Courts accepting applications for virtual court-interpreter training

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The Director of State Courts Office is accepting applications for a virtual orientation for court-interpreter training.

The five-day orientation will start on Sunday, Sept. 13 and continue Sept. 19 to 20 and Sept. 26 to 27. The training is usually offered in person, but the courts are now offering it by Zoom because of the COVID-19 pandemic.

The orientation costs $140 and offers training from judges, attorneys and certified court interpreters. The Sept. 13 session starts with two lectures on common legal terms, which are scheduled for 10 a.m. to 11:15 a.m. and 2 p.m. to 3:15 p.m. The weekend sessions run from 8:45 a.m. to noon.

The application for the training session can be found online and is due by Sept. 8. Those who attend will need a computer or device, Internet access and the Zoom app.

According to the Office of Court Operations, the courts request Spanish interpreters most often, but they use interpreters in more than 50 languages each year. The courts are constantly trying to recruit qualified interpreters in other languages, including Arabic, Burmese, Cantonese, Mandarin, French, Hmong, Karen, Somali and Vietnamese.

Scholarships are available for certain non-Spanish languages.

Anyone who completes the orientation, achieves minimum scores on the tests and meets other requirements will appear on a public roster of interpreters available to the courts, law-enforcement agencies, attorneys and law-related agencies.

Write to Carmel Capati, manager of the interpreter program manager at the Office of Court Operations, at [email protected] or call at 608-266-8635 for more information. Follow @WLJReporter