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News Article
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Funding crisis cuts legal aid in Texas
By Ryan Poulos El Paso Inc. Austin Bureau
AUSTIN – Unless the state legislature approves new funding sources for the legal aid system in Texas, El Pasoans seeking free legal help might have nowhere to turn.
“It’s very important that we fix this,” said Jaime Sanchez, who heads the El Paso branch of Rio Grande Legal Aid.
“We are turning away a lot of people who need help and we are also under a hiring freeze.”
Natural disasters, including Hurricane Ike and others, combined with a rise in poverty due to the weaker national economy, have vastly increased the number of low-income Texans in need of free civil legal services.
At the same time, a drop in interest rates has hugely impacted the amount of money available to provide legal services to those in need.
In El Paso County, Rio Grande Legal Aid has 12 fulltime attorneys who provide free legal services for those in need.
Because of the funding shortages, the organization is only able to take on high-priority cases like as assaults or domestic abuse.
“We’re really just going to have to wait for the economy,” Sanchez said. “We take hundreds of cases in El Paso, but we’re having to turn away hundreds more because we don’t have the resources right now.”
Access to justice
James Sales leads the Texas Access to Justice Commission, a commission selected by the Supreme Court of Texas to coordinate services for people who need legal help but can’t afford it.
He said that interest on Lawyers’ Trust Accounts, or IOLTA, is a major source of funding for legal aid in Texas. Declines in interest rates have had a major impact on IOLTA funds.
“This financial situation that confronts us is so significant that it makes any prior problems that we have confronted over the past 30 years pale in comparison,” he said.
Lawyers’ Trust Accounts consist of money received by a lawyer that belongs to a client but must be placed separately from a lawyer’s other accounts.
In 2007, IOLTA revenue was projected to reach $28 million, but totaled only $20 million, and with even more interest rate declines through 2008, IOLTA revenue fell to $12.2 million.
Revenue will likely continue to fall in 2009, leaving as little as $1.3 million in revenue – just enough to cover the commission’s administrative costs, Sales said.
About 5.1 million low-income people in Texas, including thousands in El Paso, qualify for legal aid services. The state ranks 43rd in the nation in per capita revenue spent to provide civil legal aid, Sales said.
Right now, the legal aid system is able to provide help for only 20 to 25 percent of the legal needs of low-income Texans who are seeking help.
“Some people have multiple problems – we might deal with one but we can’t deal with all four. It’s a matter of priority,” Sales said. “We’re turning away about 75 percent of the people who come to us right now and it’s only going to get worse.”
Sales said that hundreds of attorneys work for the commission, separated into two categories. There’s the commission’s permanent staff of about 100 that handles cases day-to-day.
Then there are lawyers across the state who work some cases pro bono – about 2,000 lawyers handle about 3,000 pro bono cases per year on behalf of the commission.
“For any citizen to be denied access to the justice system renders meaningless – at least to them – the whole concept of the rule of law of society. We feel that is something that is fundamental in our constitution and it’s something that every person deserves,” Sales said.
Legislative help
In order to survive, Sales said the commission needs to obtain a “bridge appropriation” that will hopefully get the commission through the tough economic times.
He said that as the economy recovers – hopefully over the next couple of years – the commission could return to supporting itself.
“We’re not looking for anything beyond two years of funding,” Sales said. “We don’t want to have to get rid of everyone, and then go through the rehiring and training process again in just a couple of years.”
Several bills are being filed during the legislative session to help address the funding shortfall. Among those proposed is the general appropriation to address the nearly $37 million shortfall for the biennium.
There is also a proposal for an enhancement of basic civil legal services fees collected from justice and county courts, and support of an allocation of funds to access to justice – in the amount of a $5 million per year allocation for civil legal assistance for sexual assault victims – from the fees imposed on sexually oriented businesses.
“Unless we can get some sort of bridge funding for the next two years, our ability to deliver legal services in a meaningful manner to those in dire need will be extremely impaired at best and potentially could collapse at worst,” Sales said.
Perryman study
The Perryman Group conducted a study to determine the economic impact of legal aid delivery. Commissioned by the Texas Access to Justice Commission, the study’s findings were announced last month.
The estimated gain in business activity equals an annual $457.6 million in spending and 3,171 jobs, according to the report.
For every one dollar spent in the state for indigent civil legal services, the overall annual gains to the economy are estimated at $7.42 in total spending, $3.56 in output and $2.20 in personal income.
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| Calvin A. Martin - posted: 3/17/2009 5:54:34 PM
I am a local El Paso resident that has been helping with very affordable legal services and access to the legal system for many people. In a few short years have been able to help many families in El Paso ans Arizona.
It is detrimental in my opinion that now even free services are hindered to a community of people that have no where to turn.
I have an alterntaive solution available to help people in need like this.
Calvin A. Martin
480.553.3999 | |
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