Federal courts use the National Court Interpreter Database (NCID) to obtain and store contact information for contract court interpreters. The system is a centralized database maintained by the Administrative Office of the United States Courts (AO).
Interpreters certified in Spanish through the federal Judiciary's Federal Court Interpreter Certification Examination (FCICE) are automatically entered in the NCID. Interpreters of languages other than Spanish must contact individual U.S. district courts and follow the court’s required process to provide services either as professionally qualified (PQ) or language skilled (LS) if there is a need for services in their languages. There is no fee or cost to be included in the NCID. Learn more about the three Interpreter Categories as it applies to the federal Judiciary only.
After a court creates an NCID record and includes a recommended PQ or LS category, the AO will review it. Only interpreters that meet one or more of the necessary requirements will be categorized as PQ in the NCID.All others will be entered to the NCID as LS.
Each interpreter record in the database includes the interpreter’s contact information, the qualification level (AO certified, PQ or LS), and whether an FBI background check has been requested by a federal court and if it is up-to-date, which is why the NCID is also used as the depository for all FBI Background checks for contract court interpreters. Only federal court staff with the proper credentials can access NCID records.
Courts use the NCID when locating certified and otherwise qualified interpreters and will confirm assignments with those who are available and accept the terms of the contract.
Learn more about logging into the NCID Gateway.