Can’t call Saul? Bernalillo County looks to boost legal services for underserved

Bernalillo County is working to establish a fund to support indigent residents in noncriminal cases amid concerns about access to legal services.

On Tuesday, the Bernalillo County Commission directed the county manager to explore the idea, approving $250,000 in financing with a 4-1 vote.

It was an early step in establishing the Civil Legal Services Fund, which is intended to support county residents involved in myriad civil matters, like housing, personal injury and other noncriminal disputes.

Commissioner Adriann Barboa, the resolution’s sponsor, said she hopes that indigent residents involved in landlord-tenant disputes and those facing immigration proceedings will be able to use the fund.

Barboa said, “$250,000 isn’t going to get that far, but we’re trying to provide some help and access for the things we’re hearing.”

A 2013 University of New Mexico report found that indigent residents across the state often need assistance with legal issues around landlord-tenant disputes, civil rights, employment and domestic disputes.

A more recent 2020 report from the American Bar Association found that New Mexico had about 5,600 lawyers, or about 2.7 per 1,000 residents, practicing in the state. About 3,100 are in Bernalillo County, the state’s most populous county. That doesn’t mean lack of access is not significant locally, Barboa said.

“It really doesn’t matter how many lawyers there are if you can’t afford them,” she said.

Barboa said Bernalillo County’s program will be modeled after the Civil Legal Services Program run by the state of New Mexico. That fund was established in 2001 and takes a portion of the magistrate and district court fees, distributing them to qualified providers.

The county’s program is set to pull funds from the general fund, according to the resolution.

The fund received broad support from the commission, except from Commissioner Walt Benson. Benson told the Journal that he appreciated the intent of the fund, which was to support equal access to justice, but feared it would not.

“My responsibility is to be a good steward of public funds, and I believe this resolution is not the most efficient or impactful way to achieve equal access to justice,” Benson said, adding that he feared the measure would empower pointless litigation with public dollars, and only benefit lawyers.

With the commission’s final approval on Tuesday, Barboa said the program would soon be put out for bid as the county seeks providers to use the funds. She said the bid will have parameters to ensure the money is only used to support indigent civil legal services and would be similar to the state’s process.