§ 21.032.Oath

Two oaths, and one administrative rule about how often they are taken.

The official interpreter must take the constitutional oath of office and an oath that they will faithfully interpret all testimony given in court. An oath covers the interpreter’s service in all court cases during the interpreter’s term of office.

The constitutional oath is the one every Texas officeholder takes, and requiring it here says something about the role: the interpreter is treated as an officer of the state, not as a contractor engaged for a hearing.

The second oath is specific to the work, and the word is faithfully. That is the whole obligation of an interpreter — to render what was said, not what was meant, not a tidier version, and not an explanation.

It matters because an interpreter is the only person in the room who knows whether the rendering was accurate. Everyone else, including the judge, is relying on them.

The final sentence is the practical rule: one oath covers every case during the term. An official interpreter is not sworn afresh at each hearing, which for a full-time interpreter in a busy court would be a daily formality.

Contrast an ad hoc interpreter appointed for a single proceeding, who is sworn for that proceeding. The blanket oath here follows from the position being an office with a term.

The oath supplies what the qualification provision does not. That section asks only that the interpreter be well versed and competent, with no certificate and no examination; this one imposes an enforceable duty of fidelity that attaches personally.