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Judiciary current on court interpreters’ payments
Recently, concerns have been raised over the delayed payments of court interpreters’ fees. The Superior Court’s Office of the Clerk of Court reviewed the records and found that the court is current on its payments except for the interpreters who have not submitted their billings.
“Once an interpreter submits a bill to us, the turnaround time for payment is about 15 days. We endeavor to pay all accurately rendered invoices as promptly as possible,” said Clerk of Court Patrick V. Diaz. “We will contact each of our interpreters to verify whether some invoices fell through the cracks and, if so, they will be addressed immediately.”
“Interpreters are an integral part of our judiciary, and we value their services. For that reason, when we became aware of such concerns, we looked into our records immediately to make sure we pay the interpreters promptly,” added Diaz.
The judiciary has been making efforts to increase the hourly rates for interpreters and court-appointed attorneys for indigent defendants. The annual appropriation for the judiciary is severely inadequate for increased interpreters hourly fees, as well as court-appointed counsel fees. For fiscal year 2017, the Judiciary, with the support of the CNMI Bar Association, submitted a repeated request to increase professional services budget.
“I will be meeting with the interpreters directly in the coming weeks. I want to hear and address any concerns they might have about their services with the court,” said Diaz.
