Iowa Ct. R. 47.10

47.10(1) Purpose. These rules establish the procedure whereby an oral or sign language

interpreter or translator may be removed or suspended from the roster described in rule 47.6.

47.10(2) Applicability. These rules apply to the delivery of services by oral and sign language

interpreters or translators in any legal proceeding, court-ordered program, or office of the Iowa

Judicial Branch.

47.10(3) Procedures for complaints against oral language court interpreters or translators.

a. Complaints. A complaint against a court interpreter or a translator must be filed with state

court administration on a form available from that office or through the Iowa Judicial Branch

website. A complaint must be signed by the complainant, provide the complainant’s full address,

telephone number, and email address, if any, and contain substantiating evidence supporting the

complaint. State court administration may also initiate a complaint.

b. Review of complaints. State court administration will review all complaints and may seek

additional information from the complainant as well as a response from the court interpreter or

translator if state court administration deems necessary. If state court administration determines

that the allegations made within the complaint are serious enough to warrant the suspension or

removal of the court interpreter or translator from the roster, then state court administration will

forward the complaint, response, and any investigative materials to the chair of the advisory

committee. The chair will appoint a panel of at least three advisory committee members to

consider the complaint.

c. Dismissal of complaints. The advisory committee panel may dismiss the complaint without

further action if it appears the complaint wholly lacks merit, alleges conduct that does not

constitute misconduct or rise to the level of a disciplinary violation under the Code of

Professional Conduct for Court Interpreters and Translators, or does not comply with the

requirements for a complaint or is not supplemented as requested. In such instances, state court

administration will notify the complainant of the advisory committee panel’s decision. The

advisory committee panel’s summary dismissal is not subject to review.

d. Responses to complaints. If the advisory committee panel does not dismiss the complaint, it

will notify the interpreter or translator of the complaint in writing. The notice should state that the

interpreter or translator may provide a written response to the complaint, request a hearing, or

both, within 30 days from the date of the notice. If a written response has previously been

provided, the advisory committee panel may, at its discretion, request a supplemental response.

e. Advisory committee action. If the advisory committee panel does not dismiss the complaint,

the panel will review the complaint upon the papers filed unless the interpreter or translator

requests a hearing or the panel determines that a hearing is necessary.

f. Hearing and decision.

(1) Time and format of hearing. A hearing will be scheduled to occur within 60 days after the

complaint is assigned to the advisory committee panel. The hearing will be informal and strict

rules of evidence will not apply. During the hearing, the interpreter or translator has the right to

be represented by counsel at the interpreter’s or translator’s expense, to confront and cross-examine witnesses, and to present evidence.

(2) Location; subpoenas; recording. The hearing will be held at the Judicial Branch Building

unless state court administration and the interpreter or translator agree otherwise. An advisory

committee panel member, the interpreter or translator, state court administration, or state court

administration’s designee, may request the clerk of the district court of the county in which the

disciplinary hearing is to be held to issue subpoenas in connection with the matter, and the clerk

will issue the subpoenas. Any member of the advisory committee panel is empowered to

administer oaths or affirmations to all witnesses. The hearing will be recorded electronically,

unless the interpreter or translator pays for a court reporter and the subsequent transcript, if

necessary.

(3) Burden of proof. Any grounds for discipline under rule 47.10(5) must be shown by a

convincing preponderance of the evidence.

(4) Advisory committee panel actions. The advisory committee panel may:

1. Dismiss the complaint.

2. Impose a private admonition.

3. Require the interpreter to refund fees to a client for court interpreter services by a specified

date to remain on the roster.

4. Require that the interpreter take specified education courses by a specified date to remain on

the roster.

5. Require that the interpreter retake and pass one or more of the three examinations identified

in rule 47.6(2) by a specified date to remain on the roster.

6. Suspend or revoke the interpreter’s roster status or certification, if any.

7. Suspend or bar the interpreter from interpreting in legal proceedings or court-ordered

programs, or both.

(5) Advisory committee panel decision. The advisory committee panel will file a written

decision with the chair of the advisory committee, with a copy sent to state court administration.

