In January 2003, the Justice of the Peace Court Administration, in conjunction with the Superior Court Administration, began the process of replacing contract “per diem” Spanish interpreters with staff interpreters. [Maricopa Superior Court Policy Creates Inequities For Spanish Speaking Citizens, Commentaries, Sept. 5 issue].

These staff interpreters did not replace the bilingual JP Court employees who provide general language assistance to monolingual Spanish speaking customers. Furthermore, the bilingual staff employees had never been trained in court interpretation, legal terminology and procedures, and interpretation modalities. The bilingual staff employees, however, had been tested in general Spanish language proficiency skills. Those employees who scored high enough on the test were receiving a language incentive award. Unfortunately, budgetary constraints forced Court Administration to eliminate this language incentive award for JP Court bilingual staff. There are plans to reinstate a manageable language incentive program for JP Court staff in the future.

Currently, Court Interpretation and Translation Services support and serve JP Courts by providing interpreters who are assigned specifically to and shared among a cluster of courts in a localized area. These interpreters have been screened, tested and trained in legal terminology, interpretation modalities and ethics. This method of providing court interpreters is more cost-effective and efficient than the previous system of using contract interpreters. Each court can now more effectively monitor and gauge the quality of interpretation services and provide interpreters with continued education on an on-going basis.

We are not aware of any major delays in the JP Court system due to unavailability of interpreters. If a JP Court needs a staff interpreter, and one is not available in court, the court staff has been directed to call Court Interpretation and Translation Services. Depending on the situation at hand, we may send another interpreter to the court or provide one via telephone.

Bilingual court employees provide general assistance to the public over the counter or via telephone. They provide a valuable service to our monolingual Spanish speaking population. They are not, however, trained to interpret in court or assist attorneys communicate with their clients.