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How to hire a court interpreter

Court interpreter hiring summary. Here are some key points about hiring court interpreters in the United States:

  • In the United States, the median cost per hire a court interpreter is $1,633.
  • It takes between 36 and 42 days to fill the average role in the US.
  • Human Resources use 15% of their expenses on recruitment on average.
  • On average, it takes around 12 weeks for a new court interpreter to become settled and show total productivity levels at work.

How to hire a court interpreter, step by step

To hire a court interpreter, consider the skills and experience you are looking for in a candidate, allocate a budget for the position, and post and promote the job opening to reach potential candidates. Follow these steps to hire a court interpreter:

Here's a step-by-step court interpreter hiring guide:

  • Step 1: Identify your hiring needs
  • Step 2: Create an ideal candidate profile
  • Step 3: Make a budget
  • Step 4: Write a court interpreter job description
  • Step 5: Post your job
  • Step 6: Interview candidates
  • Step 7: Send a job offer and onboard your new court interpreter
  • Step 8: Go through the hiring process checklist

What does a court interpreter do?

A court interpreter is responsible for translating one language to another in real-time in a courtroom setting. Court interpreters work closely with clients and law officers to relay accurate and reliable information from the actual context. Apart from having excellent communication skills, a court interpreter should also possess extensive knowledge of the legal industry to understand and interpret terms accordingly. They also translate legal documents for court reference. In some cases, a court interpreter may also read the statements beforehand to have a good grasp of courtroom procedures.

Learn more about the specifics of what a court interpreter does
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  1. Identify your hiring needs

    Before you post your court interpreter job, you should take the time to determine what type of worker your business needs. While certain jobs definitely require a full-time employee, it's sometimes better to find a court interpreter for hire on a part-time basis or as a contractor.

    Determine employee vs contractor status
    Is the person you're thinking of hiring a US citizen or green card holder?

    A court interpreter's background is also an important factor in determining whether they'll be a good fit for the position. For example, court interpreters from different industries or fields will have radically different experiences and will bring different viewpoints to the role. You also need to consider the candidate's previous level of experience to make sure they'll be comfortable with the job's level of seniority.

    This list shows salaries for various types of court interpreters.

    Type of Court InterpreterDescriptionHourly rate
    Court InterpreterInterpreters and translators convert information from one language into another language. Interpreters work in spoken or sign language; translators work in written language.$12-34
    Technical TranslatorTechnical Translation is the act of translating materials in a specific technical or scientific subject domain. A Technical Translator understands the nitty-gritty of the subject matter and knows the specialized terms in that field in both the source and secondary languages... Show more$17-37
    Language TranslatorLanguage translators are linguistic professionals who are responsible for converting information from one language to another to help people read the translation based on the original source. These translators must use a computer to translate the original language into their native language... Show more$13-33
  2. Create an ideal candidate profile

    Common skills:
    • Vice Versa
    • Court Cases
    • Court Hearings
    • Spanish Language
    • Immigration Court
    • Non-English
    • Court Proceedings
    • Legal Terminology
    • English Language
    • Legal Proceedings
    • District Court
    • Interpretation Services
    • Court Procedures
    • Language Services
    Check all skills
    Responsibilities:
    • Coach and teach students to achieve grades at or beyond expect IEP goals.
    • Assist in court order psychiatric evaluations, DUI assessments, and prison interviews.
    • Follow all CyraCom policies and procedures relate to information confidentiality and interpreter ethics.
    • Provide professional interpretation services for individuals with limit English-language proficiency, typically in medical settings
    • Help to build collaboration with internal and international patients with medical staff, social organizations and insurance companies.
    • Interpret in court trials, depositions, administrative hearings and arbitrations.
    More court interpreter duties
  3. Make a budget

    Including a salary range in the court interpreter job description is a good way to get more applicants. A court interpreter salary can be affected by several factors, such as the location of the job, the level of experience, education, certifications, and the employer's prestige.

    For example, the average salary for a court interpreter in Florida may be lower than in New York, and an entry-level engineer typically earns less than a senior-level court interpreter. Additionally, a court interpreter with lots of experience in the field may command a higher salary as a result.

