FIRSTREGULARSESSION
HOUSECOMMITTEESUBSTITUTEFOR
HOUSEBILLNO.179
103RDGENERALASSEMBLY
0154H.02C JOSEPHENGLER,ChiefClerk
ANACT
Torepealsections477.650and536.085,RSMo,andtoenactinlieuthereoftwonewsections
relatingtofeesandexpensesincivilactionsoragencyproceedings.
BeitenactedbytheGeneralAssemblyofthestateofMissouri,asfollows:
SectionA.Sections477.650and536.085,RSMo,arerepealedandtwonewsections
2enactedinlieuthereof,tobeknownassections477.650and536.085,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
18programsaccordingtothefundingformulaemployedbytheFederalLegalServices
EXPLANATION—Matterenclosedinbold-facedbrackets[thus] intheabovebillisnotenactedandis
intendedtobeomittedfromthelaw.Matterinbold-facetypeintheabovebillisproposedlanguage. 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.]
536.085.Asusedinsection536.087,thefollowingtermsmean:
2 (1)"Agencyproceeding",anadversaryproceedinginacontestedcasepursuanttothis
3chapterinwhichthestateisrepresentedbycounsel,butdoesnotincludeproceedingsfor
4determiningtheeligibilityorentitlementofanindividualtoamonetarybenefitorits
5equivalent,childcustodyproceedings,eminentdomainproceedings,driver'slicense
6proceedings,vehicleregistrationproceedings,proceedingstoestablishorfixarate,or
7proceedingsbeforethestatetaxcommission;
8 (2)"Party":
9 (a)Anindividualwhosenetworthdidnotexceedtwomilliondollarsatthetimethe
10civilactionoragencyproceedingwasinitiated;or
HCSHB179 2 11 (b)Anyownerofanunincorporatedbusinessoranypartnership,corporation,
12association,unitoflocalgovernmentororganization,thenetworthofwhichdidnotexceed
13sevenmilliondollarsatthetimethecivilactionoragencyproceedingwasinitiated,and
14whichhadnotmorethanfivehundredemployeesatthetimethecivilactionoragency
15proceedingwasinitiated;
16 (3)"Prevails",obtainsafavorableorder,decision,judgment,ordismissalinacivil
17actionoragencyproceeding;
18 (4)"Reasonablefeesandexpenses"includesthereasonableexpensesofexpert
19witnesses,thereasonablecostofanystudy,analysis,engineeringreport,test,orprojectwhich
20isfoundbythecourtoragencytobenecessaryforthepreparationoftheparty'scase,and
21reasonableattorneyoragentfees.Theamountoffeesawardedasreasonablefeesand
22expensesshallbebaseduponprevailingmarketratesforthekindandqualityoftheservices
23furnished,exceptthatnoexpertwitnessshallbecompensatedatarateinexcessofthehighest
24rateofcompensationforexpertwitnessespaidbythestateinthetypeofcivilactionor
25agencyproceeding[, andattorneyfeesshallnotbeawardedinexcessofseventy-fivedollars
26perhourunlessthecourtdeterminesthataspecialfactor,suchasthelimitedavailabilityof
27qualifiedattorneysfortheproceedingsinvolved,justifiesahigherfee];
28 (5)"State",thestateofMissouri,itsofficersanditsagencies,butshallnotinclude
29politicalsubdivisionsofthestate.
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HCSHB179 3