Administrative Assistant - Rona spent many years in the back office of Jeffries before her husband's job took them to Spokane. She has an undergraduate degree in Community Health from the University of Montana and is a Certified Natural Foods Chef from the Nutrition Therapy Institute in Denver. Her professional path is currently on hold as she spends her days chasing around her two kids and reading as many books as she can fit in. Melody still keeps her on speed dial for tech advice and occasional office work.