Access to Justice
Access to Justice
For more information about the Americans with Disabilities Act or the court interpreter program, please contact the Access to Justice Program at (888) 541-4894 or click the appropriate links below.
For more information about the Americans with Disabilities Act or the court interpreter program, please contact the Access to Justice Program at (888) 541-4894 or click the appropriate links below.
Americans with Disabilities Act
Title II of the Americans With Disabilities Act (ADA) became effective January 26, 1992, and prohibits discrimination on the basis of disability by state and local governments, including the courts – in other words, a person cannot be denied access to court services, activities or programs (including jury duty) unless it would fundamentally alter the program or cause an undue burden. Rather, the person with a disability should be advised who to contact to request the accommodation. A valuable resource is the ADA Project (800-949-4232).
To help the courts provide program accessibility, a number of services are offered through the OSCA Access to Justice Program:
Court Interpreters
By law, courts shall appoint a qualified foreign language interpreter in all legal proceedings in which a non-English speaking person is a party or a witness (Section 476.803.1, RSMo).
A designated responsible authority shall provide, based on a deaf person's expressed needs, auxiliary aids and services to interpret the proceedings to a deaf person and, if a deaf person gives testimony or other communication, to interpret the deaf person's testimony or other communication (Section 476.753.1, RSMo).
Title II of the Americans With Disabilities Act (ADA) became effective January 26, 1992, and prohibits discrimination on the basis of disability by state and local governments, including the courts – in other words, a person cannot be denied access to court services, activities or programs (including jury duty) unless it would fundamentally alter the program or cause an undue burden. Rather, the person with a disability should be advised who to contact to request the accommodation. A valuable resource is the ADA Project (800-949-4232).
To help the courts provide program accessibility, a number of services are offered through the OSCA Access to Justice Program:
- Conducting accessibility assessments of new (including floor plan reviews before the walls go up) or existing facilities.
- Questions regarding the ADA will be researched and answered for you to make sure you are providing program accessibility.
- Requests for Braille printing (forms/letters/instructions) can be forwarded to the OSCA Access to Justice staff.
- Assistive Listening Devices that amplify sounds for some hard of hearing individuals have been provided by OSCA and are available in every circuit.
- A training video for the ALDs distributed in 2022 are available from YouTube at this direct link https://youtu.be/TSzWJE8mViQ.
- A training video for the ALDs distributed in 2022 are available from YouTube at this direct link https://youtu.be/TSzWJE8mViQ.
Court Interpreters
By law, courts shall appoint a qualified foreign language interpreter in all legal proceedings in which a non-English speaking person is a party or a witness (Section 476.803.1, RSMo).
A designated responsible authority shall provide, based on a deaf person's expressed needs, auxiliary aids and services to interpret the proceedings to a deaf person and, if a deaf person gives testimony or other communication, to interpret the deaf person's testimony or other communication (Section 476.753.1, RSMo).