Translation and interpreting services in Parma

Language access rules in Ohio

Court interpreter program

Supreme Court of Ohio Language Services Section, which administers testing, certification, and credentialing of court interpreters through the Court Interpreter Credentialing Program, publishes the roster of interpreters, and makes roster interpreters available to courts by telephone and video.

Court-certified languages

Ohio offers credentialing in more than 40 languages, including ASL, with National Center for State Courts tests in 17 of them (Amharic, Arabic, Bosnian-Croatian-Serbian, Cantonese, Filipino, French, Haitian Creole, Hmong, Khmer, Korean, Mandarin, Polish, Portuguese, Russian, Spanish, Turkish, and Vietnamese); candidates scoring 70% or more on each oral exam part become certified and those scoring above 60% become provisionally qualified, and Sup.R. 9.10 also recognizes registered and language-skilled interpreters below them. Sign language interpreters must hold the RID Specialist Certificate: Legal to be listed as sign language interpreters.

The rule

R.C. 2311.14(A)(1) requires the court to appoint a qualified interpreter whenever a party or witness cannot readily understand or communicate because of a hearing, speech, or other impairment, and Sup.R. 9.10 (formerly Sup.R. 88) requires courts to appoint a foreign language interpreter for a limited English proficient party or witness when needed for meaningful participation, and a sign language interpreter for a deaf, hard of hearing, or deaf-blind party, witness, or juror who requests one or whom the court finds needs one.

Order of appointment

Sup.R. 9.10 requires courts to appoint a Supreme Court certified interpreter in person, and to use a provisionally qualified or registered interpreter, then a language-skilled interpreter, then a telephonic or video interpreter, only after summarizing on the record its efforts to obtain a certified one; courts must use all reasonable efforts to avoid appointing friends, family, other court staff, law enforcement, or counsel as interpreters.

Team interpreting

Sup.R. 9.10 requires two or more interpreters for any case or court function lasting two or more hours that requires continuous, simultaneous, or consecutive interpretation, for shorter matters when complexity warrants, and whenever multiple parties, witnesses, or jurors need an interpreter.

Ancillary court services

Sup.R. 9.11 (formerly Sup.R. 89) requires courts to provide foreign language and sign language communication services in conjunction with ancillary court services, using credentialed interpreters or court employees the Language Services Section has qualified.

Limits on artificial intelligence

Sup.R. 9.09 (effective October 30, 2025, amended November 13, 2025) bars courts from using artificial intelligence to translate substantive legal writings such as legal forms, court orders, and probation conditions, or to interpret in any substantive legal proceeding, and allows AI translation of general court information only with clear disclosure to the public.

Credentialing exams

The Ohio written exam covers general English proficiency, court terminology, and interpreter ethics with an 80% passing score, and the oral exam requires 70% on each of its sight translation, consecutive, and simultaneous parts.

Statewide hotline

The Supreme Court of Ohio's Language Services page tells court users who are not provided a court-appointed interpreter to call 1-888-317-3177 (weekdays 8 a.m. to 5 p.m.), and states that roster interpreters are available to courts by telephone and video.