General Assembly Substitute Bill No. 471
February Session, 2016 *_____SB00471JUD___033016____*
General Assembly
Substitute Bill No. 471
February Session, 2016
*_____SB00471JUD___033016____*
AN ACT CONCERNING ACCESS TO JUSTICE.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives in General Assembly convened:
Section 1. (NEW) (Effective October 1, 2016) (a) The Judicial Branch shall establish, within available resources, a volunteer attorney program for the provision of legal services to program participants in accordance with this section. The Chief Court Administrator shall enlist the services of attorneys who are admitted to the bar of this state and who are in good standing to provide legal services to program participants, who are not otherwise represented by attorneys, at no cost to the program participants. Under the program, legal services provided by volunteer attorneys shall include, but need not be limited to, assistance in applying for a restraining order under section 46b-15 of the general statutes and assistance in applying for a civil protection order under section 46b-16a of the general statutes. With respect to the administration of the program, the Chief Court Administrator shall prescribe (1) the level of professional experience required of a volunteer attorney, (2) the training requirements for a volunteer attorney, (3) the scope of legal services that may be provided, and (4) the dates, times and locations for the provision of legal services.
(b) Not later than January 1, 2018, and not later than January first of each year thereafter, the Chief Court Administrator shall submit a report in accordance with the provisions of section 11-4a of the general statutes to the joint standing committee of the General Assembly having cognizance of matters relating to the judiciary that sets forth: (1) The number of attorneys participating in the program; (2) the total number of volunteer hours provided by attorneys participating in the program; (3) the number of persons receiving legal services under the program; and (4) the costs incurred by the Judicial Branch to administer the program.
This act shall take effect as follows and shall amend the following sections:
Section 1 October 1, 2016 New section
This act shall take effect as follows and shall amend the following sections:
Section 1
October 1, 2016
New section
Statement of Legislative Commissioners:
In Section 1, references to "services" were changed to "legal services" for clarity and consistency and references to " participating attorney" were changed to "volunteer attorney" for consistency.
JUD Joint Favorable Subst. -LCO
JUD
Joint Favorable Subst. -LCO