On Governor Walker's Chopping Block: Free Legal Aid to the Poor

Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker's budget plan cuts legal services for poor. (Green Bay Press Gazette, 4/25/2011)

Excerpt:   A proposed funding cut to the state's computerized court records system is part of a larger plan that would eliminate funding of a program that provides free legal aid to the poor.

Gov. Scott Walker has proposed reallocating money collected as a fee when certain documents are filed in circuit courts around the state.

The $21.50 filing fee currently pays for a variety of state programs. Under law, the amount is divided up, with each portion going to a specific program, such as $6 of every $21.50 going to the Consolidated Court Automation Program.

The program, called CCAP, serves as the information technology department for the court systems throughout the state and makes court records available online through the Wisconsin Circuit Court Access database.

A program providing civil legal services for the poor receives $4 from each $21.50 fee.