    Average court interpreter salary

    $44,300yearly

    $21.30 hourly rate

    Entry-level court interpreter salary
    $27,000 yearly salary
    Updated December 24, 2025

    Average court interpreter salary by state

    RankStateAvg. salaryHourly rate
    1New York$73,257$35
    2California$68,170$33
    3Virginia$65,874$32
    4Colorado$57,965$28
    5New Jersey$56,936$27
    6Massachusetts$53,087$26
    7Connecticut$50,286$24
    8Texas$44,999$22
    9Arizona$43,626$21
    10New Mexico$40,861$20
    11Illinois$39,724$19
    12Puerto Rico$38,796$19
    13Florida$38,153$18

    Average court interpreter salary by company

    RankCompanyAverage salaryHourly rateJob openings
    1City of Houston$80,658$38.781
    2U.S. District Court$75,424$36.26
    3New Jersey Courts$74,729$35.93
    4Delaware State Government$74,181$35.661
    5United States Courts$71,377$34.3229
    6Superior Court Of California$52,847$25.4118
    7State of Connecticut$48,889$23.50
    8Maricopa County$48,195$23.172
    9My Florida Regional Mls$47,786$22.97
    10SOS International$46,889$22.54100
    11Metlang$46,631$22.424
    12Superior Court of Fulton County$46,320$22.274
    13Welocalize$43,352$20.8432
    14Florida Department of Transportation$40,484$19.46
    15State Of Florida$32,798$15.7721
    16Florida Dept. of Health$31,968$15.37
  4. Writing a court interpreter job description

    A good court interpreter job description should include a few things:

    • Summary of the role
    • List of responsibilities
    • Required skills and experience

    Including a salary range and the first name of the hiring manager is also appreciated by candidates. Here's an example of a court interpreter job description:

    Court interpreter job description example

    **Overview**

    SOS International LLC (SOSi) is actively seeking qualified, professional, and experienced court interpreters in Lumpkin, GA.

    Our job is to support the customer's ongoing immigration court cases by providing language interpretation. These cases are supported on an as-needed basis and require interpreters with flexible schedules, Monday through Friday during business hours. Hours will differ from assignment to assignment, based on needs of the customer. We provide the interpreter with as much notice as possible, anywhere from 3 to 6 weeks ahead of time. From time to time, we have rush requests due to a cancellation.

    **Responsibilities**

    + Provides consecutive and simultaneous interpretation between Spanish Languages and English and vice versa.

    + Provides on-site, over-the-phone, and video remote interpreting between Government representatives and low English proficiency individuals as required.

    + Performs sight translation, occurring when an interpreter is given a written document in one language and asked to read it aloud in another language.

    + Provides quality control review of translated documents as required.

    + Performs other duties as required.

    **Qualifications**

    + Legal ability to work in U.S.

    + Possess one (1) year of experience interpreting in a judicial environment.

    + Highly proficient in both English and Multiple Languages vocabularies typically used in formal, consultative, and casual modes of communication in justice system contexts, including colloquial slang, idiosyncratic slang, and regionalisms.

    + Knowledgeable of specialized vocabulary (terminology) in both English and Multiple Languages to legal and criminal justice system terminology and immigration procedures, particularly with regard to terminology typically used in Immigration Court hearings.

    + Ability to speak English and Multiple Languages fluently, including high to low levels of language register, regional colloquialisms, and slang expressions, and do so with clear and intelligible pronunciation.

    + Ability to perform simultaneous, consecutive, and sight translation in a manner that is factually and conceptually accurate without changes, omissions, or additions.

    + Ability to preserve the tone and emotional level of the speaker, as well as manage the delivery, speed, and length of the statement (projection, pace and pausing) of the speaker.

    + Ability to maintain appropriate speed and projection while rendering interpretation, and request and incorporate clarification of speaker's statements only when justified.

    **Preferred Qualifications**

    + Federal, State, National Association of Judiciary Interpreters and Translators (NAJIT) / Judiciary Interpreters and Translators Certification Examination (JITCE), or American Translators Association (ATA) certification in interpretation.

