Courts: court interpreters.

(1) The Trial Court Interpreter Employment and Labor Relations Act (the act) establishes procedures governing the employment and compensation of certified and registered trial court interpreters and court interpreters pro tempore employed by the courts. Existing law requires trial courts to appoint trial court employees, rather than independent contractors to perform interpretation of court proceedings, as specified. Existing law permits a court to appoint an independent contractor for interpretation in specified circumstances, including when an interpreter is paid directly by the parties to the proceeding. The bill, beginning January 1, 2025, would authorize an interpreter that is certified or registered and paid directly by the parties in a proceeding to be appointed under these provisions. (2) The act establishes an employee classification entitled "court interpreter pro tempore" and requires employees in this classification to work under specified conditions, including being paid on a per diem basis for work performed, unless a memorandum of understanding or agreement with a recognized employee organization provides otherwise. Existing law requires a court to offer to employ an interpreter as a court interpreter pro tempore that meets specified criteria and specifies how the court is required to accept and process applications for court interpreters pro tempore. Beginning January 1, 2025, this bill would instead rename a court interpreter pro tempore as an intermittent, part-time interpreter and would make conforming changes. The bill, on January 1, 2025, would eliminate the requirement that a court offer to employ as a court interpreter an interpreter who meets the specified criteria requiring the hiring of court interpreters and the provisions regarding the acceptance and processing of applications for court interpreters pro tempore. The bill would also authorize courts to hire registered or nonregistered interpreters as employees to perform relay interpretation, as defined, but only if the trial court has employed an interpreter of the same language pair. (3) Existing law creates the regional court interpreter employment relations committee for the purposes of developing regional terms and conditions of employment for court interpreters and for collective bargaining with recognized employee organizations, as specified. Existing law authorizes trial courts to employ certified and registered interpreters to perform spoken language interpretation for the trial courts in full-time or part-time court interpreter positions created by the trial courts with the authorization of the regional committee and subject to meet and confer in good faith. Existing law provides an order of priority for applicants that courts are required to adhere to when hiring interpreters, except as specified. Beginning January 1, 2025, this bill would remove the requirement for the authorization of the regional committee and meet and confer provisions when a court seeks to employ an interpreter for full-time, part-time, or intermittent, part-time interpreter positions created by the court. The bill, beginning January 1, 2025, would modify the prioritization for court interpreters who have previously performed work for that trial court. The bill would authorize trial courts to set additional local compensation, as defined, for interpreters. (4) Existing law provides for a regional transition period, defined as January 1, 2003, to July 1, 2005, except to the extent that a region may have a memorandum of understanding at an earlier point, regarding the employment of interpreters pursuant to the provisions of the act. This bill would remove various references to the transition period and various compliance deadlines related to the transition period. The bill would update obsolete cross-references and make other technical changes. (5) The California Constitution vests the judicial power of the state in the Supreme Court, courts of appeal, and superior courts, and establishes the Judicial Council to, among other things, adopt rules of court and perform functions prescribed by statute. This bill would require the Judicial Council to conduct a court interpreter workforce study and provide recommendations to the Legislature on or before January 1, 2026, regarding court interpreter availability and the future court interpreter workforce. The bill would require the Judicial Council to work in collaboration with key stakeholder groups, as specified.