In a move that “raised the bar a little,” Jennifer Paycheck, a certified sign language interpreter, has now earned her Specialty Certificate for Legal Interpreting, SC:L — the first in the state to earn this national certification.

“In Kentucky, they have not required interpreters to have their legal certification because there weren’t any,” Paycheck said. There are approximately 300 in the nation with the certification.

“In other states, you have to have a SC:L to interpret in courts, but Kentucky hasn’t been able to raise that bar that high because there hasn’t been a SC:L.”

A native of Oregon, Paycheck initially attended college to become a teacher for the deaf. She did not know sign language until then, which of course was part of

her schooling. “I was fascinated with the language,” Paycheck said. Besides being a teacher, she was also a certified interpreter. More.

See: Central KY News

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