Illinois Supreme Court – Language Interpreter Registry

The Administrative Office of the Illinois Courts maintains the following Court Interpreter Registry (Registry). The Registry lists four different types of interpreters that have met certain training and testing requirements: registered, qualified, and certified foreign language interpreters, and eligible sign language interpreters.

  1. “Master” and “Advanced” American sign language (ASL) interpreters on the Registry are licensed with the Illinois Deaf and Hard of Hearing Commission (IDHHC). Master and Advanced level licenses have been determined by the IDHHC to be sufficient to interpret in legal settings. Individuals with Master or Advanced level licensure have passed examinations assessing their sign language interpreting skills. To be listed on the Registry, the sign language interpreters below also attended a two-day orientation that provided ethics training, interpreting skill-building and an overview of the Illinois court system.

  2. "Certified" foreign language interpreters have completed the certification requirements in Illinois by 1) attending a two-day orientation, 2) passing a written examination that assesses English proficiency, and 3) passing the National Center for State Courts (NCSC) oral examination that assesses proficiency in both English and the foreign language, knowledge of legal terminology and interpreting skills. The oral examination is currently available in 20 languages. The passage rate for certification is scoring 70% or higher on each part of the exam. Some certified interpreters have federal certification or have completed the same certification requirements in other states and were extended reciprocity in Illinois.

  3. "Qualified" foreign language interpreters speak a language that is not available for testing using the NCSC oral examination for court interpreting. To demonstrate language proficiency, “qualified” interpreters instead take an “oral proficiency interview” (OPI) that assesses whether someone has native-like language fluency in both English and the second language. “Qualified” interpreters have 1) attended a two-day orientation, 2) passed a written examination that assesses English proficiency, and 3) passed an OPI with a score of 10 or higher.

  4. "Registered"
    1. "Registered" foreign language interpreters have 1) attended a two-day court interpreter orientation, 2) passed the written examination, and 3) passed the NCSC oral examination with a score of 60% or higher on each part of the exam.

    2. “Registered**” foreign language interpreters with a double asterisk (**) next to their certification status speak a language that cannot be tested by the NCSC oral exam or the OPI, and they have completed all available requirements to be listed on the AOIC Registry in their language.

The Registry is organized by certification status for foreign language interpreters (Certified, Qualified, Registered), and by IDHHC licensure status for sign language interpreters (Masters and Advanced). Within each certification status, the Registry is organized alphabetically by language, and within each language, the interpreters are listed alphabetically by last name. The "Circuits" column lists the circuits in which each interpreter is willing to work. Click on the Illinois Judicial Circuits Map to see which counties are included in each judicial circuit.




   
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