Interpreter rules in this region change at state lines, and many of its metro areas straddle one. Iowa, Kansas, Minnesota, Missouri, Nebraska, North Dakota and South Dakota each answer three questions differently: who provides the interpreter, which credential counts, and who pays. This guide answers those questions state by state, then covers what your organization has to arrange itself.
Kansas City, Omaha, Fargo and Grand Forks straddle state lines, and the interpreter rules change at the border
Ten of this guide’s 17 cities sit in metro areas that cross a state line. Kansas City, MO-KS counts Overland Park, Kansas, among its principal cities. Omaha, NE-IA includes Pottawattamie County, Iowa. Fargo, Grand Forks and Sioux Falls each include a Minnesota county, and the Minneapolis-Saint Paul, Saint Louis and Davenport metro areas reach into Wisconsin or Illinois (OMB Bulletin 23-01).
So the same kind of hearing can carry different rules a few miles apart. At a workers’ compensation hearing, Nebraska’s court program pays the interpreter (Nebraska Statewide Register of Interpreters), while Iowa leaves the interpreter to the parties (Iowa Workers’ Compensation Division).
Three questions settle most interpreter decisions: who provides one, who counts as qualified, and who pays
- Who provides the interpreter. In court, usually the court; in Iowa the choice cannot be delegated to an attorney or party (Iowa Court Rules, chapter 47). The duty usually stops at the courtroom door.
- Who counts as qualified. A certified interpreter comes first in some states and is one option among several in others.
- Who pays. Some statutes forbid charging the person who needs the interpreter. Others let courts charge the parties in some civil cases.
Beneath all three, federal guidance has thinned. The Justice Department rescinded its 2002 guidance on limited English proficiency in 2025, while Title VI itself still bars national-origin discrimination in federally funded programs (Department of Justice notice, April 2025). It then removed disparate-impact liability from its Title VI regulations, effective December 10, 2025 (Department of Justice rule). Health programs covered by Section 1557 must still offer a qualified interpreter, free of charge, when interpretation is required (45 CFR 92.201). None of this changed the state statutes and court rules below, so they are the firmest ground a plan here can stand on.
Four of the seven states certify court interpreters; the other three rely on a judge’s finding or another state’s credential
Iowa ranks interpreters from Class A certified down to unclassified (Iowa Court Rules, chapter 47). Minnesota requires a certified roster interpreter unless none is reasonably available (Minnesota Rule 8). Missouri’s state courts office lists certified and registered interpreters (St. Louis circuit plan), and Nebraska’s register separates certified, provisionally certified, registered and non-certified interpreters (Nebraska register).
Kansas relies on a judge’s determination of each interpreter’s qualifications (Kansas Judicial Branch plan). North Dakota appoints interpreters certified in another jurisdiction (North Dakota Policy 522), and South Dakota has the judge qualify each interpreter on the record (South Dakota court plan). In federal court, certification is available for Spanish, Haitian Creole and Navajo (U.S. District Court for South Dakota).
A certification belongs to the individual interpreter, not to the company that sends them, so ask which credentialed interpreter will appear. And a credential from one state may still need a judge’s finding in the next.
Iowa courts use interpreters who meet Chapter 47, but workers’ compensation hearings leave the interpreter to the parties
Iowa court personnel select the interpreter: the highest classified one reasonably available, from Class A certified to an interpreter on another state’s approved list (Iowa Court Rules, chapter 47). The interpreter is free to a witness in a civil case or to a person who cannot afford one, and in civil cases the court taxes the cost like other court costs (Iowa Code chapter 622A).
Workers’ compensation works differently. The division does not arrange interpreters: the parties must find and pay for one themselves. Most of its hearings run by live video, with in-person sites that include Cedar Rapids, Davenport and Des Moines (Iowa Workers’ Compensation Division), so the parties’ interpreter has to be able to work on video.
Iowa’s rules also reach beyond the courtroom. An attorney who has a settlement, consent decree or guilty plea interpreted for a client must use the highest classified interpreter available and file a signed certification of the interpretation. A certified court interpreter is not a certified translator of documents unless the American Translators Association or NAJIT has also certified them (Iowa Court Rules, chapter 47).
Kansas offers no court interpreter certification: a judge decides who is qualified, and the county pays
Kansas requires a qualified interpreter in civil proceedings, in proceedings that could end in confinement or a penal sanction, before agencies when the person is the principal party, and before police interrogate someone arrested (K.S.A. 75-4351). The judge or presiding officer appoints an interpreter only after finding that the interpreter can communicate with the person and accurately repeat and translate what they say (K.S.A. 75-4353).
The Kansas Judicial Branch does not currently offer court interpreter certification. Interpreters take a free online orientation, whose certificate is not a certification, and the oath; each appointment rests on a judge’s determination, and the counties bear the cost of court interpreting (Kansas Judicial Branch plan, 2022). Fees may never be charged to the person who needs the interpreter (K.S.A. 75-4352).
