Mission Statement
To serve the court and community by providing meaningful language access services to the limited English proficient (LEP) court users and the hearing impaired, thereby ensuring the legitimacy of our system of justice and the trust and confidence of the public we serve.
Interpreters for the Deaf or Hard of Hearing
There are American Sign Language interpreters and realtime captioning for parties and witnesses that are deaf or hard of hearing (or have another disability). The court will provide Communication Access Realtime Translation (CART), a sign language interpreter, or any other accommodation you may need. You should file a Request for Accommodations by Persons with Disabilities form as soon as possible, but at least five (5) days prior to the hearing. You can read more about this and complete the required form in the For Persons with Disabilities Requesting Accommodations section of this website.
Video Remote Interpreting (VRI)
Video remote interpreting (VRI) uses audio and video technologies to provide court users with spoken or sign language interpreting through a remote or off-site interpreter. The goal of VRI is to provide language access to limited English proficient (LEP) court users when court-provided, in person interpreters are not readily available.
VRI in the courtroom:
To learn more about how VRI is used in the courtroom, please review the instructional material below:
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ's)
A language interpreter is anyone who interprets in a court proceeding (e.g., arraignment, motion, pretrial conference, preliminary hearing, deposition, trial) for a witness or defendant who speaks or understands little to no English.
Language interpreters must accurately interpret for individuals with a high level of education and an expansive vocabulary, as well as individuals with very limited language skills without changing the language register of the speaker. Interpreters are also sometimes responsible for translating written documents, often of a legal nature, from English into the target language and from the target language into English.
To learn more about interpreter duties, please visit our Interpreter Information page.
American Sign Language (ASL) is a visual language. The shape, placement, and movement of the hands, as well as facial expressions and body movements, all play important parts in conveying information.
It is the role of an ASL interpreter to facilitate communication between individuals speaking in English and those who are deaf or hard of hearing. They are professionally trained to listen to spoken English—including inflection and intent—and simultaneously render it into ASL.
Communication Access Realtime Translation (CART) is a professional service in which a CART provider, or captioner, translates the spoken word into English text using a stenotype machine, notebook computer, and realtime software.
To ensure and protect the rights of deaf or hearing-impaired individuals to full communication access, the CART captioner shall not function in a dual capacity of the official court reporter and CART captioner.
If you need an interpreter for your scheduled scheduled court hearing, please make your request at the time you appear for your court hearing, or contact the courtroom in advance to make the request. If you need an interpreter for any other court-provided service, including your visit to the Clerk's Office or Self-Help Services, inform court staff at the time you seek service.
State law (EC § 756) has specified an order of priority for providing interpreters to civil litigants. This court has determined to provide an interpreter in all 5 mandatory case types and at least the top 6 of 8 priorities as specified by law.