���˶���

September 20, 2024

QUESTION PRESENTED

Whether LSC requires its grant recipients to serve only individuals who live in the grant recipient’s service area at the time the individuals are seeking legal assistance.

BRIEF ANSWER

No, there is no explicit requirement in LSC’s authorities that grant recipients serve only clients who reside in their service areas at the time they are seeking legal assistance. However, the grant recipient would need to determine whether the legal issue is connected to the service area and fits within the grant recipient’s priorities.

BACKGROUND AND APPLICABLE LAW

An external stakeholder inquired whether LSC grant recipients could provide legal assistance to incarcerated individuals who ordinarily live in the service area but are incarcerated in another location. The stakeholder reported having trouble obtaining legal assistance for their clients in two ways. First, legal aid providers located in the jurisdictions in which the clients were incarcerated would not accept the cases because the cases arose in a different jurisdiction. Second, and conversely, attempts to refer the clients to legal aid providers in the jurisdictions where the cases arose failed because the clients were not, at the time of the referrals, living in the jurisdictions. As a result, the stakeholder requested guidance from LSC about whether an LSC grant recipient could accept as a client an individual who has a case in the grant recipient’s service area even if the individual currently does not live in the service area.

According to § 501(a)(1) of LSC’s 1996 appropriation: “[LSC] shall define geographic areas and make funds available for each geographic area on a per capita basis relative to the number of individuals in poverty[.]” Pub. L. 104-134, Title V, § 501(a)(1), 110 Stat. 1321-50, 1321-51 (1996) (incorporated by reference in LSC’s annually thereafter).  Service areas are geographic locations determined by LSC and set by the grant award. There are three types of service areas that correspond with basic field grants: Basic Field Grant-General, Basic Field Grant-Agricultural Worker, and Basic Field-Native American. Additionally, the Federal Register notice on Basic Field Grant Awards states that LSC seeks legal aid organizations that “are qualified to provide effective, efficient, and high-quality civil legal services to eligible clients in the service areas(s) of the states and territories below.” 89 Fed. Reg. 18674 (Mar. 14, 2024). 

When legal aid organizations apply for LSC’s Basic Field Grant-General, they are requesting LSC funds to provide civil legal aid to the service areas determined by LSC. Once a grant recipient accepts LSC funds, LSC expects the grant recipient to provide civil legal aid within the service area that was identified in their grant application. 

LSC’s 1996 Appropriations Act states that “[n]one of the funds appropriated in this Act may be used to provide financial assistance to any person or entity … that participates in any litigation on behalf of a person incarcerated in a Federal, State or local prison.” P.L. 104-134, Section 504, Title V § 504(a)(15), 110 Stat. 1321-50, 1321-55 (1996). Accordingly, LSC’s restrictions prohibit grant recipients from providing legal assistance to incarcerated individuals in certain instances. Grant recipients cannot provide legal assistance to incarcerated individuals in (1) civil litigation; and (2) administrative work challenging the conditions of incarceration. 45 C.F.R. § 1637.3. This requirement extends to private and public funds. Id. § 1610. However, grant recipients can provide representation that does not include litigation or does not challenge the conditions of incarceration. Program Letter 15-5.

ANALYSIS AND CONCLUSION

A grant recipient may provide “brief services” and “advice and counsel to incarcerated individuals” or other representation not prohibited by Part 1637. Program Letter 15-5. If the incarcerated individual ordinarily lives or lived in the service area prior to incarceration, LSC does not prohibit the grant recipient from representing the individual if they are incarcerated outside the service area. However, grant recipients must still use the funds for the intended purpose of the grant. The grant recipient would have to determine whether the applicant’s legal issue is connected to the service area, whether the legal issue fits within the grant recipient’s priorities, and whether providing legal services to the individual is permissible under Part 1637.

WILL A. GUNN
Vice President for Legal Affairs and General Counsel

STEFANIE K. DAVIS 
Deputy General Counsel and Ethics Officer

FATOUMATA DIABATE
Graduate Law Fellow