Recent changes in policy by the presiding judge of the Superior Court in Maricopa County have required justices of the peace presiding over cases with Spanish speaking litigants to seek assistance from a pool of Spanish language interpreters maintained by the Superior Court instead of retaining the past practice of using Justice Court employees who are capable of acting in that capacity and who are readily available. This shift in policy is creating significant delays in cases involving those before the court who are fluent only in Spanish.

In the past Justice Court employees who had been trained as interpreters filled that role when the need arose (and with 75-100 matters per day in these courts, the need arises frequently) allowed presiding justices to handle the case at that moment without having to delay a Spanish speaking participant’s matter before the court. Given the enormous caseload in these courts, it is impossible for the justices to know ahead of time whether they need to request interpreters from the Superior Court pool at any given time. Consequently, to the great dismay of justices, Spanish-speaking participants must be turned away until the language barrier issue can be addressed at some later date.

This easily avoidable inequity is particularly egregious when in the context of criminal cases. The Maricopa County Justice Court has exclusive original jurisdiction over actions involving controversies of $5,000 or less, including small claims actions, and concurrent original jurisdiction over cases involving $5,000 to $10,000. But these courts also hear criminal cases, including Class 1 misdemeanors that involve incarceration. This means that when a Spanish language defendant comes before the Justice Court, instead of the court being able to pay one of its own trained, capable and available employees to act as an interpreter, it must instead return that defendant to already overcrowded jails to await a new court date.

Drawing from a pool of interpreters is fine for the Superior Courts hearing one to three cases per day. But to foist this requirement upon a Justice Court system with up to 100 times that daily load is creating a one-size-fits-all system to the unacceptable detriment of Spanish speaking participants.

This is not even justifiable as a cost-saving measure. It actually costs substantially more for the Justice Courts to use the Superior Court pool of interpreters than it does to pay a little extra when needed to the qualified people already in the court’s employ. On top of this, there are obviously additional costs associated with the delaying of cases and the returning of criminal defendants to be maintained for longer periods of time in already packed jails.

Fiscal inefficiency aside, these clearly avoidable inequities in the processing of cases through any segment of our courts must not be tolerated. We have the ability to ensure fairness to those in our Spanish speaking population. Failing to ensure that they do not suffer delays in the Justice Court system in Maricopa County is irresponsible and just plain wrong.

Superior Court administration must fix the problem it created. They should restore the ability of the Justice Courts to use and compensate their own readily available employees who are qualified and competent to serve as interpreters. If the Superior Court is content to allow these delays to continue for Spanish speaking participants, we are prepared to address the matter legislatively.

Sen. Marilyn Jarrett, R-Dist. 19, is Senate majority whip and can be reached at mjarrett@azleg.state.az.us. Rep. Chuck Gray, R-Dist. 19, is a member of the House Judiciary Committee and can be reached at cgray@azleg.state.az.us.