SECTION 360.205. Definitions

The following words and terms, when used in this subchapter, have the following meanings, unless the context clearly indicates otherwise.

(1) Active Duty--Current full-time military service in the armed forces of the United States or active duty military service as a member of the Texas military forces, as defined by §437.001, Government Code, or similar military service of another state.

(2) Armed Forces of the United States--The Army, Navy, Air Force, Coast Guard, or Marine Corps of the United States or a reserve unit of one of those branches of the armed forces.

(3) BEI Board--The seven-person advisory board appointed by the executive commissioner of HHSC, or his or her designee, to assist in administering the BEI.

(4) Certificates issued:

(A) Basic certificate--A certificate issued by DARS to a person who has passed a written test of English proficiency and a skills evaluation ensuring a minimum competency standard to interpret in routine educational and social service settings.

(B) Advanced certificate--A certificate issued by DARS to a person who has passed a written test of English proficiency and a skills evaluation ensuring a minimum competency standard to interpret in a variety of complex settings, such as routine medical, social service, K-12 and higher education, routine mental health, and routine quasi-legal.

(C) Master certificate--A certificate issued by DARS to a person who has passed a written test of English proficiency and a skills evaluation ensuring a minimum competency standard to interpret in a variety of highly complex settings, such as medical, mental health, quasi-legal, and educational settings.

(D) Court certificate--A certificate issued by DARS to a person who has passed a skills evaluation certifying that the person is qualified to interpret all proceedings of Texas courts, including county, municipal, and justice courts.

(E) Intermediary--Level III certificate--A certificate issued by DARS to a person who is deaf or hard of hearing who has passed a skills evaluation certifying that the person possesses the ability to interpret for a wide range of communication styles, which may include but, not limited to non-standard signs/gestures, limited communication skills, characteristics of Deaf Culture that may not be familiar to hearing interpreters, deaf-blind, minimal language skills, and indigenous communication.

(F) Intermediary--Level V certificate--A certificate issued by DARS to a person who is deaf or hard of hearing who has passed a skills evaluation certifying that the person possesses the ability to interpret in a variety of settings and situations requiring extensive knowledge and training in specialized fields including, but not limited to mental health/psychiatric, medical/surgical, court/legal and matters involving juveniles, demonstrates near flawless skills in interpreting for a wide range of communication styles, which can include-but not limited to non-standard signs/gestures, limited communication skills, characteristics of Deaf Culture that may not be familiar to hearing interpreters, deaf-blind, minimal language skills, and indigenous communication.

(G) Oral Certificate: Basic (OC:B) certificate--A certificate issued by DARS to a person who has passed a skills evaluation in spoken-to-visible and visible-to-spoken communication, certifying that the person has basic proficiency in oral transliteration and speechreading.

(H) Oral Certificate: Comprehensive (OC:C) certificate--A certificate issued by DARS to a person who has passed a skills evaluation in spoken-to-visible and visible-to-spoken communication, certifying that the person has advanced proficiency in oral transliteration and speechreading.

(I) Oral Certificate: Visible (OC:V) certificate--A certificate issued by DARS to a person who is deaf or hard of hearing and who has passed a skills evaluation in visible-to-spoken communication, certifying that the person has advanced proficiency in oral transliteration and speechreading.

(J) Trilingual Advanced certificate--A certificate issued by DARS to a person who has passed a written test of Spanish proficiency and a skills evaluation certifying that the person has the ability to meaningfully and accurately understand, produce, and transform ASL to and from English and Spanish in a culturally appropriate manner, in more complex situations for routine educational and social service settings, such as K-12 educational and administrative interactions.

(K) Trilingual Master certificate--A certificate issued by DARS to a person who has passed a written test of Spanish proficiency and a skills evaluation certifying that the person has the ability to meaningfully and accurately understand, produce, and transform ASL to and from English and Spanish in a culturally appropriate manner, in the most complex situations including complex medical, complex mental health, quasi-legal, and educational settings.

(L) Morphemic Sign System (MSS) certificate--A certificate issued by DARS to a person who has passed a skills evaluation certifying that the person can convey a message from verbal English into morphemic signs for English and from morphemic signs for English into verbal English.

(M) Multiple-certificate holder--A BEI certificate holder who possesses or who is awarded more than one BEI certificate.

(N) Signing Exact English (SEE) certificate--A certificate issued by DARS to a person who has passed a skills evaluation certifying that the person can convey a message from verbal English into Signed Exact English and from Signed Exact English into verbal English.

(O) Level I certificate--A certificate issued by DARS to a person who has passed a written test to assess understanding of Code of Ethics and a skills evaluation certifying that the person can convey some daily interpreting situations where expressive skills are usually stronger than receptive skills and sign vocabulary is limited.

(P) Level II certificate--A certificate issued by DARS to a person who has passed a written test to assess understanding of Code of Ethics and a skills evaluation certifying that the person can convey some routine interpreting situations where the person exhibits good transliterating or interpreting skills, but not both.

(Q) Level III certificate--A certificate issued by DARS to a person who has passed a written test to assess understanding of Code of Ethics and a skills evaluation certifying that the person can convey most routine interpreting situations where the person exhibits good expressive and receptive interpreting skills, displays a clear distinction between interpreting and transliterating and possess a sign vocabulary.

(R) Level IV certificate--A certificate issued by DARS to a person who has passed a written test to assess understanding of Code of Ethics and a skills evaluation certifying that the person exhibits strong expressive and receptive interpreting skills in settings such as medical, legal and psychiatric, demonstrates excellent use of ASL grammar and ASL features, transliterating skills are strong and processing is often at the textual level.

(S) Level V certificate--A certificate issued by DARS to a person who has passed a written test to assess understanding of Code of Ethics and a skills evaluation certifying that the person exhibits very strong expressive and receptive interpreting skills in setting such as medical, legal and psychiatric, possess an extensive vocabulary, demonstrates sophisticated use of ASL grammar as well as ASL features and transliterates conceptually accurate with appropriate mouthing.

(5) Court proceeding--A proceeding that is under the jurisdiction of Texas courts for civil cases and criminal actions, including arraignments, hearings, examining trials, trials, depositions, mediations, court-ordered arbitrations, or other forms of alternative dispute resolution.

(6) Military service member--A person who is on active duty.

(7) Military spouse--A person who is married to a military service member.

(8) Military veteran--A person who served on active duty and who was discharged or released from active duty.

(9) Trilingual interpreter services--Interpreting services provided by an otherwise qualified interpreter who is proficient in Spanish in addition to English and sign.

Source Note: The provisions of this §360.205 adopted to be effective April 24, 2013, 38 TexReg 2513; amended to be effective May 1, 2014, 39 TexReg 3452; amended to be effective September 15, 2014, 39 TexReg 7342; amended to be effective April 6, 2016, 41 TexReg 2503; transferred effective March 1, 2021, as published in the Texas Register February 5, 2021, 46 TexReg 946