Harris County has long afforded free interpreters to people navigating criminal cases, but it does not always offer the same to those with civil cases, local lawyers say. The denial for interpreters has become so routine that some legal advocates say they rarely even submit requests anymore.
Harris County has a population of 4.7 million people who speak more than 145 languages, according to U.S. Census Data. The county, however, has only 92 court-certified interpreters, according to the Texas Office of Court Administration Judicial Branch Certification Commission database that tracks the information.
Legal advocates and attorneys say the lack of interpreters, combined with what they say is a lack of cooperation from the judiciary, creates an unnecessary barrier for people to get justice.
The problem is not unique or new to Houston.
In 2010, Harris County was sued by the Texas Civil Rights Project for not providing a civil court interpreter to a woman with limited English proficiency. The woman, who was not named in the lawsuit, had gone to court to seek a protective order, custody of her young daughter and child support after leaving an abusive relationship. Living in a shelter and barely able to support her family, the woman was forced to pay more than $1,000 to hire interpreters to attend hearings.
The county ended up agreeing to a settlement in which it committed to adopting a formal plan to provide interpreters to indigent litigants and witnesses in civil hearings relating to family matters.
In neighboring Fort Bend County, the U.S. Department of Justice launched an investigation in 2021 in response to complaints that its district and county courts had denied meaningful access to people with limited English proficiency. The probe ended in a settlement that required the county to develop a plan for tackling language barriers, including offering interpreters for free in civil and criminal cases. Federal investigators said in August 2023 that the jurisdiction complied with its settlement terms and closed the investigation.
Harris County Commissioners Adrian Garcia and Lesley Briones say the problem has long been on their radar. If the county does not solve the problem, Garcia said he fears the county could face a federal investigation next.
The Commissioners Court’s power is limited, however: the county could develop a more comprehensive policy to fund interpreters at the civil courthouse, but it is up to courts and judges to implement and utilize that policy.
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Certified interpreters are required in court for a number of reasons, including conflicts of interest and a need for specialized training to avoid making mistakes while translating complex testimony.
Interpreters in Houston often require a two-hour minimum for services, which can present an additional obstacle to litigants. In addition to the financial burden — services typically can cost $200 or more an hour — it can present logistical challenges.
Case hearings often last mere minutes, lawyers said, and frequently are postponed. Clients, nonetheless, still are on the hook for the interpreter minimum. And if a case goes to trial, an individual could be looking at thousands of dollars just to make sure they understand what is going on. The cost, lawyers said, often results in people opting to drop their legal cases.
That’s the issue in a nutshell. There’s a lot more to the story, so go read the rest. I assume this is not just a Harris county issue and not even just a Texas issue but a national one, though there’s no mention about how the problem is being addressed elsewhere. There’s some tug of war between the Commissioners and the courts over what has and has not been done and what still needs to be done; I’m sure a lawsuit or federal investigation would sharpen the focus, but I’d rather it not come to that. Cost and the availability of qualified translators is an issue, and if all of the jurisdictions that should be addressing this try to do so, I’m sure we’d run into some shortages. The bottom line is that everyone should be able to access the courts, and that means that translators need to be more widely available. How we get there from here is the big question.