BILL NUMBER: S916
SPONSOR: RYAN S
 
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 foreign language interpreters and tempo-
rary 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 support
their justice courts. Whenever necessary, it is the court's responsibil-
ity to provide in-person interpretation services. Failure to provide
appropriate interpretation services may create an appealable issue as it
impacts the defendant's right to due process. Due to an 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
interpreters for deaf and hard of hearing persons. Our county government
needs to provide additional support to help defray the cost of these
services.
The New York State Unified Court System has raised the per diem rate for
full day - $385 - and half day services - $220 - and has increased mile-
age rates to meet this demand. However, since the 1990s, Town and
Village Courts have received only $25 per day as reimbursement from
their county government to help offset these costs. This bill would
increase the per diem reimbursement to $110.
 
LEGISLATIVE HISTORY:
2024: S.9024/A.9806 Passed Senate
 
FISCAL IMPLICATIONS:
None to the state.
 
LOCAL FISCAL IMPLICATIONS:
To be determined.
 
EFFECTIVE DATE:
This act shall take effect immediately.

Statutes affected:
S916: 387 judiciary law, 390 judiciary law, 390(1) judiciary law