Court Interpreter Communication Archive Detail
Court Interpreter Information and Announcements
Posted: Tuesday, May 3, 2022
This message is being sent to all court interpreters on the state roster, those who work regularly for the district courts and interpreter agencies, or those who are active on the existing Minnesota Judicial Branch interpreter database.
Please take a few minutes to review the following information.
Zoom Hearings
A new handout has been published with useful tips related to interpreting in a Zoom hearing. Minnesota District Courts continue to conduct most hearings remotely and interpreters are asked to appear through the Zoom application. Handout – Tips for Interpreters – Interpreting in a Zoom Hearing includes some important updated information and new directions including……
If you are in the waiting room of the hearing and the case has not been called within 15 minutes of the scheduled start time, send a message to the scheduler through the Interpreter Resource Management Application (IRMA), who will contact the court immediately.
To send the message:
- Go to the hearing work request.
- Click the small envelope icon on the top right-hand side of the screen.
- Type an urgent message
Have you tried the simultaneous interpreting feature in Zoom yet?
Court Staff and Judicial Officers are participating in training on use of the simultaneous interpreting (SI) features in Zoom including how to set it up correctly and get all participants the instructions they need to make it work. If you are a Certified Spoken Language Interpreter on the Minnesota Roster, you can interpret in the simultaneous mode. And many non-certified interpreters are also skilled at simultaneous interpreting.
If you have not tried SI Zoom yet, we encourage you to review the training materials and a demonstration video available on our website.
If you would like additional training or would like to schedule a practice session using SI Zoom, please email your request to mncourtinterpreterprogram@courts.state.mn.us.
Career Opportunities
The 4th Judicial District has openings for Spanish and Somali full-time staff interpreter positions. Details can be found on the MJB Careers website.
Training Opportunities
Registration is open for the National Center for Interpretation online Court Interpreter Training Institute for Spanish/English legal interpreters. Application deadline is May 23, 2022. See course details and tuition requirements here: Court Interpreter Training Institute (CITI) | National Center for Interpretation | University of Arizona.
The Upper Midwest Translators & Interpreters Association offers training and other networking opportunities.
And, if you are not already familiar with The National Association of Judiciary Interpreters and Translators, NAJIT, you can view training opportunities, publications, blog and their newsletter, Proteus, on their website.
Thank you very much for your continued work for the District Courts and let us know if you have questions or concerns.
Polly