On November 17, Presiding Judge Val Gunnarsson, Circuit Clerk Sherri Miller and Mt. Carroll Public Library board member, Laurel Bergren announced the opening of a new, internet-based Carroll County Legal Self-Help Center. The new center is located at the Mt. Carroll Public Library. Librarians will assist people in navigating the website. No legal advice is provided. Individuals who have a computer with internet access can connect to the legal self-help center 24 hours a day, seven days a week at http://carroll.illinoislegalaid.org.

The Carroll County Legal Self-Help Center was developed to provide legal information to the increasing number of people who are coming to the courthouse without an attorney to represent them. The center is focused on providing legal information on simpler civil legal problems of lower income people including some court pleadings and videos to help people understand the judicial system. “The legal self-help center is not an adequate substitute for representation by an attorney and we encourage all litigants to find legal representation, if at all possible,” said Judge Val Gunnarsson, Presiding Judge of Carroll County. “We realize, however, that many people coming to court cannot afford an attorney. If unrepresented people take the time to read the information on the website and to prepare for their court hearing, we think that their experience in court will be more successful and less intimidating,” he said.

Circuit Clerk Sherri Miller expressed her support for the new legal self-help center. “Every day people come into the circuit clerk’s office seeking help because they do not have an attorney to represent them,” she said. “Because we are not lawyers and because we are part of the court system, we cannot provide any legal advice to these people. As a result, people are often frustrated when they leave our office. This new legal self-help center will provide a place where people can get current legal information which should help them when they have to go to court and represent themselves,” said Ms. Miller.

“Locating the new legal self-help center at the Mt. Carroll Public Library helps us to carry out our mission of being a source for information within the city and county,” said Laurel Bergren. “On behalf of the members of the Mt. Carroll Public Library, we are pleased to be a part of this important project, particularly since we are located so close to the courthouse,” she said.

“Carroll County is to be congratulated for taking a leadership role in working to improve access to the court system in the county,” said Joseph A. Dailing, Executive Director of the Illinois Coalition for Equal Justice. “Judge Gunnarsson approached Illinois Legal Aid Online and the Coalition for assistance in setting up a legal self-help center for the county and has been a strong advocate of the legal self-help center since the beginning. We were happy to respond to his request and pleased that the Illinois Bar Foundation was willing to provide funding for this center,” he said. “Because we have an organization like Illinois Legal Aid Online which has developed and maintains the underlying body of legal information that serves as the backbone for the legal self-help center and because we have the cooperation of public libraries like the Mt. Carroll Public Library, we can establish these centers at very low cost,” he said.

The internet-based legal self-help center provides legal information and court pleadings on a broad array of simpler civil legal problems. The website also has videos explaining the court system and how to go to court. The homepage of the website features a welcoming video by Chief Judge Michael Mallon of the Fifteenth Judicial Circuit of which Carroll County is a part. The homepage also lists the location and hours of the legal self-help center for individuals who do not have internet access from another location.

“The goal of Illinois Legal Aid Online is to provide legal information that will help people learn more about their legal problem and provide information to assist people in better understanding the operations of the court system,” said Teri Ross, Outreach Coordinator of Illinois Legal Aid Online. “No legal advice will be provided to people who use the internet-based center. Only a licensed attorney can provide legal advice,” she said. “Without an attorney, individuals must decide on their own what to do based upon the legal information with which they are provided,” Ms. Ross said.

The legal self-help center was developed by a broad-based group of people and organizations in Carroll County including representatives from the Circuit Court, the Circuit Clerk’s Office, the Mt. Carroll Public Library, CHOICES and others. The Illinois Coalition for Equal Justice and Illinois Legal Aid Online, both Illinois nonprofit organizations, provided technical support and assistance. The Carroll County Legal Self-Help Center is the thirty-sixth such center to open in Illinois since 2007.

Submitted by: Illinois Coalition For Equal Justice on 11/18/2009