Court Interpreters and Language Assistance in Washington State

In 2007, the Washington Judiciary asked the Legislature for $7.791 million for state fiscal years 2008 and 2009 to provide partial reimbursement for the cost of certified and registered spoken language court interpreters and qualified interpreters in visual languages, and to assist courts in developing and implementing Language Assistance Plans (LAP's). It was estimated that this funding would be sufficient to pay 50% of the cost of certified, registered and qualified interpreters in the state, as well as enable trial courts to comply with federal mandates to create LAP's.

The 2007 Legislature appropriated $2 million for fiscal years 2008 and 2009 to assist trial courts in paying for interpreter services and in creating and implementing Language Assistance Plans (LAP's). $1.56 million was provided to pay for trial court interpreter services, $340,000 to create and implement LAP's, and $100,000 for administration.

The $2 million appropriation is the first stage in a longer range effort to increase and solidify the state's commitment to funding of trial court interpreter services. The interpreter services funding plan and criteria for fiscal years 2008 and 2009 envision a group of ten multi-court initial implementation sites that will also serve as demonstration projects. Besides generating the data needed to demonstrate the impact of state funding of court interpreter and language assistance services, the implementation sites will serve as a laboratory for developing and implementing innovations and best practices in providing those services, and as a catalyst for improving such services statewide. Initial implementation sites include multi-court collaborations in Benton-Franklin, Chelan-Douglas, Clark, Kitsap, Okanogan, Pierce, Skagit, Snohomish and Yakima Counties, as well as a collaborative of ten municipal courts in South King County.

In addition, Administrative Office of the Courts (AOC) staff have assisted more than 100 trial courts (collectively serving the great majority of Washington State's population) to create and begin implementing LAP's. Approximately $170,000 is being distributed to trial courts to support a variety of LAP implementation projects and resources; and approximately $40,000 was reserved for state-level projects such as creation of consistent signage and translation of pattern forms.

Much remains to be done to secure equal access to Washington's courts by Limited English Proficient (LEP) and Deaf and Hard of Hearing persons. Again, a phased approach is envisioned:

Phase 1 - January 2008 through June 2009: Implement 50% state funding in ten multi-court initial implementation sites. Develop and implement innovations and best practices in providing interpreter and language assistance services that can be evaluated for potential statewide implementation. Assist courts in creating and implementing LAP's. Collect and analyze interpreter cost and utilization data that will provide the basis for accurately projecting the cost of funding 50% of all trial court interpreter services in the state.

Phase 2: Expand to full statewide implementation of 50% state funding of all trial court interpreter services based on interpreter cost and utilization data collected in Phase 1. Implement statewide innovations and best practices in providing interpreter and language assistance services. Continue to assist trial courts to create LAP's, with the goal of all trial courts having completed and implemented LAP's by June 2011. Establish a process for local and state-level periodic review and revision of LAP's.

For more information on the Interpreter Program, see the Court Interpreter page.

Or you may contact Katrin Johnson, Sr. Court Program Analyst at Katrin.Johnson@courts.wa.gov or (360) 704-4062.