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Local presenter says translated court forms sharply reduced failures to appear, raised revenue in study
Summary
A presenter described an Arkansas Access to Justice study that translated 224 court forms into several languages and reported an 86.4% decline in failures to appear for the studied language groups and revenue increases in the first two years reported.
A presenter who worked with Arkansas Access to Justice described a county pilot supporting a study of translated court forms and told the court the results showed large reductions in failures to appear and higher collections from affected demographics.
The presenter said 224 of 230 court forms were translated into Spanish, Marshallese and Korean (with additional languages in progress). She reported an 86.4% overall decline in failures to appear among the populations who received translated forms, with 64.7% decline among Spanish speakers and 48% among Marshallese recipients, and said revenue figures rose in the first years after translation (examples cited for 2023–2024 showing increases to $79,999 and later $93,000 growth). The work was done with a law-student intern who aggregated data for the study.
Committee members praised the results and asked whether the study had been published and how it would be shared with other jurisdictions; the presenter said Arkansas Access to Justice posted the study on its website and social platforms and that the group hoped other courts would adopt translated forms to improve access to justice.
Court members asked how the work would be disseminated and whether other counties would adopt the approach; the presenter said the study was public and posted and that the organization hoped other courts would follow suit.
The court did not take formal action on this presentation but applauded the results and discussed potential adoption and information sharing.