Local plans add the rest. Sedgwick County, home to Wichita, translates vital documents free of charge and has each division decide which of its documents are vital (Sedgwick County plan). Topeka surveyed residents in English and Spanish to shape its language access plan (City of Topeka).
Minnesota courts appoint certified interpreters from a statewide roster, and Minneapolis and Saint Paul name the languages their documents need
A Minnesota court appoints a certified interpreter from the statewide roster unless none is reasonably available: the delay or travel would be unreasonable, or the interpreter will not work remotely when the court asks. Next come non-certified roster interpreters, then a competent interpreter off the roster, who may be certified in another state (Minnesota General Rules of Practice, Rule 8). In civil cases and agency hearings, the court or agency holding the proceeding pays (Minn. Stat. 546.44).
Minneapolis treats any language spoken by at least 1,000 residents as a primary language and reapplies the formula every two years. Its 2015 list was Spanish, Somali, Hmong, Amharic, Vietnamese, Lao and Oromo (City of Minneapolis plan). Saint Paul‘s May 2023 plan added Karen to Spanish, Hmong and Somali, and its departments reported about 38,000 requests for language services that year (City of Saint Paul, 2023 LEP report).
Missouri courts must appoint qualified interpreters in every legal proceeding
Missouri courts must appoint qualified interpreters and translators in all legal proceedings in which a non-English speaking person is a party or a witness, and a party must give the notice court rules require (RSMo 476.803). The state pays for parties and witnesses. Otherwise the court may tax the fees to the parties and require a deposit in advance (RSMo 476.806).
The circuit court for the City of St. Louis provides interpreters at no cost in civil and criminal hearings, and leaves witness interviews, pre-trial translations and attorney-client conferences to the lawyers on each side (St. Louis circuit plan, 2023). The federal court in Saint Louis provides interpreters for criminal defendants, while civil participants generally provide their own (U.S. District Court, Eastern District of Missouri).
Around Kansas City, the languages cross the state line with the metro area. Kansas City, Kansas Public Schools counts 65 languages, led by Spanish, Swahili, Karen, Kinyarwanda and Burmese (Kansas City, Kansas Public Schools).
Nebraska pays for interpreters in court, but not for the attorney-client meetings around the hearing
Nebraska judges appoint interpreters, who are paid from funds appropriated to the Supreme Court (Nebraska Judicial Branch plan, 2019). The Language Access Program pays for court and probation, but not for communication between an attorney and client outside the hearing, and it tells attorneys to contract their own interpreters to meet clients. It also does not pay for Mental Health Board hearings, non-court-ordered mediation or other state agencies. At the Workers’ Compensation Court it pays, while scheduling the interpreter is the employer’s obligation (Nebraska Statewide Register of Interpreters).
Lincoln‘s 2025 plan names Spanish, Vietnamese, Arabic, Karen and Russian as the languages its departments meet most. It translates written materials for languages spoken by more than 5% of the population or more than 1,000 people, and it bars staff from suggesting that a resident bring their own interpreter (City of Lincoln plan). In Omaha, 22,735 public school students speak one of 119 languages other than English at home, led after Spanish by Karen, Somali, Q’anjob’al, Pashto, Nepali and Arabic (Omaha Public Schools, 2024–25 report).
North Dakota certifies no interpreters of its own, so its courts accept other states’ credentials
North Dakota’s court system has no state certification process for interpreters. For spoken languages, it appoints interpreters certified in another jurisdiction and on that jurisdiction’s roster, or failing that, an interpreter whose qualifications have been determined by examination or other means (North Dakota Policy 522). Sign language interpreters, including by video, need a nationally recognized certification, and practicing without one is a class B misdemeanor (N.D.C.C. chapter 43-52).
Administrative Rule 50 sets out who pays in more detail than any other state here. Interpreters are free to parties and witnesses in listed case types, from criminal and juvenile cases to divorce and protection orders, and other civil parties may have to reimburse the court based on ability to pay. Attorney meetings, depositions and discovery outside a court appearance are paid by the party that requests the interpreter (North Dakota Administrative Rule 50). In health care, Medicaid reimburses interpreter services billed by the treating provider, provided the interpreter follows the National Council on Interpreting in Health Care’s standards (North Dakota Medicaid policy, January 2026).
The courts interpret Spanish most, then Nepali, sign language, Bosnian, Somali and Chuukese (North Dakota Policy 522). Fargo‘s 2022 plan found Nepali the only group large enough for HUD’s translation threshold of the time, and found that interpretation served that group better than written translation (City of Fargo plan). HUD has since withdrawn that guidance (HUD notice). Bismarck Public Schools counts more than 630 multilingual learners speaking over 55 languages and dialects (KFYR-TV). Grand Forks, like Fargo, shares its metro area with a Minnesota county (OMB Bulletin 23-01).
