§607-5.7 Surcharge for indigent legal services. (a) In addition to the costs and fees prescribed in section 607-5, any person in a civil action in the circuit court who is required to pay an initial filing fee shall pay an additional surcharge at the time of the person's initial filing as follows:
(b) In addition to the costs and fees prescribed in section 607-4, any person in a civil action in the district court who is required to pay an initial filing fee shall pay an additional surcharge at the time of the person's initial filing as follows:
(c) Any person in a civil action in the courts of appeal who is required to pay an initial filing fee also shall pay an additional surcharge at the time of the person's filing as follows:
(d) Initial filings for which surcharges in this section shall be assessed include:
(e) No surcharge in this section shall be assessed against:
Surcharges subject to this section shall be limited to one payment per party.
(f) There is established a special fund to be known as the indigent legal assistance fund. The funds raised under subsections (a), (b), (c), and (d) shall be transmitted to the administrative director of the courts and deposited in the indigent legal assistance fund.
(g) This fund shall be administered by the administrative director of the courts, or pursuant to contract with the administrative director of the courts. If the fund is administered pursuant to contract with the administrative director of the courts, the contractor shall be a nonprofit organization that has at least one year's experience in administering grants to providers of civil legal services for indigents. The fund administrator shall receive not more than five per cent of the total amount collected under this section each fiscal year as compensation for performing the duties under this section.
(h) The fund administrator shall annually accept applications for grants funded from the indigent legal assistance fund from organizations that provide civil legal assistance to indigent persons. Applications shall be received no later than April 15 for assistance in the following fiscal year. The fund administrator shall determine the specific information required of the applicant and, at a minimum, shall require applicants to provide information concerning:
(i) To be eligible for assistance from the indigent legal assistance fund, an applicant shall meet all of the following standards at the time of application:
(j) The administrative director of the courts, or the contractor administering the fund pursuant to contract with the administrative director of the courts, shall review, on a biennial basis, the indigent legal assistance fund to determine whether it is meeting the civil legal needs of indigent persons and shall report its findings and recommendations to the legislature no later than twenty days prior to the convening of the regular session of the legislature in each even-numbered year beginning with the regular session of 2014.
(k) Funds shall be distributed on a pro rata basis to organizations that meet the criteria in subsection (i), based upon the portion of their total budget expended in the prior year for civil legal services to indigent persons as compared to the combined total expended in the prior year for legal services by all qualifying organizations applying for funding. An applicant that provides services other than civil legal services to indigent persons may establish its proportionate entitlement to funds based upon financial statements that strictly segregate the portion of the organization's expenditures in the prior year that were devoted exclusively to the provision of civil legal services for indigents.
(l) As used in this section, unless the context otherwise requires:
"Civil legal services" means direct legal services provided by attorneys or by attorney-supervised staff to clients in civil matters, including pro bono, judicial, and administrative advocacy relating to the civil legal problems of indigents.
"Indigent person" means: