Translation and interpreting services in Austin

Language access rules in Texas

Court interpreter program

Texas Judicial Branch Certification Commission (JBCC), which licenses spoken-language court interpreters under Government Code Chapter 157; sign language court interpreters are certified separately by the Texas Health and Human Services Commission's Board for Evaluation of Interpreters (BEI).

Court-certified languages

The JBCC offers licensing exams only in the 18 languages for which the National Center for State Courts has developed exams: Arabic, Amharic, Bosnian/Croatian/Serbian, Cantonese, French, Haitian Creole, Hmong, Khmer, Korean, Mandarin, Polish, Portuguese, Russian, Somali, Spanish, Tagalog, Turkish, and Vietnamese, and grants licensure by endorsement for qualifying NCSC member-state, NAJIT, or federal exam results; each license carries a basic designation (justice courts and municipal courts not of record) or a master designation (all Texas courts). Since September 1, 2006, sign language interpreters in Texas court proceedings must hold a BEI court interpreter certification or a current RID legal certificate.

The rule

Tex. Gov't Code § 57.002 requires a court, on a party's motion or a witness's request in any civil or criminal proceeding, to appoint a licensed court interpreter for a person who can hear but does not comprehend or communicate in English, and a certified court interpreter or certified CART provider for a person with a hearing impairment; unlicensed spoken-language interpreters, qualified by the court as experts, are allowed only in counties under 50,000, in counties covered by Civil Practice and Remedies Code § 21.021, or, for languages other than Spanish, when no licensed interpreter is within 75 miles. Tex. Code Crim. Proc. art. 38.30 requires an interpreter appointed under § 57.002 when a defendant or witness in a criminal proceeding does not understand and speak English.

School notices in the parent's language

Under Tex. Educ. Code § 29.056(d), a school's language proficiency assessment committee must give written notice of a student's emergent bilingual classification within 10 days, in English and the parent's primary language.

Bilingual election materials

Tex. Elec. Code ch. 272 requires English-Spanish ballots, instruction posters, and voter forms in every election precinct in a county where at least five percent of residents are of Spanish origin or descent, unless a precinct is formally exempted; the Secretary of State prepares the Spanish translations, except that the authority preparing the ballot translates ballot contents for elections other than primaries and elections ordered by the governor.

Interpreter costs for indigent parties

Under Tex. Gov't Code § 57.002(g), a party who files a statement of inability to afford court costs does not pay for a court-appointed interpreter unless the statement is contested and the court orders payment, and interpreter services for deaf, hard of hearing, and communication-disabled individuals are provided free of charge.

Sign language interpreter certification

Tex. Hum. Res. Code § 81.007 authorizes a state certification program in which the Board for Evaluation of Interpreters evaluates and certifies interpreters for deaf and hard of hearing people at several proficiency levels, with suspension, revocation, and renewal rules in §§ 81.0072-81.0073.

BEI specialty certificates

Beyond court certification, the BEI program offers generalist certificates (basic, advanced, and master), a medical interpreter certification, and a trilingual certification covering English, Spanish, and sign language.

Interpreter work authorization rule

JBCC rules require every applicant for court interpreter certification, licensure, or registration to provide proof of authorization to work in the United States, effective October 1, 2026.