Public Notice Detail

ST. PAUL, Minn.(April 25, 2000) – Two Minnesotans were among the first in the nation to be certified as Hmong interpreters by the court system during a 3:30 p.m. Tuesday, April 25 ceremony at the Minnesota Judicial Center.

Kazoua Yang Xiong and Mee Moua Vang, who work for the Ramsey County District Court in St. Paul, have passed the Hmong Court Interpreter Proficiency Exam for certification. Thirteen other Minnesotans were certified as Spanish interpreters by the court system on Tuesday. The group, listed on the attached page, pushed the total of Minnesota’s certified court interpreters to 34; two are Russian interpreters, two are Hmong interpreters and 30 are Spanish interpreters.

“The accomplishment of Xiong and Vang is especially impressive because there are no legal glossaries or curriculum materials available to prepare them for this rigorous exam,” said Helen Boddy, coordinator of the Minnesota Court Interpreter Program. “The Hmong language did not exist in the written form until about 20 years ago.”

Xiong, Vang and three other Hmong interpreters are currently developing curriculum materials for a Hmong Court Interpreter Training Program. They are also collaborating to create a Hmong legal glossary for court interpreters throughout the country.

Minnesota is home to the largest Hmong population in the United States. It also has a large Hispanic community, which is expected to become the state’s second-largest minority group within the next five years, bypassing Asians. Estimates from the state demographers office say that foreign-born Minnesotans increased by at least 50 percent in the 1990s.

Minnesota has led other states to make their court systems more accessible to people who speak little or no English. A report from The Minnesota Supreme Court’s Task Force on Racial Bias in the Judicial System led to the formation of The Court Interpreter Advisory Committee, chaired by Supreme Court Justice Paul H. Anderson. In 1995, the committee developed guidelines used to train and certify court interpreters.

“Accessibility and understanding are two concepts vital to the administration of justice,” said Justice Anderson. “Certified interpreters are bridging the gap between an English-based court system and our increasingly diverse society.”

Minnesota State Court Administrator Sue K.  Dosal took the committee’s work a step further and initiated a multi-state effort to make the court system more accessible to non-English speakers. She formed a national consortium of more than 20 states, which include Minnesota, New Jersey, Washington, Oregon, Utah, New Mexico, Maryland and Virginia. The states have coordinated their efforts to develop a bank of interpreter proficiency exams in many languages.

“The consortium makes it possible for participating court systems to provide qualified interpreters much more quickly than if each state tried to develop a comprehensive testing program of its own,” Boddy said.

Minnesota’s certified court interpreters must be at least 18 years old and of good character; pass the legal interpreting competency exam, which tests sight, consecutive and simultaneous interpretation; and pass a written ethics test.

Certified in Hmong

Mee Moua Vang of St. Paul

Kazoua Yang Xiong of St. Paul

Certified in Spanish

Esperanza Kwak of Eagan

Elena Delpin-Lund of Eden Prairie

Igor Woyno of Maple Grove

David Hreha of Minneapolis

Nancy Stone of Minneapolis

Luis Thorin of Minneapolis

Manuel Roman of New Brighton

Ninoska Mancebo-Meyer of Shoreview

Jennifer Brodie of St. Paul

Marianne McEvoy of St. Paul

Martha C. Larranaga of Vadnais Heights

John Olson of Willmar

Monica Marin of Woodbury