BILL NUMBER: S9024
SPONSOR: RYAN
 
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:
The per diem rate for temporary interpreters for deaf or hard of hearing
persons at town and village courts has been set at $25 for decades. This
bill seeks to increase the compensation provided to such interpreters.
 
SUMMARY OF PROVISIONS:
Section 1: amends section 387 of the Judiciary Law by increasing the per
diem rate for temporary interpreters at town and village courts from $25
to $110. Specifies that if the compensation of the interpreter is great-
er than $110, the difference will be paid by the town.
Section 2: amends subdivision 1 of section 390 of the Judiciary Law to
clarify that in instances where temporary interpreter services are
provided, the fee must be paid consistent with section 387 of the Judi-
ciary Law.
Section 3: effective date.
 
JUSTIFICATION:
The New York State Constitution requires that municipalities must
support their justice courts. Whenever necessary, it is the court's
responsibility to provide in-person interpretation services. Failure to
provide appropriate interpretation services may create an appealable
issue as impacts 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.
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. This bill would increase the per diem reimburse-
ment to $110.
 
LEGISLATIVE HISTORY:
New bill.
 
FISCAL IMPLICATIONS:
None to the state.
 
LOCAL FISCAL IMPLICATIONS:
To be determined.
 
EFFECTIVE DATE:
This act shall take effect immediately.

Statutes affected:
S9024: 387 judiciary law, 390 judiciary law, 390(1) judiciary law