§ 21.006.Fees and Travel Expenses

Who pays, and how much.

The interpreter is paid a reasonable fee determined by the court after considering the recommended fees of the Texas Commission for the Deaf and Hard of Hearing. If travel is required, actual expenses of travel, lodging, and meals relating to the case are paid at the same rate provided for state employees.

The fee and expenses are paid from the general fund of the county in which the case was brought. That is the provision that matters most.

The cost falls on the public, not on the deaf person and not on the parties. An entitlement conditioned on the participant's ability to pay would be no entitlement at all, and taxing the fee to a party would let the cost be used as an argument against the appointment.

The commission's recommended fees give the court a benchmark without binding it — the court considers them and then determines a reasonable fee, which allows for a case requiring unusual duration or specialised vocabulary.

Note the contrast with the county courts at law subchapter, where an interpreter is a salaried appointee rather than a per-case expense.