State court administration will promptly forward a copy of the decision to the interpreter or

translator by email and ordinary mail to the address on record with state court administration. If

the determination of the advisory committee panel was a suspension or revocation of the

interpreter or translator’s roster status or certification, state court administration will immediately

remove the interpreter or translator from the roster unless otherwise instructed in writing by the

chair of the advisory committee.

g. Petition for review. The interpreter or translator may file a petition for review of the

advisory committee panel’s decision with state court administration. The petition for review must

be received by state court administration within 30 days after state court administration mails the

decision to the interpreter or translator. The petition must state all claims of error that were raised

before the panel and the reasons for challenging the panel’s determination. State court

administration will transmit the complete record in the case to the state court administrator.

h. Submission and decision on review. Unless state court administration requests otherwise,

the petition will be submitted based upon the record previously made and without

supplementation or hearing. After considering the record, state court administration or state court

administration’s designee may sustain or deny the petition or enter such other appropriate order.

State court administration’s order is conclusive, and no petition for rehearing is permitted.

i. Costs. Costs of the disciplinary proceeding will be assessed against the interpreter or

translator for any private admonition, public sanction, or any agreed disposition that taxes costs

against the interpreter or translator. For purposes of this rule, costs include those expenses

normally taxed as costs in state civil actions pursuant to Iowa Code chapter 625, including but not

limited to expert witness fees and translation, transcription, and interpreter fees. The interpreter

or translator must pay the costs as a condition for reinstatement.

j. Application for reinstatement. An interpreter or translator may file an application for

reinstatement from an order suspending or revoking a certification, roster status, or privilege of

interpreting or translating in court. The application must be filed with state court administration

and include payment of a $100 reinstatement fee. The application must show that all conditions

for reinstatement imposed in the panel’s decision or any resulting state court administration

decision have been satisfied, the interpreter or translator is currently fit to interpret or translate in

court, and all costs have been paid. The interpreter or translator must also swear or affirm that the

interpreter or translator did not provide interpreting or translating services in any legal or court

proceeding during the suspension period.

k. Reinstatement decision. State court administration will review the application for

reinstatement and, if the requirements have been fulfilled, may reinstate the interpreter or

translator on the roster. If any requirement has not been fulfilled, state court administration will

inform the interpreter or translator of what remains to be completed before reinstatement on the

roster can occur.

l. Confidentiality.

(1) All records, papers, proceedings, meetings, and hearings of the advisory committee panel

are confidential, unless the panel imposes the following: a public reprimand; a suspension or

revocation of a certification, roster status, or privilege to interpret or translate before the courts; a

requirement that fees be refunded to a client for court services; or a form of discipline that the

panel and the interpreter or translator agree should be made public.

(2) If the advisory committee panel imposes public discipline, the decision and the complaint

will become public upon filing with state court administration.

(3) If the advisory committee panel does not impose public discipline and the records do not

become public documents, the records and papers will remain confidential unless they are

ordered released by a judge in a related court case. The party or attorney requesting the

confidential records must sufficiently demonstrate to the judge the relatedness of the records to

the court case in question. The records are not otherwise subject to discovery, subpoena, or other

means of legal compulsion for their release to a person other than the interpreter or translator, the

attorneys, or the attorneys’ agents involved in the disciplinary proceeding before the advisory

committee panel.

(4) Every witness in every disciplinary proceeding under rule 47.10 must swear or affirm to

tell the truth and not to disclose the existence of the disciplinary proceedings or the identity of the

interpreter or translator until the disciplinary proceeding is no longer confidential under these

rules.

(5) Any communications, papers, and materials concerning any complaint that may come into

the possession of a committee member are confidential, and the member must keep such

confidential material in a safe and secure place.

