SC Access To Justice Weblog

Happy New Year! Welcome 2014

Published on December 31, 2013December 31, 2013 by scaccesstojusticeLeave a comment

It’s been a really good year for South Carolina Access to Justice! Below is our newsletter that highlights a few items we’ve been working on.

SCATJ Newsletter End of Year 2013

Happy New Year Everyone!

~rfw

NEW Form for Fee Waiver for Pro Bono or Legal Services’ Clients

Published on December 18, 2013 by scaccesstojusticeLeave a comment

Please see the Order below noting that Court Form SCCA 236, available in Word and pdf. It is also available online at the court’s website at http://www.sccourts.org/forms/pdf/SCCA%20236.pdf. It allows the filing fee to be waived when filed in all civil actions by an attorney providing legal services to indigent persons via an approved legal service entity or the SC Pro Bono program. Please share.

2013-12-17-01

The Supreme Court of South Carolina

Re: Certification of Indigent Representation, Pursuant to
Rule 3(b)(2), SCRCP Form (SCCA 236)

ADMINISTRATIVE ORDER

Pursuant to the provisions of S. C. CONST. Art. V, § 4,

IT IS ORDERED that SCCA Form 236, Certification of Indigent Representation Pursuant to Rule 3(b)(2), SCRCP, is approved for use in the Circuit Courts and Family Courts of this State.

Pursuant to Rule 3(b)(2), SCRCP, a party represented in a civil action by an attorney working on behalf of or under the auspices of a legal aid society or legal services or other nonprofit organization funded in whole or substantial part by funds appropriated by the United States Government or the South Carolina General Assembly, which has as its primary purpose the furnishing of legal services to indigent persons, or the SC Pro Bono program, shall have fees related to the filing of the action waived without necessity of a motion and court approval.

This form shall be completed by attorneys in civil actions as described above to certify that he or she represents an indigent person and that he or she is providing such representation on behalf of a legal aid society, legal services or other nonprofit organization

This form shall be available on the South Carolina Judicial Department website at www.sccourts.org under the ‘Forms’ link.

IT IS SO ORDERED.

s/Jean Hoefer Toal
Jean Hoefer Toal, Chief Justice

Columbia, South Carolina
December 17, 2013

Ellen Hines Smith Award 2013 Nominations Open

Published on December 12, 2013December 19, 2013 by scaccesstojusticeLeave a comment

Very proud to announce that nominations are now open for the Ellen Hines Smith Legal Services Attorney of the Year.

PREVIOUS AWARD RECIPIENTS

1989 – Martha B. Dicus
1990 – Thomas L. Bruce
1991 – Johnny Simpson
1992 – Harold F. Daniels
1993 – Andrea E. Loney
1994 – Mozella Nicholson
1995 – Thomas A. Trent
1996 – Susan A. Cross
1997 – Angela M. Myers
1998 – Ethel E. Weinberg
1999 – Nancy M. Butler
2000 – Byron A. Reid
2001 – Lynn P. Wagner
2002 – Eddie McConnell
2003 – Frank Cannon
2004 – Willie B. Heyward
2005 – Lynn Snowber-Marini
2006 – Eddie McConnell
2007 – Marcia Powell-Shew
2009 – Maureen White
2010 – Susan J. Firimonte
2011 – Jack E. Cohoon
2012 – Kirby Mitchell

We’re looking forward to seeing the good works that South Carolina Legal Services is doing.

Please complete the following form, Ellen Hines Smith Nomination Form 2013, and return it to rwheeler@scbar.org.

Thanks!

Happy New Year!

Published on December 28, 2012 by scaccesstojusticeLeave a comment

Guest Post from SC Center for Fathers and Families

Published on November 9, 2012 by scaccesstojustice1 Comment

This is a reprint of an article appearing in the SC Center for Fathers and Families enewsletter.

