Background:

Court systems must provide meaningful access to parties or witnesses who are limited English proficient (LEP) in order to comply with Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 (Title VI), the Omnibus Crime Control and Safe Streets Act (Safe Streets Act), and Washington law.

Federal Standard

Title VI provides that "No person in the United States shall, on the ground of race, color, or national origin, be excluded from participation in, be denied the benefits of, or be subjected to discrimination under any program or activity receiving Federal financial assistance." The Safe Streets Act states that "No person in any State shall on the ground of race, color, religion, national origin, or sex be excluded from participation in, denied the benefits of, or be subjected to discrimination under or denied employment in connection with any programs or activity funded in whole or in part with funds made available under this chapter."

The Department of Justice (DOJ) has enforcement authority of Title VI and the Safe Streets Act. Accordingly, the DOJ has the power to suspend or terminate federal financial assistance to court systems that do not comply with LEP requirements, or to bring a civil suit to enforce the rights. Through guidance documents and letters, the DOJ requires state courts to provide LEP parties and witnesses with "meaningful access" to court proceedings. Under this standard, the DOJ has indicated that state courts receiving federal financial assistance cannot allocate or otherwise charge the costs of interpreter services to the parties involved in the litigation or make any type of indigent determinations in assessing the ability of a party to contribute to the costs.

State Standard

Washington law makes provision for the appointment of interpreters in court proceedings for both non-English-speaking parties and hearing impaired persons.

Interpreters must be appointed in all legal proceedings in which a non-English-speaking person is a party or is compelled to appear. The cost of providing the interpreter is borne by the governmental body that initiated the legal proceeding. In all other legal proceedings, the cost of providing an interpreter is borne by the non-English-speaking person unless the person is indigent, in which case the cost is borne by the governmental body conducting the legal proceeding.

An interpreter appointed for a non-English-speaking person must be certified by the AOC, unless the language is one for which certification is not available, or the services of a certified interpreter are not reasonably available. In those cases, a qualified interpreter may be appointed. A qualified interpreter is a person who is able to translate spoken or written English for a non-English-speaking person and to translate oral or written statements of the non-English-speaking person into spoken English.

Interpreters for hearing impaired persons must be provided at government expense in legal proceedings where the hearing impaired person is a party or witness, in court-ordered programs or activities, and in law enforcement investigatory interviews. Such requests must go through the Office of Deaf Services in the Department of Social and Health Services or through a community center interpreter referral service.

Subject to the availability of funds, the AOC is required to reimburse courts for up to 50 percent of the cost of interpreters appointed in court proceedings for non-English-speaking or hearing impaired parties or witnesses.

Summary of Bill:

Courts are required to provide interpreter services at public expense in all types of legal proceedings, civil and criminal, when a non-English-speaking person is a party or is compelled to appear. The interpreters must be certified or registered by the Administrative Office of the Courts, unless good cause is found and noted on the record.

Beginning January 1, 2017, the state must pay 50 percent of the cost of interpreters appointed in legal proceedings for non-English-speaking or hearing impaired parties or those compelled to appear.

Each court that appoints interpreters for non-English-speaking persons is required to track and provide interpreter cost and usage data annually to the Administrative Office of the Courts.