By: Gallegos S.B. No. 1892
(In the Senate - Filed March 11, 2009; March 24, 2009, read
first time and referred to Committee on Jurisprudence;
April 30, 2009, reported adversely, with favorable Committee
Substitute by the following vote: Yeas 4, Nays 0; April 30, 2009,
sent to printer.)
COMMITTEE SUBSTITUTE FOR S.B. No. 1892 By: Gallegos
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT
relating to the licensing of court interpreters.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
SECTION 1. Section 57.002, Government Code, is amended by
adding Subsection (b-1) to read as follows:
(b-1) A licensed court interpreter appointed by a court
under Subsection (a) or (b) must hold a license that includes the
appropriate designation under Section 57.043(d) that indicates the
interpreter is permitted to interpret in that court.
SECTION 2. Section 57.043, Government Code, is amended by
amending Subsection (a) and adding Subsections (d) and (e) to read
as follows:
(a) The executive director shall issue a court interpreter
license to an applicant who:
(1) can interpret for an individual who can hear but
who does not comprehend English or communicate in English;
(2) passes the appropriate examination prescribed by
the executive director not earlier than two years before the date
the executive director receives the applicant's application for a
license; and
(3) possesses the other qualifications for the license
required by this subchapter or by rules adopted under this
subchapter.
(d) A license issued under this subchapter must include at
least one of the following designations:
(1) a basic designation that permits the interpreter
to interpret court proceedings in justice courts and municipal
courts created under Chapter 29, other than proceedings referred by
the judges of those courts to a magistrate, master, referee,
associate judge, or hearing officer; or
(2) a master designation that permits the interpreter
to interpret court proceedings in all courts in this state,
including justice courts and municipal courts created under Chapter
29.
(e) In adopting rules relating to licensing under this
subchapter, the commission shall, after consulting with the board,
prescribe the minimum score an individual must achieve on an
examination to receive a license that includes a basic designation
under Subsection (d) and the minimum score an individual must
achieve to receive a license that includes a master designation
under that subsection.
SECTION 3. Subsection (a), Section 57.046, Government Code,
is amended to read as follows:
(a) The executive director shall prepare examinations under
this subchapter that test an applicant's knowledge, skill, and
efficiency in interpreting under this subchapter. The same
examinations must be used for issuing a license that includes a
basic designation or master designation as described by Section
57.043(d).
SECTION 4. (a) Notwithstanding Subsection (e), Section
57.043, Government Code, as added by this Act, and not later than
December 1, 2009, the executive director of the Texas Department of
Licensing and Regulation shall issue to a person who, on September
1, 2009, holds a court interpreter license issued under Subsection
(a), Section 57.043, Government Code, a new court interpreter
license that includes a master designation described by Subdivision
(2), Subsection (d), Section 57.043, Government Code, as added by
this Act.
(b) Subsection (d), Section 57.043, Government Code, as
added by this Act, applies only to a court interpreter license,
other than a court interpreter license issued under Subsection (a)
of this section, that is initially issued under Subsection (a),
Section 57.043, Government Code, as amended by this Act, on or after
September 1, 2009, and to the subsequent renewal of that license.
(c) Subsection (b-1), Section 57.002, Government Code, as
added by this Act, applies only to the appointment of a licensed
court interpreter on or after January 1, 2010. An appointment
before that date is governed by the law in effect on the date the
appointment was made, and the former law is continued in effect for
that purpose.
SECTION 5. This Act takes effect September 1, 2009.
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