Community in Nevada Considers $3 Filing Fee Increase that Would Raise $540,000 Per Year to Fund Services of Self-Help Center
Legal Services E-lert
Bibliographic Info:
Author: Joe Schoenmann
Source: Las Vegas Sun (NV)
Date: October 5, 2008
The Las Vegas Sun reports: "Thousands of people enter the Clark County justice system every year representing themselves, playing Perry Mason in civil matters that would cost them dearly if they hired an attorney . . . . On Tuesday [October 7, 2008], in fact, an ordinance will be introduced to the Clark County Commission asking for a court filing fee increase to fund a ‘self-help' center for just these temporary advocates. The $3 increase in District Court and Justice Court filing fees would be designated for the Neighborhood Justice Center. Total money raised by the increase is estimated at $540,000 in fiscal year 2009 . . . . Leah Stromberg, supervisor of the Clark County Neighborhood Justice Center, which would oversee the self-help center, said the money would be used to hire some county staff and to contract for additional help from Clark County Legal Services and [LSC-funded] Nevada Legal Services. For people from the hinterlands of Clark County, the money would be used to provide Internet access, videoconferencing capabilities and telephone access . . . . With self-help, Stromberg added, expectations are not just that more people will show up better prepared, but that more people will show up, period."