§ 8-5-8. Sign language interpreters/transliterators and Communication Access Realtime Translation
(CART) providers for deaf, hard of hearing, and deaf-blind persons.
(a) In all civil and criminal cases, in workers' compensation, district, family, and superior
court proceedings, mental health court competency hearings, state traffic tribunals,
and in any case in any municipal court, including, but not limited to, on-site, court-provided,
alternative dispute resolution, mediation, arbitration, diversion/intervention program
or treatment; and in an administrative, commission, or agency hearing; pursuant to
chapter 18 of this title, where a party or a witness is a person who is deaf, hard
of hearing, or deaf-blind, or a juvenile whose parent or parents are deaf, hard of
hearing, or deaf-blind is brought before a court for any reason, he or she shall have
the proceedings accessible to him or her in a language that he or she can understand
by a sign language interpreter/transliterator or CART provider appointed by the court.
In any case where a sign language interpreter/transliterator or CART provider is required
to be appointed by the court under this section, the court shall not commence proceedings
until the appointed sign language interpreter/transliterator or CART provider is in
court in a position not exceeding ten feet (10′) from, and in full view of the person
who is deaf, hard of hearing, or deaf-blind. The sign language interpreter/transliterator
or CART provider appointed under the terms of the section shall be required to take
an oath that he or she will make a legally equivalent, linguistically true interpretation,
transliteration, or transcription for the person who is deaf, hard of hearing, or
deaf-blind of all the proceedings or hearings of the case or claim in a language that
he or she understands; and will orally transfer the meaning of the answer to questions
and any other statements of the person who is deaf, hard of hearing, or deaf-blind
to counsel, the court, and jury in the English language with exactitude, while accurately
reflecting the form and content of the linguistic and paralinguistic elements of the
speaker's discourse.
Assistive listening devices, or other reasonable and effective auxiliary aids available,
shall be provided for the deaf, hard of hearing, and deaf-blind who need to maximize
their engagement in the proceedings or hearings in addition to the interpreter/transliterator
and/or CART providers.
(b) For the purposes of this section, "sign language interpreter/transliterator� means
a person who is a certified interpreter as defined in §â€‚5-71-3 in providing the interpreting and transliterating services for the deaf, hard of
hearing, and deaf-blind. "CART provider� means a person who is a qualified communication
access realtime translation (CART) service provider certified by the National Court
Reporters Association. "Paralinguistic elements� means a non-verbal element of language,
including all of the pauses, hedges, self-corrections, hesitations, and emotion as
they are conveyed through tone of voice, word choice, level of formality, tone of
voice, and intonation. "Assistive listening device (ALD) or assistive listening system
(ALS)� means instruments that are designed to improve a person's ability to hear in
specific listening situations. Some ALDs amplify a sound signal, but the primary purpose
of an ALD is to make the targeted sound easier to hear by isolating the sound source
from surrounding noise. Examples are induction loop systems, frequency-modulated (FM)
systems, infrared systems, and personal amplifiers. A sign language interpreter/transliterator,
or CART provider shall be deemed qualified in accordance with United States Department
of Justice regulations effectuating Title II of the federal "Americans with Disabilities
Act of 1990,â€� as from time to time may be amended, Pub. L. 101-336, codified at 42 U.S.C. §â€‚12101 et seq., including regulations, analysis, and technical assistance and as determined
by the definition of chapter 71 of title 5 and the commission on the deaf and hard of hearing, based upon recommendations from
the National Association of the Deaf, the National Registry of Interpreters for the
Deaf, the National Hearing Loss Association of America, and other appropriate agencies.
The commission on the deaf and hard of hearing shall coordinate all requests for qualified
sign language interpreters/transliterators and CART providers and shall maintain a
list of all such sign language interpreters/transliterators and CART providers from
which it shall fill such requests. No sign language interpreter/transliterator or
CART provider is precluded from being further examined by the court system.
(c) Sign language interpreters/transliterators and CART providers appointed under the
terms of the section shall be paid by the state or municipality a reasonable compensation
fixed by the court.