Santa Clara County's top judge on Friday authorized electronic recording throughout the Superior Court system's seven courthouses, citing a chronically shrinking number of certified shorthand reporters.

In a 22-page order accompanied by almost 400 pages of exhibits, Presiding Judge Beth McGowen wrote that as many as 56,000 proceedings held last year have no verbatim record because administrators could not find enough reporters to staff the South Bay court's 63 courtrooms.