Does Your Organization Need a Licensed Sign Language Interpreter in Maryland? What Changes January 1, 2028
New requirement — applies January 1, 2028
Last updated: July 4, 2026 · Written by Frederick Interpreting Agency, a Deaf-owned interpreting agency serving Maryland, DC, and Virginia. We update this guide as the State Board finalizes regulations.
Starting January 1, 2028, sign language interpreters providing services in Maryland must hold a state license. If your organization arranges interpreters — for patients, defendants, students, employees, or customers — this changes who you can put in the room. Here’s what the law requires, how it interacts with the ADA obligations you already have, and why the organizations that prepare early will be the ones with coverage when the deadline hits.
The State Board finalizes licensing regulations after the 2026 amendments take effect on October 1, 2026.
The short version
- Your duty to provide interpreters comes from federal law (ADA, Section 504) and doesn’t change.
- What changes: the interpreters you use in Maryland must be state-licensed — a verification task you’ve never had before.
- Deaf and hard of hearing individuals’ preference between in-person and VRI carries real weight — public entities must provide reasonable accommodations to support it.
- Maryland already has an interpreter shortage. Licensure will tighten the pool exactly when everyone needs it.
Who this affects
The Maryland Sign Language Interpreters Act, passed in 2023 and amended in 2026, applies to interpreters providing services in the state — which means it reaches every organization that hires them:
Appointments, emergency care, consent conversations, telehealth
Proceedings, depositions, attorney-client meetings
Public services, hearings, community meetings
Classroom interpreting, IEP meetings, campus events
Interviews, trainings, all-hands meetings, customer-facing services
The legal duty to provide communication access already sits with you under federal law. The new layer is a quality control on the supply side: the interpreter filling that duty must be licensed by Maryland’s State Board of Sign Language Interpreters.
How this differs from what the ADA already requires
The ADA’s standard is effective communication: your organization must provide auxiliary aids and services — including qualified interpreters — so that communication with Deaf and hard of hearing people is as effective as communication with everyone else. That’s outcome-focused. It has never told you which credential the interpreter must hold. Maryland’s law adds the credential.
| ADA & Section 504 (federal) | Maryland Interpreters Act (state) | |
|---|---|---|
| What it requires | Effective communication through auxiliary aids and services | The interpreter providing services must hold a Maryland license |
| Who it regulates | Your organization | The interpreter — and, in practice, the agency supplying them |
| Credential standard | “Qualified” — outcome-based, no specific credential named | State license from the State Board of Sign Language Interpreters |
| In effect | Now — and unchanged by the new law | Jan 1, 2028 (Jul 1, 2028 for educational settings) |
| Your new task | None — existing duties continue | Verify licensure for every interpreter, or confirm in writing that your agency does |
The practical consequence is a verification question you’ve never had to ask before: is every interpreter we schedule licensed, and who is checking? If you book through an agency, that responsibility should sit with them — and it’s worth confirming, in writing, that it does.
The preference rule: in-person vs. VRI just got real teeth
One of the most significant pieces of the amended law involves consumer choice. Deaf and hard of hearing individuals can express a preference between video remote interpreting (VRI) and in-person interpreting — and public entities are required to provide reasonable accommodations to support that preference to the extent practicable, tied directly to the ADA’s effective-communication regulation (28 C.F.R. § 35.160).
In plain terms: preference is no longer a checkbox on an intake form. It’s something your organization should be capturing, documenting, and planning around. A patient who needs in-person interpreting for a complex diagnosis conversation, or a DeafBlind individual for whom VRI simply doesn’t work, now has stronger footing to insist on it.
Does your VRI setup pass? When VRI is the right fit, federal performance standards require:
- Real-time, full-motion video and audio — no lag, no dropped frames
- A screen large enough to clearly show the interpreter’s face, arms, hands, and fingers
- Clear, audible transmission of voices
- Staff trained to set it up and operate it quickly, every time
A laptop on a rolling cart with hospital Wi-Fi dropping frames doesn’t meet the standard — and organizations get cited for exactly that.
The real risk isn’t a fine. It’s an empty calendar.
Maryland has a documented interpreter shortage today, before any license is required. When the deadline arrives, the pool of interpreters legally able to work in the state will be limited to those who completed licensure — and every hospital, court, school district, and business in Maryland will be drawing from that same pool at the same time.
The amended law even anticipates this: it now requires the state to report the number of licensed interpreters county by county, precisely so the gaps become visible. Organizations that wait until late 2027 to ask their provider about licensure readiness will be competing for coverage with everyone else who waited. The ones with established agency relationships — and contracts — will be first in line.
How to prepare: a five-step checklist
Audit your interpreter usage. How many assignments per month, in which settings, in-person vs. VRI? You can’t plan coverage you haven’t measured.
Put the licensure question to your current provider. Ask directly: How will you verify that every interpreter you send us is licensed? What’s your plan for the 2028 transition? Vague answers are your cue to look elsewhere.
Document how you capture consumer preference. Build in-person vs. VRI preference into intake and scheduling workflows now, before it’s tested.
Check your VRI setup against the performance standards. Bandwidth, screen size, audio clarity, staff training on setup. Fix it before a complaint fixes it for you.
Budget and book ahead for 2027–2028. Demand for licensed interpreters will peak at the deadline. Locking in an agency relationship early is the cheapest insurance available.
Frequently asked questions
We already comply with the ADA. Do we need to do anything?
Yes. Your ADA duties continue unchanged, but from January 1, 2028, the interpreters fulfilling those duties in Maryland must be state-licensed. Verifying licensure — directly or through your agency — becomes part of compliance.
When exactly does the requirement start?
January 1, 2028 for most settings; July 1, 2028 for educational settings, under the amendments passed in Maryland’s 2026 legislative session.
Can we just use VRI for everything?
No. Individuals can express a preference between VRI and in-person interpreting, and public entities must provide reasonable accommodations to support that preference to the extent practicable. VRI also has to meet federal performance standards for video and audio quality.
What if no licensed interpreter is available when we need one?
That’s the scenario to plan against. Maryland’s shortage is real, and licensure will tighten supply at the deadline. Organizations with established agency contracts will have priority access; those scheduling ad hoc will feel the gaps first.
Can interpreters licensed in other states work in Maryland?
The amended law requires the Board to grant a waiver to out-of-state licensed interpreters when qualifications are substantially equivalent, fees are paid, and reciprocity exists — which should help regional supply, especially near DC and Virginia.
Get 2028-ready with one conversation.
Frederick Interpreting Agency is Deaf-owned and based in Maryland. We track every Board action, verify interpreter credentials so you don’t have to, and cover Maryland, DC, and Virginia — on-site and VRI. Any language. Anytime. Anywhere.
This article is for general information, not legal advice. Requirements are set by the State Board of Sign Language Interpreters and may change as regulations are finalized. Official updates: odhh.maryland.gov.
