Prairie State Legal Services, Inc. - Rockford Office
303 North Main Street
Suite 600 Rockford, IL 61101 | View map

Phone: 815-965-2902
TTY: 815-965-5114
Toll-free: 800-892-2985

Languages: English
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Prairie State Legal Services, Inc. provides free legal services in civil legal matters for persons who have incomes below 125% of the federal poverty guidelines and senior citizens age 60 and older regardless of income.

Eligibility

Whether you are eligible for help from Prairie State Legal Services depends on the following factors:

• You meet our income and asset guidelines, or are age 60 or older.
• We have no ethical conflict of interest regarding your legal issue.
• You live within the service area of Prairie State, or have a civil legal problem in one of the counties in our service area.
• You meet the citizenship or immigration requirements established by Congress. It should be noted that immigrants who are fleeing domestic violence or trafficking are eligible for legal help regardless of immigration status in matters to address the abuse.
• Government regulations do not prohibit Prairie State Legal Services from handling your type of legal problem.
• You have one or more legal problems that can be addressed by PSLS attorneys and that fall within our established priorities.

Types of Legal Help

Due to high demand for our services, our staff is able to provide representation in certain areas of civil law designated as a priority. The following kinds of problems are illustrative of the cases that we may be able to help with (not an exclusive list):

High Priority Cases

• Family Law: Protection from abuse or exploitation of domestic violence victims, elderly, children and persons w/disabilities; divorce and related relief for domestic violence victims.
• Housing Law: Evictions and lock-outs; foreclosure defense; loss or denial of subsidized housing benefits; loss or denial of essential public utilities; substandard housing conditions cases that cannot be addressed by other agencies.
• Health Care: Loss or denial of medical or nursing home care; loss or denial of medical benefits (Medicaid, Medicare).
• Needs-based government assistance: Loss or denial of SSI, GA, TANF, VA, food stamps.
• Other income benefits where alternative representation is unavailable: Loss or denial of unemployment insurance, Social Security Title II benefits.

Other Cases We May Handle

• Family Law: Child support, custody, guardianship, visitation, parental rights, divorces for non-domestic violence victims.
• Housing: Rent issues; security deposits; unit size; discrimination.
• Education: admission, expulsion, special education & related services.
• Health care and people with disabilities: powers of attorney and other health care documents; discrimination and reasonable accommodations.
• Income or benefits: overpayments of government assistance; health insurance matters; employment issues.
• Consumer Law: Bankruptcy or other debt relief; consumer fraud; protection of exempt income and assets; unfair debt collection practices; repossession; contract defenses.

View current federal poverty levels