House committee hears bill to increase share of court filing fees for civil legal aid

Representative Sarah Hannon, sponsor of House Bill 48, told the House Finance Committee on March 19 that the bill would amend the statute governing the Civil Legal Services Fund to allow the legislature to appropriate up to 25% of court filing fees to civil legal aid providers.

"Alaska Legal Services and Access to Civil Legal Services is a system created to help safeguard low income Alaskans' access to civil actions and civil legal representation," Hannon said in the committee hearing. She described HB48 as changing "the percentage of court filing fees that can be appropriated to the civil legal services fund."

Maggie Helm, executive director of Alaska Legal Services Corporation (ALSC), described the services her nonprofit provides around the state and the scale of unmet need. "In state fiscal year '24, through our 14 locations throughout the state, we provided legal assistance in over 6,200 cases impacting over 17,000 Alaskans in 204 communities," Helm said. She told the committee ALSC turns away roughly one family for every family it serves because of limited resources and said increasing the fund share would let ALSC help more people.

Helm and other witnesses detailed the types of civil problems ALSC handles — eviction, protective orders, benefits appeals and other noncriminal issues — and the program's mix of funding. ALSC receives federal, state and local grants, tribal contracts, private donations and volunteer support; Helm said the organization's overall annual budget is just over $10 million and noted staff salaries are lower than state attorney salaries.

Court system general counsel Nancy Mead explained how the filing fees are handled administratively. "All of the court's filing fees go directly to the general fund," Mead told the committee, and the legislature then designates a portion for the Civil Legal Services Fund. She said filing fees for civil cases are set by the Supreme Court by administrative rule and were last increased around 2019.

The committee reviewed the fiscal note submitted with the bill. Sandra Muller of the Department of Commerce, Community and Regional Affairs said the governor's budget includes a base amount that corresponds to the current 10% allocation, and that raising the allocation to 25% would increase the pool available to the Civil Legal Services Fund. In the committee's presentation, staff noted the governor's budget included roughly $468,900 tied to the current allocation and that increasing to 25% would add roughly $312,600 in the first year, producing a potential total near $781,500 if the full 25% were allocated.

Invited and public testimony included representatives of domestic violence and disability advocacy organizations and multiple individual callers who described the effects of civil legal help. Laurie Morton of the Alaska Network on Domestic Violence and Sexual Assault urged passage, saying legal assistance for survivors "can be the difference between life and death," and other witnesses described cases where ALSC representation enabled protective orders, prevented homelessness and preserved benefits.

Committee members asked detailed questions about the fund's history and mechanics. Staff said the fund previously relied on punitive-damages deposits, a source that proved unreliable and led to the 2018 statutory change that shifted a portion of filing fees into the Civil Legal Services Fund (at that time set at 10%). Mead and staff explained that fee dollars deposited to the general fund are fungible; designating a share to the Civil Legal Services Fund reduces the pool of general fund dollars the legislature could otherwise appropriate for other purposes.

Representative Galvin asked whether unused fund balances roll over; staff explained filing fees are deposited to the designated fund and then appropriated by the legislature. Representative Bynum and others asked about additional state appropriations and whether the legislature could instead provide direct UGF increases; ALSC said recent direct appropriations (including a separate $400,000 appropriation noted by ALSC staff) do not replace the need for a durable funding stream tied to filing-fee allocations.

Committee action: the committee set HB48 aside for further consideration. The committee announced an amendment deadline of March 27 at 5:00 p.m. and asked sponsors and staff to provide amendment language if needed.

Ending: HB48 proceeds to further committee work with an amendment deadline; the bill's sponsor, ALSC and multiple advocacy organizations urged lawmakers to increase stable funding to reduce the number of families turned away for civil legal help.