By Gil Halsted, Wisconsin Public Radio

MADISON (WPR) Non-English speakers who have to deal with Wisconsin's legal system still aren't getting the services they need when they go to court, according to the director of the state's court interpreter program.

Carmel Capati heads the office in charge of translation services in state courts.  He says they could use the help, especially with certain refugee populations.  Those include 70 refugees from Myanmar who have arrived in the state this year, and an increase in the number of both Somali and Iranian refugees over the past two years.

Federal money to hire more interpreters could get congressional approval this year.  Sen. Herb Kohl (D-Wisconsin) has just re-introduced a bill he's been pushing for years to send more money to the states to train and hire court interpreters.  If it passes this year, it could mean $100,000 to add interpreters in Wisconsin.

Capati says if Sen. Kohl's effort succeeds this year it will help court procedures move more smoothly in not just in criminal cases but in civil cases as well where non- English speaking immigrants and refugees are seeking justice.

Wisconsin currently has 65 certified court interpreters.  59 of them speak Spanish.  The others include American Sign Language, Russian, German, Hmong, Chinese Lao, and Vietnamese.

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Information from Wisconsin Public Radio, www.wpr.org