Legislative Efforts
The NCCRC tracks all active legislation each year (typically at least 60 bills across the country at the federal, state, and local level).
We also are involved in a number of the bills, either by working with local advocates to get a bill introduced/enacted or by submitting supportive testimony to existing bills. Some of the successful bills we assisted include:
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CT SB 426 (2016): established a legislative task force to study impact of lack of access to counsel in civil cases and make recommendations. CT SB 1502 (2017): establishes DV representation pilot projects.
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MN HB 1702 (2017): Clarifies that children 10 and over have a right to counsel in child welfare cases and requires notification of such right, plus strengthens waiver provisions.
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MS HB 772 and HB 1240 (2016): Permits youth court to appoint counsel for indigent parents in abuse/neglect or termination of parental rights proceedings, and requires appointed attorneys to receive training. States that the Public Defender's office may provide representation in these cases.
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NH SB 200 (2017): Requires appointment of counsel prior to incarcerating a person for failure to pay fines/fees or perform community service.
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NV SB 305 (2017): Requires counsel to be appointed for children in dependency and termination of parental rights cases, rather than being discretionary.
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NYC Intro 214-b (2017): Provides a right to counsel for tenants in eviction cases who are at 200% or below of the federal poverty level.