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Court Interpreters and Bilingual Job Descriptions


Court Interpreter Coordinator

COURT INTERPRETER: Marin County Superior Court, California. Summary: Court Interpreters provide an essential public service giving assistance to non-English speaking parties. They perform a wide variety of language interpretation activities for the court and for parties to proceedings, other court personnel and the public; court-ordered programs for which an interpreter is required; interviews with defendants and witnesses; sight translation of court documents; probate investigations, mediation sessions and child custody evaluations; and perform other job related duties as required. Court Interpreters are full-time, forty (40) hour per week employees, eligible for court-provided benefits. Duties: Interprets from and into English and the applicable non-English language using simultaneous and consecutive modes at court proceedings and for other court-related departments at the direction of the court. Makes sight translations for the benefit of the court of documents including, but not limited to, court petitions, reports, waivers, felony disposition statement forms, and other documents. Interprets for judges, attorneys, court staff, and other court-related departments at the direction of the court. Interprets between languages in court proceedings. Qualifications: Possession of a valid certificate as a "Certified Court Interpreter" issued by the Judicial Council of California on behalf of the State of California, or registered as a Court Interpreter by the Judicial Council of California on behalf of the State of California. Salary: $73,444.80. (2009)

COURT INTERPRETER PROGRAM MANAGER: Wisconsin Court System, Office of Court Operations. Summary: The Court Interpreter Program Manager (CIPM) administers the Court’s interpreter program under the direction of the Deputy Director of State Court for Court Operations. The CIPM works in multi-lingual legal settings, which requires knowledge of how language barriers interact with the court system. This position’s role is to ensure that the court is able to serve individuals with limited English abilities. Duties: The CIPM performs her or his duties under general supervision from the Deputy Director. As the primary resource for language issues, the CIPM uses her or his knowledge and experiences to promote policies and to develop strategies that she or he identifies as solutions to the language barriers in the court system. The CIPM must administer the interpretation services in accordance with the guidelines of a federal grant. The CIPM primarily works within the court system. Frequent contacts involve other employees in the Office of Court Operations and court officers needing interpreter services. When conducting judicial education, the CIPM interacts with a wide range of audiences, including judges, court staff, attorneys and community groups. The CIPM must recruit court interpreters, and curriculum development requires interaction with other language professionals. The CIPM may be assigned a limited term employee. In these instances, the CIPM is responsible for coaching and training this limited term employee as well as assigning and reviewing her/his work. The CIPM’s responsibilities include coordinating the interpreter training and certification, developing curriculum, maintaining a statewide roster of interpreters, managing the translation of documents, and evaluating that the court’s needs for interpretation are met. The CIPM manages a federal grant, staffs a committee, and conducts outreach on the interpreter program. Tasks: Organizes the Orientation Training Program, which includes administering tests and background checks (50%). Provides advanced language resources, such as training in Spanish and Hmong and the creation of a Hmong legal glossary (20%). Oversees the translation of court materials by identifying documents and coordinating the translators (10%). Administers grants for court interpretation and staff the Committee to Improve Interpretation and Translation in Wisconsin (10%). Conducts outreach to inform judges, attorneys and other law officers on the role and resources of the Interpreters and Training program (10%). Qualifications: Courses in language or adult education, or related field or comparable experience. Training and/or experience in program management in a court setting. Training and/or experience working with interpreters and diverse cultures. License and/or Certificate Required. Knowledge and Abilities Required: Knowledge of the court process as it relates to language barriers; ability to communicate with diverse groups; computer skills; and strong writing and public speaking skills. (2008)

