NEW YORK STATE ASSEMBLY MEMORANDUM IN SUPPORT OF LEGISLATION submitted in accordance with Assembly Rule III, Sec 1(f)
BILL NUMBER: A3669
SPONSOR: Conrad TITLE OF BILL:
An act to amend the judiciary law, in relation to requiring town and
village courts compensate temporary interpreters for deaf or hard of
hearing persons
PURPOSE OR GENERAL IDEA OF BILL:
Town and Village Justice Courts are facing exponential cost increases
with the growing demand for court interpreters. The New-York State
Unified Court System has raised the per diem rate for full day - $385
and half day services - $220 as well as milage rates to meet this
demand. However, since the 1990s Town and Village Courts have received
only $25 per day reimbursement from their county government to help
offset the ' cost.
SUMMARY OF PROVISIONS:
Section 1 amends chapter 15 Section 387 of judiciary law of 1975 to
increase the rate of reimbursement county governments from $25 per day
to one hundred ten dollars ($110) per day for services by a temporary
court interpreter. If the cost is more than $110 the remaining balance
will be paid by the town or village where the court is located.
Section 2 provides the same rate increases for interpreters for the deaf
or hard of hearing.
JUSTIFICATION:
As per our state constitution, each town must support a justice court.
Proper representation is a hallmark of equal access to justice. It is
every person's right to be treated fairly. Whenever necessary, it is the
Court's responsibility to provide in=person translation services. Fail-
ure to provide appropriate translation services may create an appealable
issue as it may impact the defendant's right to due process. Due to the
increase in cultural diversity, our town and village courts are seeing
more and more demand for interpreter services for multiple languages as
well as for the deaf and hard of hearing. Our county government needs to
provide additional support to help defray the cost for these services.
PRIOR LEGISLATIVE HISTORY:
New Legislation
FISCAL IMPLICATIONS FOR STATE AND LOCAL GOVERNMENTS:
No cost for state government. County government costs TBD.
EFFECTIVE DATE:
Immediately
