§ 21.022.Appointment

A short provision allocating a decision between two county authorities, and it gives the judge the whole of it.

Subsection (a): on the request of a district judge who has made a determination of need, the commissioners court shall appoint court interpreters, full-time or part-time, as necessary to carry out court functions.

Subsection (b): the commissioners court shall appoint the court interpreter designated by the district judge making the request.

Both subsections say "shall", and together they leave the commissioners court no room at all. It cannot decline the appointment, and it cannot substitute its own candidate.

That allocation is deliberate. The commissioners court controls the county budget, and an appointment it can refuse or fill with its own choice is an appointment the court does not control. Interpretation is a condition of a fair hearing, so the Legislature put it beyond the reach of a budget decision.

The determination of need is the judge’s. The commissioners court is not authorised to revisit whether interpreters are necessary, only to make the appointment requested.

The full-time or part-time choice reflects the range of counties. A large urban county may need salaried interpreters continuously; a rural one may need someone for a few days a year.

The county court at law provision two sections later works differently, letting that judge appoint directly and terminate at will.