Appointed legal counsel in civil matters: unlawful detainer cases.

Existing law, the Sargent Shriver Civil Counsel Act, requires legal counsel to be appointed to represent low-income parties in civil matters involving critical issues affecting basic human needs in courts selected by the Judicial Council. The act requires the Judicial Council to develop one or more programs to provide competitive grants to provide legal counsel to low-income persons who require legal services in civil matters involving specific types of civil matters, including, among others, housing-related matters, and domestic violence and civil harassment restraining orders. This bill would require the programs to provide services without regard to the citizenship or immigration status of the person represented, and if an organization is prohibited from representing certain immigrants due to a funding restriction, would require the organization to refer those individuals for services elsewhere. The bill would also require courts to provide to the Judicial Council specified information relating to unlawful detainer cases, and would require the Judicial Council to make that information publically available.