ENGROSSED SUBSTITUTE SENATE BILL 5984

BySenate Law & Justice (originally sponsored by Senators Wellman, Rivers, Hasegawa, Padden, Cleveland, Walsh, Hunt, Brown, Zeiger, Randall, Takko, Lovelett, Nguyen, Kuderer, Das, and Wilson, C.)

AN ACT Relating to language understanding of documents used in dissolution proceedings; and adding a new section to chapter 26.09 RCW.

BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF WASHINGTON:

NEW SECTION.  Sec. 1. A new section is added to chapter 26.09 RCW to read as follows:

In any matter brought pursuant to domestic relations proceedings under this chapter, when a limited English proficiency party requests interpretation services, or when a court has reason to know that the party may require an interpreter has limited English proficiency or is deaf, deaf-blind, or hard of hearing and relies on sign language to communicate, any orders being presented to the court for signature on behalf of that party, or by agreement of the parties, must include a certification from an interpreter that the order has been interpreted to the party in the relevant language. The interpreter appointed for this purpose for a person with limited English proficiency must be an interpreter certified or registered by the administrative office of the courts pursuant to chapter 2.43 RCW or a qualified interpreter registered by the administrative office of the courts in a noncertified language, or where the necessary language is not certified or registered, the interpreter must be qualified by the judicial officer pursuant to chapter 2.43 RCW. In the event the party who is deaf, deaf-blind, or hard of hearing relies on any form of manual communication, the interpreter appointed for this purpose must be an interpreter appointed pursuant to chapter 2.42 RCW. When requested, and upon reasonable advance notice, an interpreter must be provided for limited English proficiency litigants by the court at no cost to the party for this purpose.

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