Iowa lawmakers may create a grant program to help recruit attorneys to practice in rural areas of the state.
Representative Brian Lohse of Bondurant said it would be modeled after a program in South Dakota. “They started small like we are with, I believe, five attorneys. I think they’ve now funded up to 13 different attorneys in different parts of South Dakota,” Lohse said, “so hopefully we have the same success both in attracting attorneys to rural areas, but also in increasing the number of contract attorneys that we have doing that important work across the state.”
Contract attorneys are appointed by judges to represent indigent clients in criminal court. According to the Iowa State Bar Association, since 2014 there’s been a nearly 50% decline in the number of attorneys willing to take those cases. Lohse, who is an attorney, said it’s difficult to find an attorney for any legal work in some areas.
“Just like we see in many other professions, they’re older, they want to retire, they age out,” Lohse said. “We need to bring some young blood into that mix.”
A bill that’s won approval in a House committee would create a Rural Attorney Recruitment Fund to provide incentives to up to five attorneys for five years. The incentives could be worth 90% of the tuition for the University of Iowa Law School.