FIRSTREGULARSESSION
HOUSEBILLNO.124
103RDGENERALASSEMBLY
INTRODUCEDBYREPRESENTATIVEVEIT.
0185H.01I DANARADEMANMILLER,ChiefClerk
ANACT
Torepealsection477.650,RSMo,andtoenactinlieuthereofonenewsectionrelatingtothe
expirationdateoffundingofbasiccivillegalservicesforcertainpersons.
BeitenactedbytheGeneralAssemblyofthestateofMissouri,asfollows:
SectionA.Section477.650,RSMo,isrepealedandonenewsectionenactedinlieu
2thereof,tobeknownassection477.650,toreadasfollows:
477.650.1.Thereisherebycreatedinthestatetreasurythe"BasicCivilLegal
2ServicesFund",tobeadministeredby,orunderthedirectionof,theMissourisupremecourt.
3Allmoneyscollectedundersection488.031shallbecreditedtothefund.Inadditiontothe
4courtfilingsurcharges,fundsfromotherpublicorprivatesourcesalsomaybedepositedinto
5thefundandallearningsofthefundshallbecreditedtothefund.Thepurposeofthissection
6istoincreasethefundingavailableforbasiccivillegalservicestoeligiblelow-income
7personsassuchpersonsaredefinedbytheFederalLegalServicesCorporation'sIncome
8EligibilityGuidelines.
9 2.Fundsinthebasiccivillegalservicesfundshallbeallocatedannuallyand
10expendedtoprovidelegalrepresentationtoeligiblelow-incomepersonsinthestateincivil
11matters.Moneys,funds,orpaymentspaidtothecreditofthebasiccivillegalservicesfund
12shall,atleastasoftenasannually,bedistributedtothelegalservicesorganizationsinthis
13statewhichqualifyforFederalLegalServicesCorporationfunding.Thefundssodistributed
14shallbeusedbylegalservicesorganizationsinthisstatesolelytoprovidelegalservicesto
15eligiblelow-incomepersonsassuchpersonsaredefinedbytheFederalLegalServices
16Corporation'sIncomeEligibilityGuidelines.Fundmoneyshallbesubjecttoallrestrictions
17imposedonsuchlegalservicesorganizationsbylaw.Fundsshallbeallocatedtothe
EXPLANATION—Matterenclosedinbold-facedbrackets[thus] intheabovebillisnotenactedandis
intendedtobeomittedfromthelaw.Matterinbold-facetypeintheabovebillisproposedlanguage. 18programsaccordingtothefundingformulaemployedbytheFederalLegalServices
19Corporationforthedistributionoffundstothisstate.Notwithstandingtheprovisionsof
20section33.080,anybalanceremaininginthebasiccivillegalservicesfundattheendofany
21yearshallnotbetransferredtothestate'sgeneralrevenuefund.Moneysinthebasiccivil
22legalservicesfundshallnotbeusedtopayanyportionofarefundmandatedbyArticleX,
23Section[15]18oftheMissouriConstitution.Statelegalservicesprogramsshallrepresent
24individualstosecurelawfulstatebenefits,butshallnotsuethestate,itsagencies,orits
25officials,withanystatefunds.
26 3.Contractsforserviceswithstatelegalservicesprogramsshallprovideeligiblelow-
27incomeMissouricitizenswithequalaccesstotheciviljusticesystem,withahighpriorityon
28familiesandchildren,domesticviolence,theelderly,andqualificationforbenefitsunderthe
29SocialSecurityAct.Statelegalservicesprogramsshallabidebyallrestrictions,
30requirements,andregulationsoftheLegalServicesCorporationregardingtheircases.
31 4.TheMissourisupremecourt,orapersonororganizationdesignatedbythecourt,is
32theadministratorandshalladministerthefundinsuchmannerasdeterminedbytheMissouri
33supremecourt,includinginaccordancewithanyrulesandpoliciesadoptedbytheMissouri
34supremecourtforsuchpurpose.Moneysfromthefundshallbeusedtopayforthecollection
35ofthefeeandtheimplementationandadministrationofthefund.
36 5.Eachrecipientoffundsfromthebasiccivillegalservicesfundshallmaintain
37appropriaterecordsaccountingforthereceiptandexpenditureofallfundsdistributedand
38receivedpursuanttothissection.Theserecordsmustbemaintainedforaperiodoffiveyears
39fromthecloseofthefiscalyearinwhichsuchfundsaredistributedorreceivedoruntil
40audited,whicheverissooner.Allfundsdistributedorreceivedpursuanttothissectionare
41subjecttoauditbytheMissourisupremecourtorthestateauditor.
42 6.TheMissourisupremecourt,orapersonororganizationdesignatedbythecourt,
43shall,byJanuarythirty-firstofeachyear,reporttothegeneralassemblyonthemoneys
44collectedanddisbursedpursuanttothissectionandsection488.031byjudicialcircuit.
45 [7.TheprovisionsofthissectionshallexpireonDecember31,2025.]
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