SENIOR COURT SERVICES ANALYST: Court Interpreters Program, California Judiciary San Francisco, CA. Summary: Become a part of a dynamic program supporting language access to justice in the most linguistically diverse state in the nation. The Senior Court Services Analyst in the Court Interpreters Program of the Executive Office Programs Division, Administrative Office of the Courts, will perform advanced analytical and consultative work on a variety of court interpreter related projects or services. Duties: Act as a lead on assigned projects, ensuring that individual and team projects are completed on schedule and within budget, and provide status updates to the CIP supervisor/manager; Provide lead direction, training, and work review to other CIP staff. Conduct and oversee studies and initiatives, including gathering data, analyzing findings, and preparing analytical reports and programmatic or policy recommendations; Gather, analyze and apply data to help formulate policy and programs that advance branch-wide strategic and operational plans. Lead in the development, initiation and monitoring of projects, including budgets, requests for proposal, selection of outside professional consultants, and preparation and management of professional services contracts; Explore and recommend strategies to improve current language access policies and programs, and related public outreach efforts focusing on minority language communities; Review completed projects, designs, and studies to evaluate desired effectiveness; Collaborate with internal and external stakeholders in identifying and developing court access projects related to interpreters and language issues; Communicate with interpreter representatives, judicial officers, trial court administrators and staff on judicial branch policies, certification standards, and complaint resolution; Assist in staffing the Court Interpreter Advisory Panel and its subcommittees, including preparing written reports, agendas, meeting materials, proposals, and recommendations; and Respond to inquiries from the public, state and federal agencies, state and national professional organizations, and out-of-state courts regarding California’s court interpreters program. Must be available to work occasional overtime and available for occasional travel statewide as necessary. Qualifications: Equivalent to possession of a bachelor’s degree, preferably with major course work in court, public, or business administration, and three years of professional analytical or managerial experience in court, governmental, or other organizational operations that has involved program analysis, development, and implementation, including one year of lead experience. Additional directly related experience may be substituted for the education on a year-for-year basis. Possession of a directly related postgraduate degree or certification from the Institute for Court Management (ICM) may be substituted for one of the three years of required experience. OR: One year as a Court Services Analyst with the judicial branch. Salary: $6,055 - $7,358 per month. (2007)

ADMINISTRATIVE SPECIALIST 2: Superior Court of New Jersey, Morris and Sussex Vicinage. Duties: Under the direction of the Court Executive 2B (General Operations Division Manager) and/or other supervisory personnel, will be responsible for the administration of the Interpreters Unit. The selected individual will schedule staff interpreters to various courtrooms, schedule all freelance interpreters in accordance with Judiciary policy, collect data, prepare vouchers and statistical reports. The candidate shall perform varied operational and administrative tasks relative to the operation of the division and required by the division manager. These tasks may include: drafting correspondence, reports or proposals, providing technical advice, analyzing data and maintaining timekeeping records. The candidate will perform other related tasks as required. Qualifications: Graduation from an accredited college or university with a bachelor’s degree. One year of technical experience in working in Program Evaluation, Administrative Operations, and/or Human Resources. Applicants who do not possess the required education may substitute experience on a year-for-year basis. Knowledge of Word and Excel would be helpful. Salary: $36,746.12-$60,202.39. (2007)

ADMINISTRATIVE SUPERVISOR 1: Superior Court of New Jersey, Passaic Vicinage. Summary: The Passaic Vicinage is seeking a professional self-starter to work in the General Operations Division’s Jury Management and Court Interpreting Units. Duties: The selected Candidate will instruct staff or team members on work-related matters; assign workload or specific duties to staff or team members; regulate flow of work in accordance with operating schedules; recommend procedures or practices to ensure efficient court/unit operation; schedule staff or team members’ work hours or vacation time; conduct formal work performance evaluations with staff or team members; evaluate unit or team performance in accordance with established policies or procedures; determine staff or team members training needs; mediate conflicts among staff or team members; provide training or cross-training to co-workers; review and correct work of staff or team members; recommend and/or implement personnel actions (such as hiring, firing, promoting, disciplining, recognizing or demoting); check written reports for completeness or accuracy; define objectives for work performance, e.g., performance standards, performance management or work outputs and prioritize work or work operations for unit or organization. Qualifications: Graduation from an accredited college or university with a bachelor’s degree. Three years of increasingly responsible experience, one of which shall have included experience in program administration including: development, coordination, analysis, implementation, administration or research. Applicants who do not possess the required education may substitute experience on a year-for-year basis. A master’s degree may be substituted for one year of general experience as indicated above. A law degree may be substituted for two years of general experience as indicated above. Salary: $44,497.94 - $72,335.64. (2006)  

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  Archived Court Interpreter Director Positions 1992-2005

 

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Last Modified: December 11, 2008
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