(6) Nothing in this rule prohibits the advisory committee or an advisory committee panel from

releasing any information regarding possible criminal violations to appropriate law enforcement

authorities, wherever located, or to interpreter or translator disciplinary and admission authorities

in other jurisdictions.

m. Temporary suspension. Notwithstanding the provisions of this rule, state court

administration may temporarily remove an interpreter or translator from the roster and suspend

the interpreter’s right to interpret or translate in legal proceedings, court-ordered programs, and

offices of the Iowa Judicial Branch upon a showing of a clear violation of the Iowa Code of

Professional Conduct for Court Interpreters and Translators or exigent circumstances

demonstrating that the interpreter or translator currently lacks the capacity to interpret court

proceedings or translate court documents. Any suspension of an interpreter’s or translator’s right

to interpret or translate in Iowa courts must provide the interpreter or translator with an

opportunity to file a petition for review with state court administration explaining why the

temporary suspension order should be lifted.

47.10(4) Procedures for complaints against sign language court interpreters.

a. Complaints. A complaint against a sign language court interpreter must be filed with the

Iowa Board of Sign Language Interpreters and Transliterators (board) and must follow the

procedures outlined in Iowa Administrative Code 645—Chapter 363, Discipline for Sign

Language Interpreters and Transliterators.

b. Notice to state court administration. A sign language interpreter who receives a notice from

the board that a complaint has been filed against the interpreter must promptly provide written

notice to state court administration that a complaint has been filed against the interpreter,

including the date the complaint was filed and a description of the alleged misconduct. The

interpreter also must promptly provide written notice to state court administration after the

disciplinary process has been concluded, including the date and type of disposition. A sign

language interpreter’s failure to provide these notices will be considered grounds for disciplinary

action and a disciplinary process may be commenced under procedures in rule 47.10(3).

47.10(5) Grounds for discipline. The following actions may constitute misconduct for which a

court interpreter may be subject to discipline:

a. Violation of the Code of Professional Conduct for Court Interpreters and Translators.

b. Conviction of a felony in this state or any other jurisdiction or conviction of a lesser crime

that involves dishonesty or moral turpitude. A crime is a felony if it is so defined in the

jurisdiction where the conviction was entered at the time of the conviction.

c. Disciplinary action involving the interpreter’s services in another jurisdiction.

d. Discipline by the Board of Sign Language Interpreters and Transliterators pursuant to Iowa

Administrative Code section 645—Chapter 363.

e. Providing incompetent interpretation, which includes, but is not limited to, repeated

incomplete or inaccurate interpretation that significantly inhibits or distorts communications

between an LEP person and the court or between an LEP person and that person’s attorney.

f. Dishonest billing for interpreter or translator services.

g. Engaging in prohibited interpreting while suspended. This action may subject an interpreter

to additional discipline.

47.10(6) Aggravating or mitigating circumstances. When determining the appropriate

discipline for interpreter misconduct, the advisory committee panel may consider factors that

include, but are not limited to, the following:

a. Aggravating circumstances. Aggravating circumstances that may justify an increase in the

degree of discipline imposed include, but are not limited to:

(1) Prior disciplinary offenses.

(2) Dishonest or selfish motive.

(3) A pattern of misconduct.

(4) Multiple offenses.

(5) Bad faith obstruction of the disciplinary proceeding.

(6) Submission of false evidence, false statements, or other deceptive practices during

disciplinary process.

(7) Refusal to acknowledge wrongful nature of misconduct.

(8) Harm caused by the misconduct.

(9) Substantial experience as a court interpreter.

b. Mitigating circumstances. Mitigating circumstances that may justify a reduction in the

degree of discipline imposed include, but are not limited to:

(1) Absence of a prior disciplinary record.

(2) Absence of a dishonest or selfish motive.

(3) Personal or emotional problems contributed to the misconduct.

(4) Timely good faith effort to rectify consequences of the misconduct.

(5) Full and free disclosure to the advisory committee panel or cooperative attitude toward

proceedings.

(6) Inexperience as a court interpreter.

(7) Character or reputation.

(8) Physical or mental disability or impairment.

(9) Interim rehabilitation.

(10) Remorse.

(11) Substantial time since the prior offense(s).

47.10(7) Duty to disclose. A court interpreter or translator must disclose to the OPR any

potentially disqualifying criminal or ethical misconduct as defined in rule 47.2(1)(c)(3).