Translation and interpreting services in Wisconsin Dells

Language access rules in Wisconsin

Court interpreter program

Wisconsin Court Interpreter Program (CIP), administered by the Director of State Courts Office through the Office of Court Operations, which is the only entity in the state that certifies and credentials spoken-language court interpreters.

Court-certified languages

The CIP certifies interpreters through NCSC oral exams in 17 languages (Amharic, Arabic, Bosnian-Serbian-Croatian, Cantonese, French, Haitian Creole, Hmong, Korean, Mandarin, Polish, Portuguese, Russian, Somali, Spanish, Tagalog, Turkish, and Vietnamese) and credentials about 70 other languages through an Authorized track based on an Oral Proficiency Interview. Its current roster lists certified interpreters in American Sign Language, Spanish, French, German, Mandarin, Polish, and Russian, and also lists Provisional, Provisional-B, Authorized Plus, and Authorized interpreters.

The rule

Wis. Stat. § 885.38(3) requires a circuit or appellate court that finds a person has limited English proficiency (defined to include inability to communicate in English because of hearing loss or deafness) and needs an interpreter to advise the person of the right to a qualified interpreter at public expense when the person is a party in interest, a witness, an alleged victim, or a parent or guardian of a minor party; under § 885.38(8), the county pays for circuit court interpreters and is reimbursed in the manner the Director of State Courts determines.

Interpreters in agency contested cases

Under Wis. Stat. § 885.37(3), a state, county, or municipal agency conducting a contested case hearing must determine whether a party's language difficulty or hearing impairment requires an interpreter and, if so, advise the party of the right to a qualified interpreter, which the agency may provide at public expense.

Sign language interpreter licensing

Wis. Stat. § 440.032 bars anyone from providing sign language interpretation for compensation without a license from the Department of Safety and Professional Services, with narrow exceptions such as DPI-licensed educational interpreters in schools, religious services, and emergency interpreting by an employee lasting no more than 24 hours.

Bilingual school notices

Wis. Stat. § 115.96(2) requires a school board that may have to offer a bilingual-bicultural program to send each eligible limited-English proficient pupil's parent an annual notice by April 1, in English and in the pupil's non-English language.

Bilingual-bicultural programs

Under Wis. Stat. § 115.97, a school board must establish a bilingual-bicultural program taught by a bilingual teacher when a school has 10 or more limited-English proficient pupils of one language group in kindergarten to grade 3, or 20 or more in grades 4 to 8 or 9 to 12, whose parents consent.

Municipal courts

Under Wis. Stat. § 885.37(1) and (4), a municipal court must advise a juvenile, parent, or witness in a chapter 938 proceeding whose language difficulty or hearing or speech impairment prevents effective communication of the right to a qualified interpreter, and the municipality pays for interpreters for indigent persons.

Refugee resettlement

The Wisconsin Department of Children and Families runs the state's federally funded refugee resettlement program, offering employment help, healthcare, cash assistance, legal services, and youth programs; the first refugees to arrive in Wisconsin were Hmong people from Laos in the 1970s.