News Release

Community Outreach Meeting on Language Access in California Courts

The Judicial Council’s task force on language access will hold a public meeting on April 24 in Sacramento to listen to community members and report on efforts to increase language access to the courts for limited English proficient (LEP) court users.
Apr 17, 2018

SACRAMENTO—The Judicial Council’s task force on language access will hold a public meeting on April 24 in Sacramento to listen to community members and report on efforts to increase language access to the courts for limited English proficient (LEP) court users.

Language Access Need
Roughly 20 percent of Californians—nearly 7 million—have some English-language limitations, making it difficult to access the courts without significant language assistance. Chaired by California Supreme Court Justice Mariano-Florentino Cuéllar, the council’s Language Access Plan Implementation Task Force advises the council on implementing the 75 recommendations in the Strategic Plan for Language Access in the California Courts.

Meeting Agenda
The meeting agenda includes an update on:

  • Statewide progress to implement the language access plan and expand court interpreter services in civil and small claims cases;
  • Increasing outreach to LEP communities about available language services;
  • Recruitment and retention of qualified court interpreters and bilingual court staff; and
  • The use of technology for video-remote interpreting.


Meeting Logistics
The public meeting will be held April 24, from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m., at the Judicial Council of California, 2860 Gateway Oaks Drive, Suite 400, Sacramento, California.

The council will provide a live audiocast of the meeting, as well as closed captioning (in English and Spanish), on the Language Access webpage.

If an interpreter is needed and/or Americans with Disabilities Act accommodations are required, please e-mail your request to LAP@jud.ca.gov.

In addition to providing spoken public comment at the meeting, members of the public can also e-mail comments to LAP@jud.ca.gov. Written comments received by 10 a.m. on April 23 will be provided to task force members prior to the meeting.