Court Interpreters Act
Public Law 95-539 · S. 1315 · 95th Congress · began in the Senate
Signed by Jimmy Carter (D) on Oct 28, 1978 · Law
Sponsor: Sen. Dennis DeConcini (D-AZ)
Cosponsors (8): Sen. James Allen, Sen. Birch Bayh,
Passage votes
- HouseMethod not stated
- SenateMethod not stated
Data notes
The final version of the law, as each chamber passed it. A chamber that passed it by voice vote or unanimous consent has no count. “Method not stated” means the record does not say how the chamber voted. Where the record has a member-by-member vote, the “Who voted for it” section shows who voted yea.
Summary
The Congressional Research Service’s plain-language summary of what the law does.
Court Interpreters Act - Establishes, through the Director of the Administrative Office of the United States Courts, a program to: (1) certify individuals who may serve as language interpreters or interpreters for the hearing impaired; (2) compile and make available lists of qualified interpreters for non-English speakers and hearing impaired persons (whether or not also speech impaired) and; (3) provide the services of such interpreters free in criminal actions and civil actions initiated by the United States.
Requires the Director to establish a program to provide special interpretation services in multi-defendant criminal and civil actions.
Authorizes the Director to accept and use voluntary services and gifts of personal property.
Committees
The committees the bill was sent to, and what each did with it.
Data notes
A committee links to its page only where it exists in the current Congress; older and renamed committees are named without a link.
Timeline
From introduction to signing, newest first: the committees, the floor and the president. 13 actions.
- Oct 28, 1978Became lawBecame law · Signed by President.
- PresidentPresident · Public Law 95-539.
- Oct 27, 1978PresidentPresident · Measure presented to President.
- Oct 13, 1978PresidentPresident · Measure enrolled in Senate.
- PresidentPresident · Measure enrolled in House.
- Resolving differencesResolving differences · Senate agreed to House amendments.
- Oct 10, 1978FloorFloor · Measure passed House, amended, in lieu of H.R. 14030.
- CommitteeCommittee · Discharged from House Judiciary Committee
- Nov 8, 1977CommitteeCommittee · Referred to House Judiciary Committee
- Nov 4, 1977FloorFloor · Measure passed Senate, amended.
- Nov 1, 1977CommitteeCommittee · Reported by Senate Judiciary Committee
- Apr 20, 1977CommitteeCommittee · Referred to Senate Judiciary Committee
- IntroducedIntroduced · Introduced in the Senate
Data notes
Shows the introduction, each committee and subcommittee step the source dates (referral, hearings, markup, report, discharge), and the floor, conference, presidential and became-law steps. Calendar placements, messages between the chambers, amendments and committee report numbers are not shown for laws before the 108th Congress. Two entries the source lists twice are shown once.
Official record
The bill’s full text and every action, including introduction and committee steps, are on Congress.gov. Data through Oct 7, 2026.