The Iowa Supreme Court has approved $870,244 in grants to nonprofit programs that provide legal assistance to low-income Iowans with civil legal problems. The court awarded grants to 13 different organizations throughout Iowa. The grants are funded by the Interest on Lawyers' Trust Accounts (IOLTA) program. With this year's grants, the supreme court has awarded more than $26 million in IOLTA grants since the program began on July 1, 1985.
IOLTA grant funds are generated entirely from interest earned on certain pooled trust accounts held by Iowa lawyers. Lawyers practicing law in Iowa are required to deposit clients' funds that the lawyers hold in interest-bearing accounts. When the funds involved are so small in amount or held for such a brief period that it is not possible for the funds to economically benefit the individual client, court rules require that lawyers deposit the funds in pooled interest-bearing trust accounts.
The IOLTA program is managed by a seven-member commission that reviews grant applications and then makes award recommendations to the supreme court. In the 40-year history of the IOLTA program, most of the grants have been awarded to organizations assisting low-income Iowans with civil legal problems such as divorce, domestic abuse, unsafe housing, and illegal evictions. The court has also presented grants to law-related education projects. IOLTA grants do not support criminal legal defense.
The following grants will be awarded for the fiscal year beginning July 1, 2024, and ending June 30, 2025:
- Iowa Legal Aid (Des Moines)—$437,900: Funds legal staff in Iowa Legal Aid regional offices for an established program of civil legal assistance to low-income Iowans (service area: statewide).
- Muscatine Legal Services (Muscatine)—$25,000: Funds legal staff to maintain an existing program of civil legal assistance to low-income residents (service area: Muscatine County).
- Polk County Bar Association Volunteer Lawyers Project (Des Moines)—$75,285: Funds staff for volunteer lawyer referral service in Polk County serving low-income residents (service area: Polk County).
- Civil Legal Assistance Fund, Second Judicial District (Mason City)—$7,500: Funds civil legal assistance to low-income parents and children involved in dissolution of marriage or modification cases with child custody disputes (service area: Second Judicial District).
- Iowa Coalition Against Sexual Assault—$58,000: Funds civil legal assistance to sexual assault survivors (service area: statewide).
- Iowa Legal Aid (Des Moines)—$65,500: Funds legal staff support to continue the Legal Hotline for Older Iowans (service area: statewide).
- Iowa Migrant Movement for Justice (Des Moines)—$50,000: Funds legal services to low-income immigrants involved in removal proceedings or other immigration law matters (service area: statewide).
- Kids First Law Center (Cedar Rapids)—$36,012: Funds legal services to children in high-conflict divorce and custody cases (service area: Linn and Johnson counties).
- Legal Aid Society of Story County (Ames)—$38,627: Funds legal services in civil case assistance to low-income residents (service area: Story County).
- Civil Legal Assistance Fund, 3rd Judicial District (Sioux City)—$3,000: Funds civil legal assistance to low-income parents and children involved in dissolution of marriage or modification cases with child custody disputes (service area: Third Judicial District).
- Iowa Center for Children’s Justice (Des Moines)—$12,900: Funds legal services to children in high-conflict divorce and custody cases (service area: Polk and Dallas counties).
- Appanoose County Bar Association (Centerville)—$20,500: Funds civil legal assistance to low-income residents for the safety and permanency of children or dependent adults (service area: Appanoose, Monroe, Davis, and Wayne counties).
- La Luz Centro Cultural (Hampton)—$30,020: Funds legal services to low-income immigrants seeking permanent immigration statuses (service area: Franklin, Wright Hamilton Hardin Cerro Gordo counties)
- World Relief Quad Cities Davenport — $10 ,000 :Funds legaservicessto lowncomeimigrantsand refugeesinimigrationlawmatters( serviceareaScottMusatineLeenrycounties)
Nicholas Critelli III
Director
Office of Professional Regulation
Judicial Branch Building
1111 East Court Avenue|
Des Moines IA50319
(515)3484670