Licensed Court Interpreters

• Pre-Certification Orientation Course Requirements
• Providers Applying for Orientation Course Approval
• Continuing Education Requirements for Licensed Court Interpreters
• Individuals Applying for CE Course Approval
• Course Providers Applying for CE Approval
• How to Apply for CE Approval Online
• Online Continuing Education and Orientation Courses
• Course Hour Calculations
• Frequently Asked Questions

To search our list of approved continuing education courses, please go to the online certification and licensing system on our home page. 

Inquiries Regarding Paperwork

Applications are processed as soon as possible, in the order of which they are received. Due to the volume of applications received, processing times can vary; therefore, we are unable to provide more specific timeframes.

Applicants must confirm receipt of their applications, the status of their applications, and their applications progress by referring to the View Pending Online Applications page of their online profiles. From this page, they can verify the following information 24/7:

1. Confirm receipt of documents uploaded to their application by looking at the number reflect next to the Document(s) link.
   • If it shows (0), the document was not uploaded (i.e., it was not received).
   • If it shows (1), or any number other than 0, the document was uploaded (i.e., it has been received).
2. Check their applications status.
   • By hovering their mouse over the status, they'll also be able to see descriptive text that explains what the status means.
3. Check the progress of their applications status by clicking the View Details link.
   • This will show them which items on their application's checklist have been completed, and which are still pending.

Applicants are also sent automated email confirmations of successful application submission, and when applications are approved.

Inquiries for application status checks or receipt confirmation will not be replied to unless determined by staff that there’s been a delay in processing your application, and you have not received prior notification. We receive many of these inquiries and each email takes time to research and respond to which delays the processing of applications. Thank you for your understanding.

Pre-Certification Orientation Course Requirements for Providers

The orientation course provides the basic knowledge, skills and abilities on all three major types of court interpreting; Sight, Consecutive and Simultaneous, to become a licensed court interpreter. The goal is for the candidate to achieve a high level of mastery of two languages, and specific performance skills in the modes of interpreting. The course is designed to help candidates deliver services in a manner faithful to all professional responsibilities and ethics, and court policies regarding court interpreting promulgated by the judiciary.

• Candidates should perform each type of interpreting skillfully enough to include everything that is said, preserve the tone and level of language of the speaker, neither changing nor adding anything to what is said.
• The course should provide information and discussion about what the profession requires to help students decide whether and how to proceed with the pursuit of a license as a court interpreter.

All orientation courses must be approved by the JBCC to be eligible to meet the pre-licensing orientation course requirement.

• The course must be at least 6 hours in length.
• The course must also follow the standardized curriculum located on the Rules and Resources page of our website.
• Approved orientation courses will be assigned a JBCC program number. 

The following information must be included the certificates of completion issued to attendees:

1. The JBCC assigned program number.
2. The name of the course provider.
3. The title of the course.
4. The date the attendee completed the course.
5. The number of hours completed by the attendee.
6. The signature of the course provider.

Providers seeking approval of their orientation course must meet the requirements of Rule 4.3 (b)(1) of the JBCC Rules.

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Providers Applying for Orientation Course Approval

Pre-Certification Orientation Approval Form 

Orientation courses cannot be used for renewal purposes, they can only be used for initial certification purposes.

To apply for approval of an orientation course, you must submit the Pre-Certification Orientation Approval Form along with the appropriate documentation (i.e., course outline and speaker bios) to the address indicated on the form.

• Orientation course approval forms cannot be submitted via the online certification and licensing system.
• Applications will be reviewed to determine compliance with Commission's rules.
• Applicants will be notified of the determination via email.

Course outlines should only be a few pages, at most. The course outline must contain the following information:

• Describe course content (i.e., detailed description of each session of the program)
• Indicate the time allotted to each segment (i.e., the start and end time of each session of the program in quarter hours for in-person courses or listing each session duration using quarter hour increments for online courses). See examples below:
  • In-person course example: 8:00-8:15, 9:45-11:30, etc.
  • Online course example: .25 hrs., .50 hrs., .75, hrs., 1.0 hrs., 2.5 hrs., etc.
• The date and location of the course (i.e., city/state for in-person courses, or website for online courses)
• Any sessions in ethics must be identified on the outline as well.

Continuing Education Requirements for Licensed Court Interpreters

Licensed Court Interpreters must complete 16 hours of continuing education during each two-year certification period.

The 16 hours of continuing education must include 4 hours of ethics. You can carry forward up to 8 hours of excess CE to your next certification period. Ethics hours cannot be carried forward. If you did not exceed your 16 hours of CE, you cannot carry anything forward.

Example:

• You are required to obtain 16 hours of CE, but you obtained 24 hours of approved CE for your 2024 renewal.
• A maximum of 8 of the excess hours of non-ethics\legislative update CE can be used towards your 2026 renewal as well.
• You must select the course and upload the certificate again so that it is attached to your 2026 online renewal application.

Refer to sections 4.3 and 9.7 of the JBCC Rules for additional details on CE requirements.

Required Documentation for Continuing Education Approval for Providers and Licensed Court Interpreters

The following two items must be submitted with course approval request applications submitted by CE providers and licensed court interpreters.