South Dakota courts provide interpreters at no cost, and since July 2026 agencies deciding contested cases must too
South Dakota’s courts provide interpreters at no cost to parties and witnesses, and court staff should not tell anyone that they will need to pay for or provide an interpreter. A judge qualifies each interpreter on the record, because being bilingual is not enough, and complex or lengthy proceedings call for an in-person interpreter whenever one is reasonably available (South Dakota court plan).
House Bill 1219, signed March 9, 2026, makes the agency deciding a contested case appoint and pay a disinterested interpreter or translator when a party or witness needs one (South Dakota session law, HB 1219). With no date of its own, it took effect on July 1, 2026 (SDCL 2-14-16). Lakota speakers contesting a uranium exploration case in southwest South Dakota testified for it (South Dakota Public Broadcasting). In Rapid City and across the state, the interpreter in a contested case is now the agency’s cost.
In Sioux Falls, the Second Judicial Circuit scheduled 3,023 interpreter appointments in the year to June 2021, in about 40 languages led by Spanish, Arabic, Kunama, Dinka and Somali (Second Judicial Circuit plan). The federal court there makes retained counsel arrange and pay for interpreters outside in-court hearings (U.S. District Court for South Dakota).
Where the rules stop, your organization books the interpreter
Across the seven states, the court covers the courtroom and much of the work around it falls to whoever needs it. The service descriptions below are Global Interpreting’s own statements.
Attorney-client meetings and depositions: on-site or video, booked ahead
North Dakota, Nebraska, the St. Louis circuit and the federal court in South Dakota all leave attorney-client meetings outside the hearing to the lawyer or party, and North Dakota names depositions and discovery too (North Dakota Rule 50; Nebraska register; St. Louis circuit plan; South Dakota federal court). On-site interpreters are scheduled ahead for appointments where being in the room matters, and video interpretation covers a meeting or deposition held remotely. Legal work goes to interpreters trained in legal terminology, or to certified court interpreters where the proceeding requires one (legal language services).
Administrative and workers’ compensation hearings: settle who pays before the hearing date
Iowa’s workers’ compensation parties find and pay the interpreter (Iowa Workers’ Compensation Division), Nebraska’s program pays while the employer schedules (Nebraska register), and South Dakota’s agencies now appoint and pay in contested cases (HB 1219). Minnesota agencies pay for interpreters in their own proceedings, and Kansas agencies may never charge the person who needs one (Minn. Stat. 546.44; K.S.A. 75-4352). Confirm in writing who books and who pays before the date is set. Video interpretation is available 24/7 in over 50 languages, adds facial expression and other visual cues, and is the remote route for American Sign Language.
A language with no local speaker: phone and video
Court logs and school surveys here name languages a local roster may lack: Kunama and Dinka in Sioux Falls, Chuukese in North Dakota’s courts, Q’anjob’al and Pashto in Omaha’s schools (Second Judicial Circuit plan; North Dakota Policy 522; Omaha Public Schools report). HIPAA-compliant phone interpretation connects you to an interpreter in over 300 languages within seconds. In health care, the Section 1557 rule bars requiring a patient to bring their own interpreter, and bars relying on a minor child except as a temporary measure in an emergency (45 CFR 92.201). Our healthcare language services are HIPAA-compliant and handled by linguists who know medical terminology.
Documents a plan calls vital: translation with an independent review
City and county plans decide what gets translated: Minneapolis by its 1,000-resident formula, Lincoln by its 5% or 1,000-person line, Sedgwick County division by division (City of Minneapolis plan; City of Lincoln plan; Sedgwick County plan). ISO 9001:2015 certified document translation pairs each file with a translator working in that subject area, and an independent reviewer checks the result before delivery.
A five-point checklist before a hearing, appointment or plan in these states
- Name the state first. In a metro area that crosses a state line, confirm which state’s court, agency or program governs (OMB Bulletin 23-01).
- Ask who appoints the interpreter: in court, usually the court (Minnesota Rule 8; RSMo 476.803), and for meetings, depositions and interviews outside it, usually you (North Dakota Rule 50; Nebraska register).
- Check which credential counts: a certified interpreter in Iowa, Minnesota, Missouri and Nebraska, a judge’s finding in Kansas and South Dakota, and another state’s certification in North Dakota (Kansas Judicial Branch plan; South Dakota court plan; North Dakota Policy 522).
- Settle who pays before the date. Kansas never charges the person who needs the interpreter, while Iowa and Missouri can tax the cost to the parties in some civil cases (K.S.A. 75-4352; Iowa Code chapter 622A; RSMo 476.806).
- Name the language precisely and log every request. A school’s home-language survey or a court’s interpreter log names languages that a broad Census group hides (Omaha Public Schools report; North Dakota Policy 522). Record the language, the channel and who paid, so your next plan starts from your own data.
Each city page linked above covers local courts, hospitals, schools and employers, and the Locations page lists every office and service area.