If a deaf person who is a principal party in interest has provided notice and proof of disability, if required, pursuant to Section 38-9-6 NMSA 1978, the appointing authority shall appoint an interpreter, after consultation with the deaf person, to interpret or to translate the proceedings to the person and to interpret or translate the person's testimony. Interpreters may be selected from current lists of interpreters provided by the commission for deaf and hard-of-hearing persons for:
A. interpreters certified by the national registry of interpreters for the deaf; or
B. other interpreters qualified through action of the commission for deaf and hard-of-hearing persons.
History: Laws 1979, ch. 263, § 3; 2007, ch. 23, § 2.
ANNOTATIONSThe 2007 amendment, effective June 15, 2007, changed Section "6 of the Deaf Interpreter Act" to Section "38-9-6 NMSA 1978"; changed "vocational rehabilitation division" to "commission for deaf and hard-of-hearing persons"; and in Subsection B, changed the former requirement that interpreters qualify through joint action and agreement of the vocational rehabilitation division, the New Mexico registry of interpreters for the deaf, incorporated, and the New Mexico association of the deaf or by nomination by a deaf person or appoint authority to the requirement that interpreters qualify through action of the commission for deaf and hard-of-hearing persons.