Civil contempt findings will no longer appear on SLED records

The South Carolina Attorney General recently issued an opinion that civil contempt findings should not appear on South Carolina Law Enforcement criminal background checks. This opinion will have a favorable impact on non-custodial parents who have been found in civil contempt for failure to pay child support and have had the finding entered into their criminal record. Although civil contempt is not a crime, procedures at SLED did not allow these actions to be excluded from the records. The procedures for expungement only applied to criminal cases.

The Center for Fathers and Families has long advocated for changes in policies and practices that though well-intended created roadblocks for non-custodial parents, mostly fathers, being able to provide for their children. This practice of recording civil findings in a criminal background record was one such unnecessary barrier.

The Center had several concerns.

First, a criminal background is often a barrier to employment and because civil contempt findings appeared on the criminal background checks, employers viewed it as a criminal offense. Gaining and maintaining employment is critical to having the financial means to meet a child support obligation.

Second, only individuals who were found in contempt of non-payment of child support and were fingerprinted had the civil contempt entered into their criminal record.

Finally, the practice of fingerprinting individuals found in contempt and forwarding those records to SLED was inconsistently applied across the state. Because SC Legal Services shared these concerns, The Center and SC Legal Services partnered to address this growing problem.

A non-custodial parent, and in this case a mother, requested SC Legal Services’ assistance to have her more recent civil contempt for failure to pay child support removed from her SLED criminal record. Her criminal record included some criminal offenses, but these were very old and ironically were not hindering her employment chances as much as the recent incarceration for failure to pay child support. This case highlighted the problem of civil contempt on criminal records and its impact on individuals’ employment opportunities.

SC Legal Services submitted a written request to SLED for the removal of the civil contempt and the request was denied. SLED procedures were to record any offense that was a “fingerprintable” action and the expungement process could not be used because it was a civil, not a criminal, action. However, because this case demonstrated the problem of civil contempt in individuals’ criminal records and the lack of internal procedures at SLED to address removal of civil contempt findings, SC Legal Services Lead Employment Attorney Jack Cohoon filed an Administrative Appeal to SLED’s Criminal History Administrative Appeal Board. SLED then requested an opinion from the Attorney General’s office concerning entering findings of civil contempt into SLED criminal records.

The Attorney General’s opinion was issued on October 8, 2012. This opinion concluded that criminal records are maintained for criminal justice purposes. Since reporting civil contempt findings does not advance or relate to the enforcement of the criminal laws of South Carolina, these civil contempt findings are not criminal history and should not be entered into the State’s Criminal Information and Communication System nor in the federal NCIC ( National Crime Information Center) systems.

Because of this opinion, SLED will no longer enter civil contempt orders into the NCIC and state systems.

The Center is grateful to the partnership and support of SC Legal Services and for the favorable and fair opinion by the Attorney General.

The full opinion may be found here.

Legal Services Corporation will be in Durham, North Carolina

Published on September 27, 2012 by scaccesstojusticeLeave a comment

On Monday, October 1, 2012, the Legal Services Corporation will be hosting a Forum on Civil Legal Aid at Duke University. This is an exciting event for the Carolinas, and the Southeast.

After the Forum, five North Carolina attorneys will be awarded for their Pro Bono service.

Click here to view the press release.

New Resource for SC Seniors and Caregivers

Published on August 1, 2012 by scaccesstojustice1 Comment

The South Carolina Bar Public Services Division and the Lieutenant Governor’s Office on Aging recently collaborated together with members of the South Carolina Bar Elder Law Committee to update the SOUTH CAROLINA SENIOR CITIZENS’ HANDBOOK: A Guide to Laws and Programs Affecting Senior Citizens. This project was funded by a grant from the Administration on Aging.

This is a FREE resource and is now available online at http://www.scbar.org/LinkClick.aspx?fileticket=QL4xW3AqA8Q%3d&tabid=204.

The print versions should start arriving in local South Carolina libraries soon.

