SUNDAY, NOVEMBER 17, 2024 IMAGE: "Sawtooth National Forest - Stanley, Idaho"
U.S. DISTRICT COURT
District of Idaho
Chief Judge David C. Nye
Public 2 New
SUNDAY, NOVEMBER 17, 2024
Notice of Electronic Filing Phishing Scam
The District of Idaho has received information that fake Notices of Electronic Filing (NEF) are circulating nationwide. If the recipient responds to the message, they are sent a follow-up email containing a link to access a document that leads the recipient to a malicious website.
The use of competent federal court interpreters in proceedings involving speakers of languages other than English is critical to ensure that justice is carried out fairly for defendants and other stakeholders. The Court Interpreters Act, 28 USC § 1827 provides that the Director of the Administrative Office of the United States Courts shall prescribe, determine, and certify the qualifications of persons who may serve as certified interpreters, when the Director considers certification of interpreters to be merited, for the hearing impaired (whether or not also speech impaired) and persons who speak only or primarily a language other than the English language, in judicial proceedings instituted by the United States.
A Federally Certified Interpreter has passed the Administrative Office certification examination. The Administrative Office's Spanish-English Federal Court Interpreter Certification Examination is administered in two phases. Candidates must pass the written exam in order to qualify to take an oral examination. The oral examination measures a candidate's ability to accurately perform simultaneous as well as consecutive interpretation and sight translations as encountered in the federal courts.
The use of competent federal court interpreters in proceedings involving speakers of languages other than English is critical to ensure that justice is carried out fairly for defendants and other stakeholders.
For more information on federal court interpreters, you may visit the United States Courts website.
The District of Idaho has several Federally Certified Interpreters that can be used for both in court and out of court needs. To see a list of all available interpreters, see the Interpreter List and Contact Information below.
General Order #253 authorizes interpreter services at $50 per hour for Non-Certified Interpreters (not to exceed $300 per day) and $60 per hour for Certified Interpreters (not to exceed $360 per day). To see a list of all the interpreters available who may provide out-of-court services, see the Interpreter List and Contact Information sheet.
Orientation Manual & Glossary
The Federal Court Interpreter Orientation Manual and Glossary was developed at the recommendation of the Court Interpreters Advisory Group (CIAG).
This MANUAL serves as a guide for both new and experienced court interpreters to familiarize themselves with the Judiciary's expectations of court interpreters and the importance of court interpreters in the administration of justice. It provides an introduction and reference to the federal court system and documents best practices for both new and experienced interpreters in the courts.
The Guide to Judiciary Policy, Vol. 19, Chp. 4 outlines the judiciary staff travel regulations. Traveling contract court interpreters and Criminal Justice Act (CJA) panel attorneys, investigators, and experts, are required to comply with these regulations.
Judiciary Staff Travel Regulations
Federally Certified:
| Full Day | $566 |
| Half-Day | $320 (4 hours or any fraction thereof) |
| Overtime | $80 per hour |
Professionally Qualified:
| Full Day | $495 |
| Half-Day | $280 (4 hours or any fraction thereof) |
| Overtime | $70 per hour |
Non-Certified (Language-skilled):
| Full Day | $350 |
| Half-Day | $190 (4 hours or any fraction thereof) |
| Overtime | $44 per hour |
Federal Certification is only provided for the Spanish, Navajo, and Haitian-Creole languages. For the non-certified languages, the court can pay up to the certified rate ($566 for a full-day and $320 for a half-day) without approval from the Administrative Office if the interpreter is professionally qualified.
Yes. General Order #253 authorizes interpreter services at $50 per hour for out-of-court services for non-certified interpreters (not to exceed $300 per day) with court-appointed counsel. Certified interpreters may charge $60 per hour (not to exceed $360 per day).
Yes. The rates allowed for translation of documents is; 16.5 cents/word for general documents (documents that don't have specialized terminology), 17 cents/word for Semi-technical documents (document that contains some specialized terminology), and 18.5 cents/word for technical documents (documents with highly specialized or esoteric terminology and thus requires special expertise).
There is no requirement to use a certified interpreter to translate documents.
If the interpreter is not federally certified, then the court may use the services of an "otherwise qualified interpreter." Otherwise qualified interpreters consist of either "professionally qualified" or "language skilled" interpreters.
To qualify as "professionally qualified", an interpreter must:
1. (a) Passed the U.S. Department of State conference or seminar interpreter test in a language pair that includes English and the target language. The U.S. Department of State's escort interpreter test is not accepted as qualifying.
2. (b) Passed the interpreter test of the United Nations in a language pair that includes English and the target language.
3. (c) Is a current member in good standing of:
1. The Association Internationale des Interpretes de Conference (AIIC); or
2. The American Association of Language Specialists (TAALS).
4. The language pair of the membership qualification must be English and the target language.
5. (d) For sign language interpreters, someone who holds the Specialist Certificate: Legal (SC:L) of the Registry of Interpreters for the Deaf (RID) .
Interpreters who do not qualify as "professionally qualified interpreters", but who can demonstrate to the satisfaction of the court their ability to interpreter court proceedings from English to a designated language and from that language to English, will considered a language skilled interpreter.
Becoming a federally certified Spanish interpreter is a two-step process. First, the individual must take and successfully pass the written Spanish/English examination. Next, they need to successfully pass the oral Spanish/English examination. Once both exams are successfully passed, the candidate is considered federally certified. The minimum time requirement to become certified is two years. The written examination is administered one year, with the oral examination administered in the following year.
Federal Court Interpreter Certification Examination (FCICE). To receive updated testing information from FCICE, you may call the hot-line at (757) 259-7501.
No. Simultaneous interpreting equipment is available to accommodate multi-defendant trials. Many courts use Sennheiser interpreting equipment that would allow an interpreter to provide interpreting services to several defendants at the same time. Not only will this reduce the amount spent on interpreting funds, but it will ensure that each defendant is receiving the same translation.
The Court Interpreters Act, See 28 USC § 1827(d)(1), says "The presiding judicial officer, with the assistance of the Director of the Administrative Office of the United States Courts, shall utilize the services of the most available certified, or when no certified interpreter is reasonably available, as determined by the presiding judicial officer, the services of an otherwise qualified interpreter, in judicial proceedings instituted by the United States..."
Yes. 28 USC § 1827(i) provides that, subject to the availability of appropriated funds, the appointment of sign language interpreters to provide services to a party, witness or other participant in a judicial proceeding, whether or not the proceeding is instituted by the U.S., if the presiding judicial officer determines that such individual suffers from a hearing impairment. Judicial Conference policy also provides other appropriate auxiliary aids to deaf and hearing-impaired participants in federal court proceedings in accordance with guidelines prepared by the Administrative Office.
In judicial proceedings instituted by the United States, an interpreter may be appointed by the presiding judicial officer as required by 28 USC § 1827(d)(1). In bankruptcy courts, the presiding judicial officer will appoint an interpreter only if the United States initiates the proceedings. In accordance with 28 USC appointed interpreters will be paid by the United States from appropriations available to the judiciary.
Where the Act does not require the appointment of an interpreter at the expense of the United States, the clerk may provide assistance to litigants in locating an available interpreter.
There are several resources for locating persons who interpret in other languages other than Spanish. The State of Idaho Court Administrator's Office maintains a list of interpreters of all languages, sorted by judicial district. The number for receiving a copy of this list is (208) 947-7417.
Other sources may be local hospitals, immigration and refugee organizations. Chamber of Commerce and university-foreign language departments. Also, professional translation services are listed in the yellow-pages.
Contact the Clerk's Office at (208) 334-1361.
