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Missouri committee hears testimony to remove sunset on basic civil legal services fee
Summary
Witnesses told the House Judiciary Committee that the fee funds civil legal assistance for low-income Missourians; sponsor and legal-aid witnesses urged removing the fee’s sunset, while testimony clarified the fee is collected as court fees rather than general state revenue. Fiscal note discussed in hearing.
Representative Rudy Bede introduced House Bill 124 as an extension of the basic civil legal services fee, explaining the bill would remove the fee’s sunset provision that has been in place since February 2003.
Witnesses from legal-aid organizations described client cases they said illustrate the fee’s public-interest purpose. Paula Green, a senior attorney with Legal Services of Southern Missouri, described housing clients whose conditions and evictions were addressed through legal representation: "At 1 point Sarah had over 6 inches of raw sewage sitting in her basement," Green said, describing a client she identified in testimony as "Sarah" (name changed for privacy). Green said her organization uses the fund to defend low-income tenants and secure remedies including judgments and repairs.
Megan Wheeler, a staff attorney in Greene County, described family law and protection-order work for clients who are survivors of domestic violence. Kirsten Dunham, executive director of Mid-Missouri Legal Services, provided statewide context: the four Missouri legal-aid organizations completed 17,750 cases in 2024 across areas such as housing, family law, consumer matters and public benefits.
State Public Advocate Arnie C. A. Dinos testified in support and cited a fiscal-note figure of approximately $848,000 for the program; later Mark Rhodes, who said he represents the four statewide legal-aid organizations, clarified that the funding comes from court fees established in statute rather than from state general revenue. Rhodes told the committee: "There is no state money involved in this. These are court fees... We’re not increasing fees, but this is not general revenue funds."
Committee members asked questions about scope and services; no opposition witnesses appeared. The committee concluded the public hearing on House Bill 124 after testimony from multiple legal-aid representatives.
Context and next steps
Supporters said the fund helps low-income people in civil matters such as housing and family law. The transcript records a fiscal-note figure and a clarification that the money is derived from court fees; the committee did not take a vote on the bill during the hearing.
