{"formats":[{"name":"JSON","format":"json","url":"\/downloads\/2025\/code-json\/51.5-113.json"},{"name":"Plain Text","format":"text","url":"\/downloads\/2025\/code-text\/51.5-113.txt"},{"name":"XML","format":"xml","url":"\/downloads\/2025\/code-xml\/51.5-113.xml"},{"name":"HTML","format":"html","url":"\/downloads\/2025\/code-html\/51.5-113.html"}],"law_id":78530,"edition_id":1,"section_id":78530,"structure_id":16154,"section_number":"51.5-113","catch_line":"Statewide interpreter service","history":"1978, c. 603, \u00a7 63.1-85.4:1; 1984, c. 670; 1990, c. 192; 1992, c. 614; 2002, c. 747.","full_text":"The Department is authorized to establish, maintain and coordinate a statewide service to provide courts, state and local legislative bodies and agencies, both public and private, and persons who are deaf or hard-of-hearing who request the same with qualified interpreters for persons who are deaf or hard-of-hearing out of such funds as may be appropriated to the Department for these purposes.\n\t\tThose courts and state and local agencies that have funds designated to employ qualified interpreters shall pay for the actual cost of such interpreter. The Department is further authorized to establish and maintain lists of qualified interpreters for persons who are deaf or hard-of-hearing to be available to the courts, state and local legislative bodies and agencies, both public and private, and to persons who are deaf or hard-of-hearing.\n\t\tThe Department is authorized to charge a reasonable fee for the administration of quality assurance screening of interpreters. Such fees shall be applied to the costs of administering the statewide interpreter service.\n\t\tFor purposes of this section, a qualified interpreter shall be one who holds at least one of the following credentials:\n\n1\n\nCertification from any national organization whose certification process has been recognized by the Department for the Deaf and Hard-of-Hearing; or2\n\nA current screening level awarded by the Virginia Quality Assurance Screening Program of the Department for the Deaf and Hard-of-Hearing; or3\n\nA screening level or recognized evaluation from any other state when (i) the credentials meet the minimum requirements of Virginia Quality Assurance Screening and (ii) the credentials are valid and current in the state issued.","order_by":null,"text":{"0":{"id":281405,"text":"The Department is authorized to establish, maintain and coordinate a statewide service to provide courts, state and local legislative bodies and agencies, both public and private, and persons who are deaf or hard-of-hearing who request the same with qualified interpreters for persons who are deaf or hard-of-hearing out of such funds as may be appropriated to the Department for these purposes.\n\t\tThose courts and state and local agencies that have funds designated to employ qualified interpreters shall pay for the actual cost of such interpreter. The Department is further authorized to establish and maintain lists of qualified interpreters for persons who are deaf or hard-of-hearing to be available to the courts, state and local legislative bodies and agencies, both public and private, and to persons who are deaf or hard-of-hearing.\n\t\tThe Department is authorized to charge a reasonable fee for the administration of quality assurance screening of interpreters. Such fees shall be applied to the costs of administering the statewide interpreter service.\n\t\tFor purposes of this section, a qualified interpreter shall be one who holds at least one of the following credentials:","type":"section","prefixes":[""],"prefix":"","entire_prefix":"","prefix_anchor":"","level":1,"next_prefix":"1"},"1":{"id":281406,"text":"Certification from any national organization whose certification process has been recognized by the Department for the Deaf and Hard-of-Hearing; or","type":"section","prefixes":["1"],"prefix":"1","entire_prefix":"1","prefix_anchor":"1","level":1,"prior_prefix":"","next_prefix":"2"},"2":{"id":281407,"text":"A current screening level awarded by the Virginia Quality Assurance Screening Program of the Department for the Deaf and Hard-of-Hearing; or","type":"section","prefixes":["2"],"prefix":"2","entire_prefix":"2","prefix_anchor":"2","level":1,"prior_prefix":"1","next_prefix":"3"},"3":{"id":281408,"text":"A screening level or recognized evaluation from any other state when (i) the credentials meet the minimum requirements of Virginia Quality Assurance Screening and (ii) the credentials are valid and current in the state issued.","type":"section","prefixes":["3"],"prefix":"3","entire_prefix":"3","prefix_anchor":"3","level":1,"prior_prefix":"2"}},"ancestry":[{"id":16154,"edition_id":1,"name":"Department for the Deaf and Hard-Of-Hearing","identifier":"13","label":"chapter","depth":2,"order_by":1,"parent_id":12761,"metadata":{},"date_created":"2026-06-26 04:07:33","date_modified":"2026-06-26 04:07:33","permalink":{"id":236637,"object_type":"structure","relational_id":16154,"identifier":"13","token":"51.5\/13","url":"\/51.5\/13\/","edition_id":1,"permalink":0,"preferred":1}},{"id":12761,"edition_id":1,"name":"Persons With Disabilities","identifier":"51.5","label":"title","depth":1,"order_by":1,"parent_id":null,"metadata":{},"date_created":"2026-06-26 03:43:51","date_modified":"2026-06-26 03:43:51","permalink":{"id":236393,"object_type":"structure","relational_id":12761,"identifier":"51.5","token":"51.5","url":"\/51.5\/","edition_id":1,"permalink":0,"preferred":1}}],"structure_contents":[{"id":64476,"structure_id":16154,"section_number":"51.5-106","catch_line":"Board established; appointment, terms and qualifications of members; meetings; chairman","url":"\/51.5-106\/","token":"51.5\/13\/51.5-106","metadata":false},{"id":70424,"structure_id":16154,"section_number":"51.5-107","catch_line":"Powers and duties of Board","url":"\/51.5-107\/","token":"51.5\/13\/51.5-107","metadata":false},{"id":69098,"structure_id":16154,"section_number":"51.5-108","catch_line":"Department for the Deaf and Hard-of-Hearing continued","url":"\/51.5-108\/","token":"51.5\/13\/51.5-108","metadata":false},{"id":84502,"structure_id":16154,"section_number":"51.5-109","catch_line":"Director; appointment; compensation; qualifications","url":"\/51.5-109\/","token":"51.5\/13\/51.5-109","metadata":false},{"id":85028,"structure_id":16154,"section_number":"51.5-110","catch_line":"Powers and duties of Director","url":"\/51.5-110\/","token":"51.5\/13\/51.5-110","metadata":false},{"id":75420,"structure_id":16154,"section_number":"51.5-111","catch_line":"Persons who are deaf or hard-of-hearing defined and categorized","url":"\/51.5-111\/","token":"51.5\/13\/51.5-111","metadata":false},{"id":64180,"structure_id":16154,"section_number":"51.5-112","catch_line":"Powers and duties of Department","url":"\/51.5-112\/","token":"51.5\/13\/51.5-112","metadata":false},{"id":78530,"structure_id":16154,"section_number":"51.5-113","catch_line":"Statewide interpreter service","url":"\/51.5-113\/","token":"51.5\/13\/51.5-113","metadata":false},{"id":70098,"structure_id":16154,"section_number":"51.5-114","catch_line":"Gifts and donations; disposition of moneys received","url":"\/51.5-114\/","token":"51.5\/13\/51.5-114","metadata":false},{"id":83268,"structure_id":16154,"section_number":"51.5-115","catch_line":"Telecommunications relay service; standards; funding","url":"\/51.5-115\/","token":"51.5\/13\/51.5-115","metadata":false}],"previous_section":{"id":64180,"structure_id":16154,"section_number":"51.5-112","catch_line":"Powers and duties of Department","url":"\/51.5-112\/","token":"51.5\/13\/51.5-112","metadata":false},"next_section":{"id":70098,"structure_id":16154,"section_number":"51.5-114","catch_line":"Gifts and donations; disposition of moneys received","url":"\/51.5-114\/","token":"51.5\/13\/51.5-114","metadata":false},"metadata":false,"official_url":"https:\/\/law.lis.virginia.gov\/vacode\/51.5-113\/","history_text":"

