Knowing what paperwork to file when someone doesn’t pay up after a judgment or the best way to file for a divorce is nearly impossible for those without law degrees.
That’s why the Utah State Law Library has a self-help center that directs users to the right place.
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Unless you live in Utah’s most populous counties — Salt Lake and Utah.
The self-help center has served the outlying court districts for the past several years, but they haven’t had the funds to serve residents of Salt Lake and Utah counties, meaning 60 percent of Utahns don’t have access to the service.
But a piece of legislation this session may change that.
SB100, sponsored by Sen. Stephen Urquhart, R-St. George, would increase funding to the law libraries by $279,000 and allow for three more full-time attorneys to field calls from Utahns across the state.
"We want people to be able to use this service," said Rick Schwermer, assistant court administrator. "It’s better for them and it’s better for us."
He said people who use the system produce better paperwork for judges, and the current 8,000 annual customers don’t have to pester clerks who are already handling a higher volume of work because staff has been cut by nearly 20 percent in the last several years, Schwermer said.
Those who work at the self-help centers, which were started as a pilot program in 2007, don’t offer legal advice, but rather direct people to the places where they can find the answers to their questions.
The service reduces the frustrations and runaround some people may face, Schwermer said.
"You don’t know what you don’t know," he said. "A lot of what they do is direct people to resources where the answers can be found."
If the 3rd and 4th Districts are added, the number of calls is expected to double.
He said there has been strong support for the bill, which has sailed through the Senate and is awaiting House action, but it will come down to money.
Urquhart earlier this month strongly advocated for expanding the self-help centers.
"You have significant unmet legal need," Urquhart told a Senate committee. "You have people who have supposed rights according to the Constitution of this country and of this state, you have people who have supposed rights according to the statutes we create. But if they can’t defend those rights, they don’t really have them, they exercise them as a privilege until someone decides to deprive them of those rights.
"It’s important for people to be able to stand on their own two feet and not be down on their knees when dealing with their legal rights."
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