    + Experience providing interpretation for Department of Justice (DOJ) Executive Office for Immigration Review (EOIR) court cases.

    **Working Conditions**

    • Fast-paced, deadline-driven environment

    • Work is on an as-needed basis

    • Shift-based schedules

    **Job Locations** _US-GA-Lumpkin_

    **Job Post Information* : Posted Date** _2 days ago_ _(10/13/2022 2:40 PM)_

    **_ID_** _2022-6445_

    **_Location : Location_** _US-GA-Lumpkin_

    **_Potential for Remote_** _No_

    **_Clearance Requirement_** _None_

    **_Job Requires Relocation_** _No_

    **_Job Requires Relocation_** _No_
  5. Post your job

    There are a few common ways to find court interpreters for your business:

    • Promoting internally or recruiting from your existing workforce.
    • Ask for referrals from friends, family members, and current employees.
    • Attend job fairs at local colleges to meet candidates with the right educational background.
    • Use social media platforms like LinkedIn, Facebook, and Twitter to recruit passive job-seekers.
    To find court interpreter candidates, you can consider the following options:
    • Post your job opening on Zippia or other job search websites.
    • Use niche websites that focus on engineering and technology jobs, such as problogger, media bistro, journalismjobs.com, content writing jobs.
    • Post your job on free job posting websites.
  6. Interview candidates

    To successfully recruit court interpreters, your first interview needs to engage with candidates to learn about their interest in the role and experience in the field. You can go into more detail about the company, the role, and the responsibilities during follow-up interviews.

    It's also good to ask about candidates' unique skills and talents. You can move on to the technical interview if a candidate is good enough for the next step.

    The right interview questions can help you assess a candidate's hard skills, behavioral intelligence, and soft skills.

  7. Send a job offer and onboard your new court interpreter

    Once you've found the court interpreter candidate you'd like to hire, it's time to write an offer letter. This should include an explicit job offer that includes the salary and the details of any other perks. Qualified candidates might be looking at multiple positions, so your offer must be competitive if you like the candidate. Also, be prepared for a negotiation stage, as candidates may way want to tweak the details of your initial offer. Once you've settled on these details, you can draft a contract to formalize your agreement.

    It's equally important to follow up with applicants who don't get the job with an email letting them know that the position has been filled.

    Once that's done, you can draft an onboarding schedule for the new court interpreter. Human Resources should complete Employee Action Forms and ensure that onboarding paperwork is completed, including I-9s, benefits enrollment, federal and state tax forms, etc. They should also ensure that new employee files are created for internal recordkeeping.

  8. Go through the hiring process checklist

    • Determine employee type (full-time, part-time, contractor, etc.)
    • Submit a job requisition form to the HR department
    • Define job responsibilities and requirements
    • Establish budget and timeline
    • Determine hiring decision makers for the role
    • Write job description
    • Post job on job boards, company website, etc.
    • Promote the job internally
    • Process applications through applicant tracking system
    • Review resumes and cover letters
    • Shortlist candidates for screening
    • Hold phone/virtual interview screening with first round of candidates
    • Conduct in-person interviews with top candidates from first round
    • Score candidates based on weighted criteria (e.g., experience, education, background, cultural fit, skill set, etc.)
    • Conduct background checks on top candidates
    • Check references of top candidates
    • Consult with HR and hiring decision makers on job offer specifics
    • Extend offer to top candidate(s)
    • Receive formal job offer acceptance and signed employment contract
    • Inform other candidates that the position has been filled
    • Set and communicate onboarding schedule to new hire(s)
    • Complete new hire paperwork (i9, benefits enrollment, tax forms, etc.)
    Sign up to download full list

How much does it cost to hire a court interpreter?

There are different types of costs for hiring court interpreters. One-time cost per hire for the recruitment process. Ongoing costs include employee salary, training, onboarding, benefits, insurance, and equipment. It is essential to consider all of these costs when evaluating hiring a new court interpreter employee.

The median annual salary for court interpreters is $44,300 in the US. However, the cost of court interpreter hiring can vary a lot depending on location. Additionally, hiring a court interpreter for contract work or on a per-project basis typically costs between $12 and $34 an hour.

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