Chief Patron: Bryant
Indigent Legal Defense in Civil Cases

Item 41 #1h

Language
Page 26, line 14, strike "$5,423,515" and insert "$5,798,515".
Page 26, line 14, strike "$5,423,515" and insert "$5,798,515".
Page 26, after line 42, insert:
"D.  Out of the amounts included for Indigent Defense, Civil, $375,000 the first year and $375,000 the second year from the general fund is provided to support the provision of indigent civil legal services by the Legal Services Corporation of Virginia."

Explanation
(This amendment provides additional general fund support for the provision of indigent civil legal services by the Legal Services Corporation of Virginia. The Legal Services Corporation of Virginia provides grants to local legal aid programs serving every city and county in the state through 40 local offices. These local aid programs permitted more than 34,000 people to access the legal system and provided assistance benefitting more than 79,000 low-income Virginians. The benefits secured by these low-income Virginians included millions in child and spousal support collections as well as $8.9 million in federal benefits. The general fund dollars included in this amendment will offset losses in interest on lawyers' trust accounts (IOLTA) that had previously supported legal aid. The loss of this interest income has reduced support for indigent civil legal services by more than 40 percent in just the first six months of fiscal year 2004.)