Court Interpreter assisting with witness testimony. Attention Court Officials and Members of the Judiciary: The court should qualify the interpreter on the record, regardless of information presented here. Refer to the sample Voir Dire Questions to Qualify Interpreters provided with this roster.
Spoken foreign language court interpreters are governed by Rules of the Tennessee Supreme Court, Rules 41 & 42. This roster lists contact information for those interpreters who have met the standards to be designated as certified or registered. As a courtesy, federally certified court interpreters are also listed.
State Certified Court Interpreters Tennessee Supreme Court Rule
42, 5(b).
Candidates have successfully completed required written and
oral examinations as well as a criminal background check.
State Registered Court Interpreters - Tennessee Supreme Court Rule 42, 5 (a).
Written English, Legal Terminology and Ethics Tested
Please note that the interpreting skills of these candidates have not
been verified through successful completion of an oral examination.
They have successfully completed only the written component of
the credentialing process and successfully passed the criminal
background check.
Federally Certified Court Interpreters
Federally Certified Court Interpreter: The U.S. Administrative Office of the Courts certifies interpreters in Spanish, Haitian Creole, and Navajo only.
For interpreters for the Deaf and Hard of Hearing :
T.C.A. §24-1-211 sets out the requirements for interpreters for the deaf and hard of hearing. This statue provides that the fee for the services of such an interpreter shall be paid by the county if the person needing assistance is a complainant, defendant, or witness. Should the request for an interpreter come from any other individual, please contact the AOC for advice on whether the county or state is responsible for payment of the interpreter fee.
Interpreters can be accessed by contacting the local communications/services center for the deaf and hard of hearing listed on the ADA page
Updates to this roster should be directed to:
Court Interpreter Program
Administrative Office of the Courts
511 Union Street, Suite 600
Nashville, TN 37219
(615) 741-2687
(615) 741-6285 (fax)
Email: Sheila.Morris@tscmail.state.tn.us
Voir Dire Questions to Qualify an Interpreter - These questions are available for download in either Micorsoft Word or Adobe Acrobat (PDF) format.
Prior to commencing the proceeding, the interpreter should be qualified on the record. If the court interpreter is certified or registered, the judge may want to use a more abbreviated voir dire.
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