A civil rights group is suing Harris County in federal court to force the county to provide interpreters to more indigent people in civil cases.

When needed, interpreters are automatically appointed in criminal cases. But Tuesday’s lawsuit, filed by the Texas Civil Rights Project, charges that failure to do so in civil cases violates the constitutional rights to due process and equal protection under the law.

Robert Soard, chief of staff to the county attorney, said his understanding of county policy is that judges have discretion to appoint free interpreters to the indigent in other cases and to assign payment of interpreters’ fees to the losing party.

See: The Houston Chronicle