Meeting addresses legal services for low-income residents

Access to Justice public hearing

When: 6 to 8 p.m., Tuesday, Nov. 6

Where: Summit County Justice Center

Why: The purpose of the hearing is to gather information on the extent to which legal needs of disadvantaged persons in Lake, Summit, Clear Creek and Eagle counties are being met, and to identify opportunities for improvement.



SUMMIT COUNTY - A public hearing will be held at the Summit County Justice Center next week to help identify the any gaps in legal services to low-income citizens.

The hearing is one of several around the state organized by the Colorado Access to Justice Commission and local Access to Justice committees to evaluate the needs of different communities.

The Summit County hearing will focus specifically on the needs in Lake, Summit, Eagle and Clear Creek counties.

"Colorado is substantially below the national average in funding for legal services for poor people," said Fred Baumann, Access to Justice resource committee chair. "We would need another $2.5 million just to bring our state up to average. That's a serious problem."

The legal issues confronting Colorado's poor most often include the basic human needs of shelter, sustenance, safety, health care and child custody. Their cases deal with issues like protection orders, domestic violence, medical benefits, social security and food stamps.

"Although we help a large number of low-income individuals and families facing legal problems, there are many more whom we cannot help despite their critical legal needs," said Jon Asher, Colorado Legal Services director.

Nationally, less than 20 percent of the poor's legal needs are addressed with a private attorney - pro bono or paid - or a legal-aid lawyer, according to a Legal Services Corporation report. There are 6,861 eligible low-income people for every legal-aid lawyer in the nation. In the general population, there is one attorney for every 525 people - more than 10 times the ratio of legal-aid attorneys to the population they serve.

Access to Justice Commission members include appointees by the governor, the Colorado Supreme Court, the president of the Senate, the speaker of the House and the Colorado Bar Association. Local Access to Justice Committee members are judges, lawyers, service providers and others interested in eliminating the barriers in the legal system for low-income individuals.

The Colorado Access to Justice Commission and local Access to Justice Committees will be conducting the hearings through the end of the month, and will include legal services clients and service providers, as well as members of the legal community.

Panelists at the Summit County hearing are:

The Hon. Gregory Hobbs, Colorado Supreme Court; The Hon. Daniel Taubman, Colorado Court of Appeals; Colorado Rep. Dan Gibbs, D-Silverthorne; Molly Ryan, Colorado Legal Services; 5th Judicial District Court Judge Thomas Moorhead; Eagle County Court Judge Katherine Sullivan; Inga Causey, Continental Divide Bar Association President and Member Colorado Access to Justice Commission; Elizabeth Pierce-Durance , Member, 5th Judicial District Access to Justice Committee, Beth Pond, co-chair, 5th Judicial District Access to Justice Committee; Pat Craig, director of Northwest Legal Services; and John Clune, Victim Justice Initiative.



Nicole Formosa can be reached at (970) 668-4629, or at nformosa@summitdaily.com.