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2015 SESSION
15103023DBe it enacted by the General Assembly of Virginia:
1. That § 19.2-164 of the Code of Virginia is amended and reenacted as follows:
§ 19.2-164. Interpreters for non-English-speaking persons (Supreme Court Rule 2:507 derived in part from this section).
A. In any criminal case in which a non-English-speaking person is the accused, an interpreter for the non-English-speaking person shall be appointed. In any criminal case in which a non-English-speaking person is a victim or witness, an interpreter shall be appointed by the judge of the court in which the case is to be heard unless the court finds that the person does not require the services of a court-appointed interpreter. An English-speaking person fluent in the language of the country of the accused, a victim or a witness shall be appointed by the judge of the court in which the case is to be heard, unless such person obtains an interpreter of his own choosing who is approved by the court as being competent.
B. 1. The compensation of an interpreter appointed by the court pursuant to this section shall be fixed by the court in accordance with guidelines set by the Judicial Council of Virginia and shall be paid from the general fund of the state treasury as part of the expense of trial.
2. Such fee shall be assessed as part of the costs if an interpreter has been appointed for the defendant and the defendant is subsequently convicted of the offense.
C. Except as provided
in subdivision B 2, such fee
shall not be assessed as part of the costs unless (i) an interpreter has been
appointed for the defendant, (ii) the defendant fails to appear, (iii) the
interpreter appears in the case and no other case on that date, and (iv) the
defendant is convicted of a failure to appear on that date the interpreter
appeared in the case, then in which case the court, in
its discretion, may assess as costs the fee paid to the interpreter. Whenever a
person communicates through an interpreter to any person under such
circumstances that the communication would be privileged, and such person could
not be compelled to testify as to the communications, this privilege shall also
apply to the interpreter. The provisions of this section shall apply in both
circuit courts and district courts.