1. For the purposes of this section, “eligible individual” means an individual or household with an annual income which is less than one hundred twenty-five percent of the poverty guidelines established by the United States office of management and budget. The attorney general shall contract with an eligible nonprofit organization to provide legal assistance to eligible individuals in poverty. The contract shall be awarded within thirty days after May 30, 1996. The contract may be terminated by the attorney general after a hearing upon written notice and for good cause.

Terms Used In Iowa Code 13.34

  • Contract: A legal written agreement that becomes binding when signed.
  • Corporation: A legal entity owned by the holders of shares of stock that have been issued, and that can own, receive, and transfer property, and carry on business in its own name.
  • Fiscal year: The fiscal year is the accounting period for the government. For the federal government, this begins on October 1 and ends on September 30. The fiscal year is designated by the calendar year in which it ends; for example, fiscal year 2006 begins on October 1, 2005 and ends on September 30, 2006.
  • following: when used by way of reference to a chapter or other part of a statute mean the next preceding or next following chapter or other part. See Iowa Code 4.1
  • Litigation: A case, controversy, or lawsuit. Participants (plaintiffs and defendants) in lawsuits are called litigants.
  • state: when applied to the different parts of the United States, includes the District of Columbia and the territories, and the words "United States" may include the said district and territories. See Iowa Code 4.1
  • State agency: means a board, department, commission or authority of or acting on behalf of the state having the power to enter into contracts with or without the approval of the executive council to acquire property in its own name or in the name of the state. See Iowa Code 7D.34
  • United States: includes all the states. See Iowa Code 4.1
 2. A nonprofit organization must comply with all of the following to be eligible for a contract under this section:

 a. Be a nonprofit organization incorporated in this state.
 b. Has lost or will lose funding due to a reduction in federal funding for the legal services corporation for federal fiscal year 1995-1996.
 c. Employ attorneys admitted to practice before the Iowa supreme court and the United States district courts.
 d. Employ attorneys and staff qualified to address legal problems experienced by eligible individuals.
 3. The contracting nonprofit organization shall do all of the following:

 a. Offer direct representation of eligible individuals in litigation and administrative cases, in accordance with priorities established by the organization’s board.
 b. Offer technical support to eligible individuals.
 c. Involve private attorneys through volunteer lawyer projects to represent eligible individuals.
 d. Utilize, to the fullest extent feasible, existing resources of accredited law schools within this state to provide consulting assistance to attorneys in the practice of law in their representation of persons in poverty.
 e. Assist, to the fullest extent feasible, accredited law schools within this state in enhancing the schools’ expertise in the practice of law representing persons in poverty so that all attorneys within the state will have a resource available to provide training and experience in the practice of law representing persons in poverty.
 f. Cooperate, to the fullest extent feasible, with existing informational and referral networks among persons in poverty, providers of assistance to persons in poverty, and others concerned with assistance to persons in poverty.
 4. The contracting nonprofit organization is not a state agency for the purposes of chapter 8A, subchapter IV, and chapters 20 and 669.
 5. An individual is eligible to obtain legal representation and legal assistance from the contracting nonprofit organization if the eligible individual meets all of the following criteria:

 a. The eligible individual is a resident of this state.
 b. The eligible individual is financially unable to acquire legal assistance, in accordance with criteria established by the organization’s board.
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