1. The course outline, which must include the following information, per the JBCC Rules:
   • Describe course content (i.e., a detailed description of each session of the program)
   • Indicate the time allotted to each session.
     • The start and end time of each session of the program in quarter hours for in-person courses. For example,
       In-person hours: 8:00-8:15, 9:45-11:30, etc. or.
   • Listing each session duration using quarter hour increments for online courses. For example,
     Online course hours: 25 hrs., .50 hrs., .75, hrs., 1.0 hrs., 2.5 hrs., etc.
   • The date(s) the course will be, or was, offered.
     • For online courses offered on-demand, the dates offered are limited to a maximum of a 1-year window.
     • For courses offered on specific dates, CE approval would only be for the dates offered, not to exceed 1-year.
     • If you wish to offer the course again, you must reapply. You will be assigned a new program number.
   • The course location (i.e., city/state for in-person courses, or website for online courses).
   • Any sessions in ethics or legislative update must be identified on the outline as well.
2. The Speaker Bios.

Please refer to section 4.0 and Rule 9.7 of the JBCC Rules for additional details on this requirement.

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CE Providers Applying for Continuing Education Course Approval

Providers, online courses and in-person courses must be applied for separately. If you have a course you offered in-person and wish to offer all (or part of) it online, you must submit the required course approval form. Each will be assigned its own program number.

If you have never applied for course approval using our online system before, the first step will be to create your organization's online profile as a CE provider. To create the profile, you must do the following:

1. Go to our online system.
2. Select the Court Interpreters tab.
3. Scroll down to the Continuing Education Course Provider section.
4. Click the Click here link.
5. Enter the name of your organization in the Provider Name field. This is the name you use as a course provider.
6. Enter the mailing address, primary phone number, and primary email address for your organization.
   • You will not be able to update your contact information after you create your profile.
   • The primary email address is where communications from the JBCC will be sent.
   • We strongly discourage using a specific individual's email address, because when staff turnover occurs in your organization, the new designee will not be able to access the account. We recommend setting up an email for CE purposes and using that instead. You will be able to control who has access to it on your end, which helps ensure access to your organization's profile is not lost when your staff changes.
7. Enter the Login Name you want to use for your profile. Your login name cannot be changed later.
8. Enter the password you want to use for your profile.

When you have a CE provider profile in our system, you will simply login to your profile, click the CE Approval Request option on the What Do You Want to Do menu and follow instructions accordingly from there.

The following information must be included on the certificates of completion issued to attendees:

• The JBCC assigned program number.
• The name of the course provider.
• The title of the course.
• The date the attendee completed the course.
• The number of hours completed by the attendee.
• The list of sessions completed by the attendee.
• The signature of the course provider.

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Licensed Court Interpreters Applying for Continuing Education Course Approval

Per section 4.3 of the JBCC Rules, a regulated person may request approval prior to the date the course is offered but no later than 30 days before the expiration of their certification, license, or registration.

Important Note: If the course is already approved (i.e., it already has a JBCC program number shown on the certificate), you do not have to apply for CE approval.

How to Submit Course Approval Applications Online

To apply for approval of a continuing education course, you must submit a request for CE approval by way of our online certification and licensing system located on our home page.

Please view the Watch How to Apply for CE Approval-Slideshow (pdf) on our website prior to starting the application process.

1. Login to your online profile
2. Click CE Approval Request
3. Follow all instructions accordingly.

For Course Type, please one of the following:

• Seminar,
• Online, or
• Other.

When submitting CE applications online, you must enter data in the "Course Location" field, as follows:

• For in-person courses: enter just the city/cities (for TX courses), or city/cities and state (for non-TX courses).
• For online courses: enter the website address where the course is offered.
• Skip the City, State and Zip fields.

Entering the location this way helps to ensure it is displayed properly for those searching our system to see what is available in their area(s).

Uploading supporting documentation

• Course outlines. Only one document should be uploaded to your online application. Course outlines should not be more than a few pages.
• Speaker bios. Only one document should be uploaded to your online application. If you have multiple bios to upload, you must upload them as one complete file.
  • For example, one pdf document that contains 10 speaker bios.

Applications will be reviewed to determine compliance with Commission's rules.

Applicants will be notified of the determination via an automated email and should check their inbox (and spam folder) for the email.

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Online Continuing Education and Orientation Courses

Course providers seeking approval of courses they're offering online must include the following information on their CE applications:

• How they will track the time of each attendee to ensure credit for time actual participation time, and
• How they will confirm the identity of the individual who signed up and the individual taking the course are the same.

Course Provider Options for Verifying Identification of Online Course Attendees:

• Two-factor Authentication,
• Proctored courses (live proctor or remote proctor), or
• Photo identification required at sign up and at start of course.

Individuals seeking approval for online courses they've attended must include the following information on their CE applications:

• How their time was tracked by the course provider to ensure credit is only granted for actual participation time, and
• How their identity was verified by the course provider to ensure you are the same person that signed up for the course as well.

Course Hour Calculations

• Course Calculations Conversion Chart (pdf)

Continuing education hours are to be calculated and reported in quarter hour increments.

For example:

.25= 15 min., .50=30 min., .75=45 min., and 1 or 1.0=1 hr.