Home / Interpreters / Protective orders and domestic violence

Interpreters for Protective Orders and Domestic Violence

Asking a court for a protective order means telling strangers, in detail, what happened at home, and then understanding exactly what the judge ordered. For the hearing the court provides the interpreter. The declaration, the meetings with a lawyer or an advocate and the explanation of the order happen outside the courtroom. Here is who covers what, how to choose an interpreter safely, and how to book one with us.

For the protective order hearing, the court provides the interpreter

If you are asking for a protective or restraining order, or responding to one, and do not speak English well, the court usually provides an interpreter for the hearing at no cost; ask the clerk for one when you file. California courts put domestic violence cases first in the order of priority they follow when there are not enough interpreters for every civil case (Santa Barbara Superior Court, Evidence Code 756), and say a friend or relative is usually not allowed to interpret in the courtroom (California Courts). Maryland's courts provide interpreters in civil, criminal and juvenile proceedings, paid by the state's court administration, and ask for the request 30 days before the proceeding (Maryland Judiciary). New York's trial courts schedule one at no expense in all civil and criminal cases (22 NYCRR 217.1).

Outside the courtroom, help is thinner. California's guide says court interpreters typically do not work outside the courtroom, though some self-help centers have interpreters (California Courts); Maryland offers telephone interpreting at counters such as the clerk's office, the commissioner's office and the help center (Maryland Judiciary). Domestic violence programs funded under the Violence Against Women Act may not discriminate on the basis of national origin, and must protect the confidentiality of the people they serve (34 U.S.C. 12291(b)(2) and (b)(13)); ask the program how it arranges interpreters.

Who books us: legal aid and family law attorneys, for preparing the petition and the hearing; advocacy programs and shelters, for a language their staff or phone line does not cover; and survivors who want an interpreter they chose for a meeting with their own lawyer. If a court or program requires a credential, tell us when you request; we confirm whether we can staff it before you book.

Choosing an interpreter safely

In this setting the first question is not skill but connection. In a small language community, the interpreter may know the other party, their family or their church, and word of what was said can travel back. When you request, tell us the other party's name, community or town if it is safe to, and anyone the interpreter must not be connected to; say if you would prefer a woman or a man. We will tell you whether we can staff it before you book. A virtual interpreter who lives in another state is often the safer choice for exactly this reason.

Never use the other party's relatives, a mutual friend or your children, even for a quick call. Do not share your new address or shelter location with the interpreter unless the lawyer or advocate decides it is needed. And in a hallway outside the courtroom, the court's interpreter may be interpreting for both sides of the case during the hearing; for a private conversation with your lawyer or advocate, use your own.

The declaration is the case

The written declaration is often the first thing the judge reads: a statement, in English, describing what happened. It is usually written with a lawyer or an advocate, through an interpreter, and it has to be specific — what was said and done, when and where, injuries, threats, weapons, who saw it, whether the children were present. The interpreter renders the survivor's account in the first person, in full, including the words used in threats, which lose their force when summarized. Dates are often remembered by events rather than calendar; the interpreter renders what was said, and the lawyer pins down the date.

Before it is signed, the English declaration has to be read back in the survivor's language, line by line. That is sight translation, and it is where errors are caught — a wrong date, a softened word, a detail added by someone else. A declaration the survivor never heard in their own language can be contradicted at the hearing without anyone realizing why.

After the hearing: what the order says

• Have the order explained, not just handed over. The lawyer or advocate explains, and the interpreter renders: who must stay away, from where and how far, contact allowed or not, children and custody terms, firearms, how long it lasts and how it is renewed.
• Read the order aloud in the survivor's language before leaving the courthouse, or on a video call the same day. Ask the interpreter to read it exactly, not to summarize.
• A copy the survivor can reread — or show to police, an employer or a school abroad — is a written translation, a separate service at $24.95 per certified page.
• Safety planning with an advocate is a conversation, not a form: book enough time, and the same interpreter as for the declaration if possible.

