It's a shortage being felt around the country. The need for court interpreters is rising due to the nation's dramatically increasing immigrant population.

The strain has been amplified in recent years. Courts in the Valley and around the country are increasingly dealing with people from a wide range of cultures who do not speak English.

Cases involving non-English speakers are rising, and sometimes courts can't handle them.

John Elledge is a former court interpreter who now works primarily as a criminal defense attorney. In Virginia, it's a rigorous process to become a certified interpreter.

"Because it's not anybody that can interpret the nuances and effectively communicate very critical legal information to Spanish-speaking folks who aren't familiar with our court system," says Elledge.

Of course, the issue extends beyond the Latino population. Officials with the National Association of Judiciary Interpreters and Translators say the shortage is a long-time issue that's recently being strained further.

"It's almost been a combination of issues," says Rob Cruz, who is on the Board of Directors for NAJIT. "There has been a population explosion as far as a migration into areas that are not traditionally the hub of immigration."

"It's new for Virginia because Virginia didn't have such a big immigrant population," says Eduardo Justo, who practices immigration law in Harrisonburg.

He says the issue isn't widespread here, but it is creating challenges.

"It delays the proceedings, and it creates severe damages to the liberties of the client," says Justo. "Especially if the client is in jail and this is a bond proceeding in which he needs to understand what is going on."

"I can only imagine that as time goes by and we become a more diverse community, we'll have more and more needs for different language interpreters," says Elledge.

Just this year, a certified court interpreter employed by the Commonwealth started work full-time in Harrisonburg. Currently, local courts also rely on a few independent interpreters and language phone lines to try to keep cases moving.