This is a great resource for SC Seniors and/or their caregivers; it covers topics related to:

And an entire portion is devoted to a Community Resource Directory.

Even if you’re not yet a Senior or caregiver, you may want to look into some of these sections. The information is really helpful and easily accessible. Plus, it’s never too early to start planning.

~RFW

South Carolina Homeownership and Employment Lending Program – SC HELP

Published on July 19, 2012 by scaccesstojusticeLeave a comment

Are YOU a Homeowner who is Facing Foreclosure Due to:

Unemployment,

Underemployment,

Reduction in Self-Employment Income,

Death of Spouse,

Catastrophic Medical Expenses, or

Divorce?

If so, there may be help for you via SC HELP, see SC HELP Flyer.

Monthly Payment Assistance:

makes monthly payments while you are seeking employment and a return to self-sustainability

Direct Loan Assistance:

pays up to $20,000 on past due mortgage to bring it current

Property disposition assistance:

provides $5,000 to help transition families from homeownership to rental housing if:

1. Application with SC HELP completed FIRST
2. Permission for short-sale or deed-in-lieu of foreclosure granted
3. Money distributed AFTER execution of deeds completed

South Carolina has been awarded, $295,431,000 in funding from the U.S. Treasury Department’s Hardest Hit Funds to prevent mortgage foreclosure.

SC Housing Corp., a non-profit Division of the South Carolina State Housing Finance and Development Authority is administering the Program, known in SC as the South Carolina Homeownership and Employment Lending Program or SC HELP.

South Carolina Legal Services (SCLS) is one of the housing processing agencies for SC HELP. SCLS assists homeowners who are at risk of foreclosure gather and submit the required documents to be approved for mortgage assistance through SC HELP.

The list of documents can be found here – SC HELP Required Documents List

There are no income requirements for SC HELP and all services are free to the homeowner.

SC HELP will not pay any more than $20,000 on the arrearages.

SC HELP may approve payment of the $20,000 but the actual payment will not be made until SC HELP has verification that the homeowner can pay the balance of the arrearages or that it has been forgiven by the lender or it has been placed at the end of the mortgage.

The requirements for the property disposition assistance program should be carefully reviewed.

NOTE: A homeowner is not eligible for this program if the property has already been sold at foreclosure.

Homeowners may call South Carolina Legal Services toll-free at 1-888-257-1988 Or 1-855-HELP-4 SC

Homeowners may also submit an application at www.SCMORTGAGEHELP.com

For more detailed information about SC HELP, please see Information Flyer

For more information about SC Legal Services, please see SCLS General Brochure

~RFW

Eat at Salsarita’s Fresh Cantina, Help Richland County CASA

Published on July 12, 2012 by scaccesstojusticeLeave a comment

Just in from Richland County CASA:

Make plans now to eat dinner out this coming Wednesday, July 18, 2012, between 5-9 p.m. at Salsarita’s Fresh Cantina located at 5135 Sunset Blvd. Suite H, Lexington, SC 29072.

10% of all ticket sales will be donated to Richland County CASA in support of abused and neglected children!

Come On! You have to eat anyway, so make it a night out and support the CASA Children!

Can’t think of a better reason to eat good food and help a cause! See you there.

~RFW

Training Opportunity by SCCADVASA

Published on July 2, 2012 by scaccesstojusticeLeave a comment

South Carolina Coalition Against Domestic Violence and Sexual Assault (SCCADVASA) Training Announcement: Recognizing and Responding to Human Trafficking within the United States

July 19, 2012

SC Department of Juvenile Justice

Bill Rogers Community Connections Center

4900 Broad River Road

Columbia, SC 29212

Registration and Additional Information at: http://sccadvasa.org/training

Registration deadline is July 13, 2012

Space is Limited, so please register soon.

For Hotel Reservations Call:

Call Hampton Inn-Harbison 803.749.6999

101 Woodcross Drive

Columbia, SC 29212