Courts cater to Spanish speakers

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Maryland and Virginia court officials say their budgets for Spanish-language interpreters have increased about 10 percent annually over the past decade as more immigrants and illegal aliens have settled in the area.

Virginia officials added nine freelance, Spanish-language interpreters in fiscal 2005, which brought its total to 113 and cost $3.42 million -- a 12.3 percent budget increase over fiscal 2004.

The state's fiscal 2005 budget for the entire courts system was $269.9 million, which covered 2,568 employees but did not include substitute judges, circuit court clerks or wage employees.

Maryland contracted the services of 350 interpreters, about 45 percent of them Spanish speaking, at a cost of $1.75 million in fiscal 2005 and has budgeted more than $2 million for interpreters in fiscal 2006. The state court system in fiscal 2005 had a $311.2 million budget and employed about 4,700 judges, contractors and full- and part-time employees.

The District reduced its contracting costs in fiscal 2005 for its federally funded interpreter program -- from $650,000 to $450,000.

However, the reduction was the result of the system adding more Spanish-language interpreters to its staff. The system now has about 200 interpreters proficient in 56 languages.

About $82.4 million of the D.C. court system's $133.5 million operating budget in fiscal 2005 went to about 1,160 employees.

Hispanics represent 40 percent of the 1 million immigrants and illegal aliens in the region, and their population has doubled within the last decade, the District-based Urban Institute reports.

Court officials say the demand for interpreters is quickly outpacing the supply.

"There's really just a deficit in instructing people in attaining the skills needed to become an interpreter," said Linda Etzold, who helps oversee Maryland's court-interpreting program. "There's a desperate need for it. But the community colleges, which I think would be a really good place to start, have no interpreting courses."