This law was first created in 1978. The record of its establishment is cataloged in chapter 603 of that year\u2019s edition of \u201cActs of Assembly,\u201d the annual state publication listing all changes made to the Code of Virginia in that year. Unfortunately, the 1978 \u201cActs\u201d aren\u2019t available online. It has been modified 4 times. Those modifications are cataloged by \u201cThe Acts of Assembly,\u201d a state publication, by year and chapter. Those modifications that can be read on the General Assembly\u2019s website will be linked accordingly. Those modifications are as follows: in 1984, chapter 670; in 1990, chapter 192; in 1992, chapter 614; in 2002, chapter 747<\/a>.<\/p>","references":[{"id":78701,"section_number":"8.01-44.3","catch_line":"Divulgence of communications by qualified interpreters and communications assistants","order_by":null,"url":"\/8.01-44.3\/"}],"refers_to":false,"permalink":{"id":236667,"object_type":"law","relational_id":78530,"identifier":"51.5-113","token":"51.5\/13\/51.5-113","url":"\/51.5-113\/","edition_id":1,"permalink":0,"preferred":1},"url":"\/51.5-113\/","token":"51.5\/13\/51.5-113","dublin_core":{"Title":"Statewide interpreter service","Type":"Text","Format":"text\/html","Identifier":"\u00a7 51.5-113","Relation":"Code of Virginia"},"html":"\n\t\t\t\t\t\t

