Lifetime Citizen Portal Access — AI Briefings, Alerts & Unlimited Follows
Judicial Council approves revised ASL certification guidelines and interim funding plan for interpreter services
Loading...
Summary
The Judicial Council approved updated guidelines to broaden approval of certifying organizations for American Sign Language court interpreters and approved using program savings to address fiscal shortfalls in court interpreter funding.
The Judicial Council on Feb. 21 approved revised guidelines for approving certification programs for American Sign Language court interpreters and approved allocations from court interpreter program savings to address recent funding shortfalls.
The council approved changes to allow out-of-state certifying organizations to apply, remove a prior requirement that evaluators be California judges or state bar members, and streamline the application process for certifying bodies. "ASL is one of the most requested languages in California courts," said Annabelle Romero of the Court Interpreters' Advisory Panel during the presentation. The presenters also noted that, before a temporary recognition was granted in 2024, there was effectively no national testing pathway for ASL court certification.
The nuts and bolts: the council directed Language Access Services to implement a simplified four-page, yes/no application with supporting documentation and to require approved organizations to reapply every four years for continued standing. Russell McGregor, senior analyst with the Judicial Council Center for Families, Children and the Courts, outlined why the council removed California-only and specific-panel composition restrictions: those elements had functionally blocked otherwise qualified certifying organizations from applying.
Separately, the council approved recommendations to allocate up to $4.6 million from the Courts Interpreter Program (CIP) fund balance to courts that exceeded their allocations in fiscal year 2023–24, and to make remaining CIP fund balance available midyear to address shortfalls in fiscal years 2024–25 and 2025–26 as program savings permit. Rebecca Fleming, vice chair of the Trial Court Budget Advisory Committee, described the allocations as intended to "ensure that critical interpreter services for limited English proficient court users are maintained." Presenters said contractor interpreter costs rose sharply (contractor expenditures rose roughly $8.3 million, or 32.7%, between fiscal years compared in the presentation), driving the need for the allocations.
Council members moved and approved both items by voice vote. The revisions to the ASL guideline and the CIP allocations now go into the council's administrative records and implementation steps described in the presentation will be followed by council staff and advisory committees.
Background and next steps: council staff will review applications under the revised guidelines and continue outreach to encourage qualified ASL interpreters to seek certification. CIP monitoring and further funding requests for 2026–27 were discussed as a next step if program expenditures continue to exceed appropriations.
