Last week, my colleagues and I voted for the second part of the responsible biennial budget. It makes important investments in Maine’s families, including child care, housing and emergency medical services. Some highlights include doubling salary stipends for child care workers, boosting the Child Care Affordability Program, establishing the transformational Housing First Program and creating Maine’s Paid Family and Medical Leave Program.

Anne Carney

As the Senate Chair of the Judiciary Committee, I am especially proud of the funding for civil legal services – Legal Services for the Elderly, Pine Tree Legal Assistance and others – and for Maine’s Commission on Indigent Legal Services (MCILS).

Let us start with funding for civil legal services. I was pleased to sponsor this bill because civil legal services support Mainers with low to no income in a range of civil matters, from helping veterans access the benefits they earned through service to our country, to protecting older Mainers from financial exploitation.

According to the Nation Justice Index, Maine has fewer than two civil legal aid attorneys per 10,000 people, which is below the Index’s goal of 10 civil legal aid attorneys per 10,000 people. In Maine, there are seven civil legal services providers that strive to meet the urgent need for civil legal representation. These agencies provide excellent representation to Mainers throughout our state on critical matters that families face including the custody of a child, the loss of a home, domestic violence, unemployment – and more. By funding these services, the biennial budget moves Maine closer to fulfilling the promise of equal justice for all.

In addition to supporting civil legal services, the second part of the biennial budget funds major improvements in Maine’s Commission on Indigent Legal Services (MCILS). I’m excited to share with you that this budget allows Maine to establish our first regional public defender office, beginning a transformation of our indigent defense system.

The funding — along with my bill LD 565, “An Act to Improve Maine’s System for Protecting Sixth Amendment Rights” — strengthen MCILS and enhance its ability to do the important job we as a state have assigned to it: protecting the Sixth Amendment rights of Mainers. As amended, LD 565 requires that county and regional jails provide twice-monthly reports on their pretrial detention populations to MCILS in addition to Unified Criminal Docket in the judicial region in which the jail is located. This will help MCILS monitor the assignment of defense counsel to pretrial detainees who cannot afford an attorney.

The bill also amends MCILS rulemaking to set standards related to eligibility for and the professional qualifications of attorneys who are assigned cases under the MCILS system. This will ensure that the attorneys engaged to meet Maine’s Sixth Amendment obligations are professionally qualified to provide quality legal representation.

Finally, the bill clarifies the authority of the MCILS executive director to report and disclose information related to concerns about professional misconduct as part of their supervision of those attorneys. This will help the executive director report and disclose information related to concerns about professional misconduct as part of their supervision of those attorneys.

I am grateful to my colleagues for supporting these important initiatives. If you have questions about Maine’s civil legal aid services, MCILS or the second part of the biennial budget, then please send me an email. I would be happy to hear from you.

Anne Carney represents Maine Senate District 29, which consists of Cape Elizabeth, South Portland and part of Scarborough. She can be reached at 207-287-1515 or Anne.Carney@legislature.maine.gov.