§ 21.023.Interpreter's Qualifications

A single-sentence qualification standard, and its looseness is the notable thing about it.

The court interpreter must be well versed in and competent to speak the Spanish and English languages.

No certificate is required, no examination is named, and no certifying body is identified. Compare the deaf-interpreter provision earlier in the chapter, which demands a current legal certificate from one of two named organisations and accepts nothing else.

The difference reflects the age and origin of the two subchapters rather than any judgment that Spanish interpretation matters less. This one long predates the licensed court interpreter scheme Texas now operates through the Judicial Branch Certification Commission.

The practical answer is that this section is a floor, not the whole law. The Government Code now requires licensed court interpreters in many proceedings, and a court appointing under this subchapter operates alongside those requirements rather than instead of them.

"Well versed in" and "competent to speak" are two requirements, not one. The first suggests knowledge of the language; the second, the ability to use it aloud. Neither addresses the distinct skill of interpreting — rendering speech from one language into another in real time, accurately, without adding or omitting.

Who assesses competence is not stated either, which in practice leaves it with the appointing authority and, ultimately, the judge before whom the interpreter appears.

The oath provision that follows supplies the enforceable obligation this section lacks: the interpreter swears to interpret faithfully, and that oath is capable of being broken.