The Department is authorized to establish, maintain and coordinate a statewide service to provide courts<\/span>, state and local legislative bodies and agencies, both public and private, and persons who are deaf or hard-of-hearing<\/span> who request the same with qualified interpreters for persons who are deaf or hard-of-hearing<\/span> out of such funds as may be appropriated to the Department for these purposes.\n\t\tThose courts<\/span> and state and local agencies that have funds designated to employ qualified interpreters shall pay for the actual cost of such interpreter. The Department is further authorized to establish and maintain lists of qualified interpreters for persons who are deaf or hard-of-hearing<\/span> to be available to the courts<\/span>, state and local legislative bodies and agencies, both public and private, and to persons who are deaf or hard-of-hearing<\/span>.\n\t\tThe Department is authorized to charge a reasonable fee for the administration of quality assurance screening of interpreters. Such fees shall be applied to the costs of administering the statewide interpreter service.\n\t\tFor purposes of this section, a qualified interpreter shall be one who holds at least one of the following credentials:<\/p><\/section>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t

1.<\/span> Certification from any national organization whose certification process has been recognized by the Department for the Deaf and Hard-of-Hearing<\/span>; or <\/i><\/a><\/p><\/section>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t

2.<\/span> A current screening level awarded by the Virginia Quality Assurance Screening Program of the Department for the Deaf and Hard-of-Hearing<\/span>; or <\/i><\/a><\/p><\/section>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t

3.<\/span> A screening level or recognized evaluation from any other state when (i) the credentials meet the minimum requirements of Virginia Quality Assurance Screening and (ii) the credentials are valid and current in the state issued. <\/i><\/a><\/p><\/section>","plain_text":" CODE OF VIRGINIA\n\nSTATEWIDE INTERPRETER SERVICE (\u00a7 51.5-113)\n\nThe Department is authorized to establish, maintain and coordinate a statewide\nservice to provide courts, state and local legislative bodies and agencies, both\npublic and private, and persons who are deaf or hard-of-hearing who request the\nsame with qualified interpreters for persons who are deaf or hard-of-hearing out\nof such funds as may be appropriated to the Department for these purposes.\n\t\tThose courts and state and local agencies that have funds designated to employ\nqualified interpreters shall pay for the actual cost of such interpreter. The\nDepartment is further authorized to establish and maintain lists of qualified\ninterpreters for persons who are deaf or hard-of-hearing to be available to the\ncourts, state and local legislative bodies and agencies, both public and\nprivate, and to persons who are deaf or hard-of-hearing.\n\t\tThe Department is authorized to charge a reasonable fee for the administration\nof quality assurance screening of interpreters. Such fees shall be applied to\nthe costs of administering the statewide interpreter service.\n\t\tFor purposes of this section, a qualified interpreter shall be one who holds\nat least one of the following credentials:\n\n1. Certification from any national organization whose certification process has\nbeen recognized by the Department for the Deaf and Hard-of-Hearing; or\n\n2. A current screening level awarded by the Virginia Quality Assurance Screening\nProgram of the Department for the Deaf and Hard-of-Hearing; or\n\n3. A screening level or recognized evaluation from any other state when (i) the\ncredentials meet the minimum requirements of Virginia Quality Assurance\nScreening and (ii) the credentials are valid and current in the state issued.\n\nHISTORY: 1978, c. 603, \u00a7 63.1-85.4:1; 1984, c. 670; 1990, c. 192; 1992, c. 614;\n2002, c. 747.","edition":{"id":1,"name":"2025","slug":"2025","date_created":"2026-06-21 22:39:22","date_modified":"2026-06-21 22:39:22","current":1,"order_by":1,"last_import":null}}