Central Minnesota Legal Services Incorporated

“The board reviews the 990 and approves its submission before it is filed.”

“The organization relies on board members, most of whom are attorneys, to disclose conflicts in accordance with the minnesota rules of professional responsibility. Cmls has a conflict of interest policy that board members and cmls staff are requested to sign annually.”

“A compensation committee meets periodically and proposes a pay scale for all jobs/titles. The most recent adjustments were approved to be made in 2021. Considerations in developing the pay scale included reviewing the pay scale for the state public defenders for attorneys. The board of directors are presented with the proposed pay scale and either approve it or decline it. The salary schedule is reviewed and approved by the entire board. Legal services trade organizations and related organizations, such as the national legal aid and defender association, the management information exchange and equal justice works periodically conduct salary surveys and that information is used during compensation reviews. Cmls also contacts other legal services programs in the midwest to obtain information.”

“All compensation is based on a pay scale, years of service, and board approved benefits. See description for line 15a above regarding process for determining pay scale. All staff is reviewed by their immediate supervisor.”

“The organization makes its governing documents, conflict of interest policy and audited financial statements available to the public upon request.”

“The mission of central minnesota legal services is to advocate for access to the civil justice system for low-income people by providing high quality legal services to improve the lives of people living in poverty by empowering self-advocacy skills through legal education.”

“Cmls is a poverty law firm and provides comprehensive legal services throughout its 21-county service area. Services are provided to low-income people experiencing a range of civil legal problems with family law and housing being the highest areas of need. The service area in central minnesota stretches from the western border with south dakota, to the eastern border with wisconsin. Cmls is dedicated to embedding equity into policies, processes ad practices. Its overall goal is to be a culturally competent organization to attain and reflect the highest level of awareness, knowledge and sensitivity to every individual, group, and community. Cmls prioritizes representing victim/survivors of domestic violence and sexual assault in orders for protection, dissolution of marriage and other family law cases. Housing cases focus on preventing homelessness and providing access to low-cost safe and sanitary housing. Other areas of practice are public benefits cases, including social security benefit appeals and unemployment compensation benefit appeals, and expungement of criminal records. In hennepin county, cmls partners with hennepin countys domestic abuse service center to represent people seeking safety through orders for protection. Cmls staff attorneys are present at the center daily to speak to victims and to answer questions for legal advocates. Victims are offered advice and representation. Victims who have other family law issues associated with an order for protection case are frequently accepted as clients and receive representation from cmls attorneys. Cmls provide advice and assistance to self-represented litigants through many community legal clinics. In anoka county, cmls staff attorneys hold regular clinics for family law and expungement of criminal records in partnership with the anoka county law library. Cmls participates in a weekly eviction established with community partners to address issues of homelessness. In the st. Cloud area cmls staff hold regular clinics with the st. Cloud veterans administration and with domestic violence programs in mille lacs and todd counties. The cmls volunteer attorney program (vap) provides advice, extended representation, and family law mediation services by attorneys in 20 of the 21 counties in the cmls service area. Cmls pro bono attorneys provide mediation services in the st. Cloud and willmar areas with the volunteer mediation program. This is the primary mediation service in the st. Cloud and willmar areas for low-income people with family law disputes. Cmls now provides attorney mediators for family law cases in anoka county in addition to continuing this program in the st. Cloud and willmar areas. The vap program offers legal advice clinics in partnership with the law libraries of wright and sherburne counties and with the great river regional library in st. Cloud. A monthly clinic is held in the isanti county courthouse. Cmls staff and volunteer attorneys regularly present community legal education seminars to help low-income people and service providers understand legal issues, know what cases to refer to cmls and how to prevent some legal problems from occurring. Cmls partners with other legal aid programs in minnesota to offer a comprehensive delivery system to meet the civil legal needs of low-income people.”