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General Assembly Raised Bill No. 456
February Session, 2020
LCO No. 2902
Referred to Committee on JUDICIARY
Introduced by:
(JUD)
AN ACT CONCERNING TH E ESTABLISHMENT OF A PROGRAM TO
PROVIDE INDIGENT INDIVIDUALS WITH ACCESS TO LEGAL
SERVICES WHEN SEEKIN G A RESTRAINING ORDE R UNDER
SECTION 46B-15 OF THE GENERAL STATUTES.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives in General
Assembly convened:
Section 1. (NEW) (Effective from passage) (a) There is established a 1
grant program to provide indigent individuals, interested in applying 2
for a restraining order under section 46b-15 of the general statutes, with 3
access to legal counsel. The program shall be administered by the tax-4
exempt organization administering the program for the use of interest 5
earned on lawyers' clients' funds accounts pursuant to section 51-81c of 6
the general statutes. 7
(b) For each fiscal year that funding is made available for the 8
program, the organization administering the program shall issue a 9
request for proposals for the purpose of awarding grants to nonprofit 10
corporations whose principal purpose is providing legal services to 11
indigent individuals. A nonprofit corporation selected to receive a grant 12
shall provide indigent individuals interested in applying for a 13
restraining order pursuant to section 46b-15 of the general statutes with 14 Raised Bill No. 456
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access to legal counsel (1) for the preparation of the application, and (2) 15
to the extent practicable within the grant funding awarded, throughout 16
the process of applying for such restraining order, including at any 17
prehearing conference and any hearing on an application. Such request 18
for proposals shall be issued not later than three months after the 19
organization administering the program receives funding pursuant to 20
section 2 of this act. A nonprofit corporation submitting a proposal may 21
partner with law schools, other nonprofit entities or publicly funded 22
organizations not acting in a governmental capacity, for the provision 23
of legal services pursuant to the grant. Grants may only be awarded to 24
provide legal services in the judicial districts of Bridgeport, Hartford, 25
New Haven, Stamford or Waterbury. Each grant award shall set forth 26
the judicial district courthouse, or courthouses, for which legal services 27
shall be provided. No grant for legal services to be provided in any 28
judicial district shall exceed two hundred thousand dollars, except a 29
grant for legal services to be provided in the judicial district with the 30
largest number of applications under section 46b-15 of the general 31
statutes in the previous fiscal year shall not exceed four hundred 32
thousand dollars. No grant may be used to provide legal services to an 33
individual who is not indigent. 34
(c) Grants may only be awarded to a nonprofit corporation that 35
demonstrates the ability to: 36
(1) Verify at the time of meeting with an individual that such 37
individual is indigent and meets applicable household income 38
eligibility requirements of the grant applicant; 39
(2) Arrange for at least one individual to be present in the courthouse 40
during all business hours who has the relevant training or experience 41
and is authorized by law to provide legal counsel to individuals who 42
are interested in applying for a restraining order; 43
(3) After providing assistance to an individual with an application 44
for a restraining order under section 46b-15 of the general statutes, 45
represent, at the nonprofit corporation's discretion, such individual 46 Raised Bill No. 456
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throughout the restraining order process including being present in 47
court for the hearing on the restraining order, to the greatest extent 48
practicable within the funding awarded; 49
(4) Provide any individual in the courthouse interested in applying 50
for a restraining order with all applicable forms that may be necessary 51
to apply for a restraining order; and 52
(5) Track and report to the organization administering the program 53
on: (A) The legal services provided pursuant to the program and the 54
procedural outcome of any application filed for a restraining order 55
under section 46b-15 of the general statutes, (B) the number of instances 56
where legal counsel was provided prior to the filing of an application 57
but not thereafter during the restraining order process and the reasons 58
therefor, and (C) any other legal representation provided to individuals 59
pursuant to the program on matters that were ancillary to the 60
circumstances that supported the application for a restraining order. 61
(d) The organization administering the program shall give 62
preference to applications (1) that demonstrate the ability to provide 63
legal representation to individuals regarding matters ancillary to the 64
circumstances that support the application for a restraining order; and 65
(2) from entities with experience offering legal representation to 66
individuals applying for relief under section 46b-15 of the general 67
statutes. 68
(e) The Chief Court Administrator shall, for each judicial district 69
where a grant recipient is providing legal services pursuant to the grant 70
program, (1) provide each grant recipient office space in the judicial 71
district courthouse to conduct intake and assist individuals with 72
applications for restraining orders, and (2) require court clerks at such 73
courthouses, prior to accepting an application for a restraining order 74
pursuant to section 46b-15 of the general statutes, to inform each 75
individual filing such application or inquiring about filing such an 76
application that no cost legal services are available from the grant 77
recipient for income-eligible individuals and where such grant recipient 78 Raised Bill No. 456
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is located in the courthouse. 79
(f) For each fiscal year that funding is provided for the program, the 80
organization administering the program shall either conduct, or partner 81
with an academic institution or other qualified entity for the purpose of 82
conducting an analysis of the impact of the program, including, but not 83
limited to: (1) The procedural outcomes for applications filed in 84
association with legal services provided by grant recipients under the 85
program, (2) the types and extent of legal services provided to 86
individuals served pursuant to the program, including on matters 87
ancillary to the restraining order application, and (3) the number of 88
cases where legal services were provided before an application was filed 89
but not thereafter during the individual's restraining order process and 90
the reasons for such limited representations. 91
Sec. 2. (Effective from passage) For the fiscal years ending June 30, 2021, 92
and June 30, 2022, the Attorney General, utilizing transfer invoices, shall 93
remit one million two hundred fifty thousand dollars to the tax-exempt 94
organization administering the program established pursuant to section 95
1 of this act, from moneys received by the office of the Attorney General 96
in connection with the settlement of any lawsuit to which the state is a 97
party. Such remittal in the fiscal year ending June 30, 2022, shall occur 98
no later than one year following the date of the remittal in the previous 99
fiscal year. Moneys remitted to the tax-exempt organization pursuant to 100
this section shall be used for purposes of the program established in 101
section 1 of this act. No more than five per cent of the total amount of 102
the moneys remitted may be used for the reasonable costs of 103
administering the program, including the completion of the analysis 104
required pursuant to subsection (f) of section 1 of this act. 105
This act shall take effect as follows and shall amend the following
sections:
Section 1 from passage New section
Sec. 2 from passage New section
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Statement of Purpose:
To establish a program to provide indigent individuals with access to
legal services when seeking a restraining order under section 46b-15 of
the general statutes.
[Proposed deletions are enclosed in brackets. Proposed additions are indicated by underline, except
that when the entire text of a bill or resolution or a section of a bill or resolution is new, it is not
underlined.]