Section 13.34. Legal services for persons in poverty grant program.

  1.  For the purposes of this section, “eligible individual” means an individual or household with an annual income which is less than one hundred twenty-five percent of the poverty guidelines established by the United States office of management and budget. The attorney general shall contract with an eligible nonprofit organization to provide legal assistance to eligible individuals in poverty. The contract shall be awarded within thirty days after May 30, 1996. The contract may be terminated by the attorney general after a hearing upon written notice and for good cause.

  2.  A nonprofit organization must comply with all of the following to be eligible for a contract under this section:

  a.  Be a nonprofit organization incorporated in this state.

  b.  Has lost or will lose funding due to a reduction in federal funding for the legal services corporation for federal fiscal year 1995-1996.

  c.  Employ attorneys admitted to practice before the Iowa supreme court and the United States district courts.

  d.  Employ attorneys and staff qualified to address legal problems experienced by eligible individuals.

  3.  The contracting nonprofit organization shall do all of the following:

  a.  Offer direct representation of eligible individuals in litigation and administrative cases, in accordance with priorities established by the organization’s board.

  b.  Offer technical support to eligible individuals.

  c.  Involve private attorneys through volunteer lawyer projects to represent eligible individuals.

  d.  Utilize, to the fullest extent feasible, existing resources of accredited law schools within this state to provide consulting assistance to attorneys in the practice of law in their representation of persons in poverty.

  e.  Assist, to the fullest extent feasible, accredited law schools within this state in enhancing the schools’ expertise in the practice of law representing persons in poverty so that all attorneys within the state will have a resource available to provide training and experience in the practice of law representing persons in poverty.

  f.  Cooperate, to the fullest extent feasible, with existing informational and referral networks among persons in poverty, providers of assistance to persons in poverty, and others concerned with assistance to persons in poverty.

  4.  The contracting nonprofit organization is not a state agency for the purposes of chapter 8A, subchapter IV, and chapters 20 and 669.

  5.  An individual is eligible to obtain legal representation and legal assistance from the contracting nonprofit organization if the eligible individual meets all of the following criteria:

  a.  The eligible individual is a resident of this state.

  b.  The eligible individual is financially unable to acquire legal assistance, in accordance with criteria established by the organization’s board.

96 Acts, ch 1216, §27

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2003 Acts, ch 145, §135