Vol. 34, No. 5, 22. Guest Column.

• Author: by Patrick R. Day Chair, Wyoming Center for Legal Aid

Wyoming Bar Journal

2011.

Vol. 34, No. 5, 22.

Guest Column

Wyoming LawyerIssue: October, 2011Guest Columnby Patrick R. Day Chair, Wyoming Center for Legal AidThe Wyoming Center for Legal Aid Part 1

On behalf of the Board of Commissioners, I am pleased to introduce the Wyoming Center for Legal Aid, a new judicial branch entity created by the Wyoming Supreme Court. The Center came into existence on April 19, 2011, and is authorized and funded by the Wyoming Civil Legal Services Act, Wyo. Stat. §§ 5-2-121 et. seq. The Act charges the Center with developing a statewide program for improving access to justice and providing civil legal services to Wyoming's low-income citizens. The Center will be Wyoming's first state-sponsored civil legal aid program and the challenges are daunting. Only the active support of the Wyoming State Bar can meet these challenges, and I am pleased to report that support is already underway.

The Center is the result of hard work by the Access to Justice Commission (AJC), created by the Wyoming Supreme Court in 2008. The 18-member Commission evaluated the legal needs of low- and moderate-income citizens of the state. Chaired by Justice E. James Burke, the AJC found that Wyoming was one of only two states in the country with no state funding for civil legal services. The AJC also found that no formal coordination existed among private and publicly funded groups currently providing legal aid. The AJC therefore approached the legislature and requested support for a new program. The legislature agreed, authorizing an increase in court filing fees and other fees to create a fund to support a statewide program. The legislature also authorized the use of funds to provide for direct delivery of civil legal services to persons earning 200% or less of the federally defined poverty level. Governor Freudenthal signed the Wyoming Civil Legal Services Act on March 11, 2010. The Act became effective on July 1, 2010.

Among other things, the Center's legislative charge is to "establish a statewide single point of entry for indigent legal services," in "coordination with other publicly or privately funded programs providing civil legal services." The legislature has also directed the Center to coordinate "with the state bar and other entities on private attorney involvement, pro bono legal services and educational...