Booking

A declaration session with a lawyer or advocate by video is $80 an hour per interpreter: two hours is $160, and a second session for the read-back is common. For the hearing day, an interpreter at the courthouse for the conversations before and after the hearing — not inside it, where the court's interpreter works — is in person at $110 an hour with a two-hour minimum: 8:30 to 11:30 is $330, plus travel at $0.70 per mile from the interpreter's location, confirmed before you book.

Send the language and region, the date and the type of meeting, anything the interpreter must not be connected to, and the draft declaration if one exists. For divorce and custody cases that follow, see interpreters for family law; for a survivor's own immigration case, see VAWA and U visa declarations.

By video, by phone or in person

Virtual interpreting runs on Zoom, Google Meet or Microsoft Teams, or over the telephone. It is quicker to arrange, costs less and carries no travel charge, and it suits appointments, calls and most meetings.

In person is what venues with their own rules tend to expect, and the right choice when documents are being signed or several people are speaking at once. Tell us the platform, or the city and the venue, when you send the request.

Languages

The standard-availability languages are: Spanish, Portuguese, French, Mandarin, Cantonese, Arabic, Russian, Korean, Vietnamese, Haitian Creole, Polish, Italian, German, Japanese, Hindi, Urdu, Persian, Turkish, Ukrainian, Tagalog, Bengali, Punjabi, Gujarati, Tamil, Armenian, Greek, Hebrew, Romanian, Serbian, Bosnian, Somali and Nepali. Every other language we offer carries the 25–30% limited-availability rate. If a language is not on that list it is not because we cannot do it — it is because the pool of qualified interpreters in the United States is small enough that we will not promise a date without checking.

Each language has its own page on what to watch for — dialects, names, dates, who the speakers usually are: see interpreters by language.

What it costs

Rates are per interpreter, per hour, and billed from the scheduled start time rather than from when everyone actually arrives.

• Virtual — $80 per hour, one-hour minimum. Zoom, Google Meet, Teams or telephone.
• In person — $110 per hour, two-hour minimum.
• Limited-availability languages — add 25–30%. Which languages those are is listed below rather than left vague.
• Travel for in-person work — $0.70 per mile from the interpreter's location.

How the travel charge works out

Travel is charged at $0.70 per mile from the interpreter's location, which means you can work it out rather than wait for a quote: a 20-mile round trip is $14, a 60-mile round trip is $42, a 150-mile round trip is $105. There is no separate call-out fee on top.

We will not pretend to know in advance where the interpreter will be coming from — that depends on the language, the date and the venue. What we do is confirm the interpreter and the exact travel figure before you book, so it is never a surprise on the invoice. Virtual assignments carry no travel charge at all, which is one reason most of what we do is virtual.

How booking an interpreter works

• You send the request with the form below: the language, the setting, the format, the date and how long it should last.
• We confirm before you commit: the interpreter, the exact price and the travel figure if there is one. We reply the same business day, and no payment is taken at this stage.
• You confirm, and the interpreter is booked for your date.

What to have ready

The more of this comes in the first message, the fewer exchanges before you have a price:

• The language, the date, the start time and how long it should run.
• Virtual or in person: the platform, or the city and the venue.
• The setting and the subject matter.
• How many people need interpreting for.
• Any credential the venue requires of the interpreter.

Request an interpreter

Tell us the date, the language and the setting and we will come back with the interpreter, the exact price and the travel figure if there is one — before you commit to anything.

Sources

What this page says about the rules was checked against these official sources on October 28, 2026. Rules change; the source is always the authority.

• Superior Court of California, County of Santa Barbara — Interpreters / Language Access (Evidence Code 756 civil priorities)
• Judicial Council of California, California Courts Self-Help Guide — Ask for an interpreter
• Maryland Judiciary — Court Language Services
• New York Unified Court System — 22 NYCRR 217.1, Obligation to appoint interpreter in court proceedings in the trial courts (LII)
• 34 U.S.C. 12291 — Violence Against Women Act definitions and grant conditions: confidentiality, nondiscrimination (LII)

Frequently asked questions

Related services

For firms and institutions

From the blog