Harris County’s district and county courts unveiled an updated plan Wednesday for expanding interpreter services for those navigating the court system, but said they will need millions in additional funding to sustain the effort.
The revamped plan calls for increasing the number of available interpreters, training judges and staff around language access and posting the availability of interpreters online and in the courthouse. The plan also calls for additional notice and signs about individuals’ rights to interpreter services.
The announcement comes three months after Harris County Commissioners Court bolstered the courts’ funding by $725,000 to help increase the number of publicly-funded courtroom interpreters in district and county civil courts.
The county long has provided free interpreters to people navigating the criminal courthouse, but does not always offer the same to those involved in civil cases.
Some lawyers say the denial of publicly-funded interpreters in local civil courts has become so routine they rarely bother to submit requests.
EARLIER: Interpreter cost, availability in Harris civil courts pose barrier for non-English speakers
The cost of interpreters can run to hundreds of dollars per hearing, which advocates say can create an unnecessary barrier for lower-income non-English-speaking residents trying to understand and participate in their own court proceedings.
Even with the additional funding from the county, District Judge Latosha Lewis Payne, who also serves as the local administrative judge for Harris County’s state district courts, said there is no way the courts can “adequately and timely” provide interpreters with current staffing levels.
“We will definitely need funding in order to make sure that this plan is successful,” she said.
She did not say how much additional funding the district courts would need. The Administrative Office of the District Courts did not respond to follow up questions.
Harris County’s Courts at Law, which handle lower-level offenses and civil disputes, would need an additional $1 million to $3 million, Administrative Judge Toria J. Finch said.
Harris County Courts Office of Court Management spokeswoman Holly Huffman later called that a “ballpark range” and said officials were working with the county budget office “to determine the final number.”
Harris County Budget Director Daniel Ramos declined comment Wednesday, but previously has expressed support to fund a language access plan, so long as there was an “actionable plan.”
RELATED: Harris County proposes more funding for interpreters, language access in civil courts
The budget for the 2025 fiscal year was approved in September, meaning any additional funding would require a budget amendment approved by Commissioners Court.
Ultimately, the two court systems were allocated an additional $725,000.
The bulk of the funding, $475,000, is for the Office of Court Management, which helps oversee operations at the county courts of law and the justice of the peace courts. The remaining $250,000 went to state district courts, which oversee felonies, divorce and other civil matters that involve more than $200 in damages.
Huffman said the office plans to ask Commissioners Court for additional funding next month.
In addition to increased interpreter access, the plan calls for the courts to collect data around what languages are requested, the number of interpreters and how much money is spent. In civil courts, it also will track whether indigent litigants file notices of their inability to pay.
No data will be collected about when or if judges deny an interpreter. Court officials said there are no mechanisms in place to determine if that happens but said the judges will be educated on what to provide.
“They voted for this, they support it, so I think the likelihood of a judge refusing to provide services, particularly in the instance of an indigent plaintiff or witness, I think is very low,” Payne said.
According to the U.S. Census Bureau, more than 145 languages are spoken in Harris County.
The path to a new language access plan has been a topic of discussion for over three years.
Spokespeople for the county’s district courts and courts at law said a committee was created in early 2024, and had spent much of the year drafting the new plan.
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