ORANGE CITY—Orange City resident Weston Van De Berg has provided Spanish interpreting services in N’West Iowa for more than eight years. In the last year, however, most of that work has taken place in front of a judge, and it has brought him into courtrooms across Iowa.
“It’s difficult to find interpreters — especially up here,” the 30-year-old Van De Berg said, referring to N’West Iowa. “Most of the interpreters are located in Des Moines, Iowa City, Cedar Rapids. The farthest I’ve been called away in the past year is to Dubuque. It was like a six-hour drive, and they told me they couldn’t find anybody else.”
There are only 27 class A Spanish court interpreters on the statewide roster, and that small number represents a significant increase in the past two years. Van De Berg joined their ranks last summer, when he passed the rigorous three-part examination required to become certified class A court interpreter for the state of Iowa…