Republished with permission from Sun Newspapers
By Michael Ricci
For decades, a local legal group has defended the rights of others, but now it is fighting a battle of its own.
Legal Assistance of Dakota County, 14800 Galaxie Ave. Suite 103, in Apple Valley, is a private, nonprofit organization dedicated to providing free legal services to low-income residents in Dakota County, but the group of three staff attorneys and about 100 volunteers is struggling to meet all of the needs of its target clientele.
LADC primarily directs its efforts to cases involving family law, areas such as divorce, child custody, grandparent custody, rights and responsibilities of unmarried parents and protective orders for low-income county residents.
Katie Trotzky, LADC executive director, explained why the legal group focuses mainly on these cases.
“It matches what the poverty population needs,” she said. “Most of the poor people in any area, but in Dakota County as well, are women and children.”
Trotzky approximated the number of those in the county who fall into this category and who could benefit from LADC’s services.
“Dakota County has the fourth highest poverty population in the state,” she said. “The percentage is small, but the number is big. There are about 58,000 people in Dakota County who have incomes less than 200 percent of the poverty guidelines.”
Incomes are relevant to LADC, as the group limits cases where the individual requesting it qualifies in two main areas: financial status and place of residence. Likely clients must have household incomes below 125 percent of poverty guidelines, and the potential clients must reside in Dakota County or have a case rooted in the county.
Among the many cases LADC takes are those involving domestic abuse, which often requires an order of protection. Due to the sheer volume of potential cases, meeting all of these needs is a battle in itself.
“There are probably about 10,000 domestic abuse cases that that size population would have,” Trotzky said, referring to Dakota County. “We can handle probably about 25 to 30 percent of the demand for the kind of case that is being requested.”
Lori Bronk of Apple Valley is a client who qualified and received assistance from LADC. The group assisted Bronk in obtaining an order of protection against a man with whom she shares a child.
“This is a weird circumstance where he was using someone else’s cell phone numbers, so they helped me work with the Apple Valley Police Department to subpoena the other person’s phone records,” she said.
Bronk was prompted to contact the group after the father of her child violated two orders of protection, stemming from threatening behavior exhibited during visitations. Her case has been settled, at least for the time being, and she expressed a great deal of relief for feeling safe, as well as gratitude to LADC for making it possible. She said the LADC did more than she expected by helping her in other ways.
“To me, they went above and beyond. You don’t always get that when you’re a single parent, low-income,” Bronk said. “It wasn’t just the legal part. They stood by you.”
Bronk further noted that she was accompanied to court by LADC staff on more than one occasion, and they took time to fully explain legal situations and their likely result to her. She also said that they assured her of her safety by virtue of the group’s involvement.
Though the legal group was able to successfully help Bronk, Trotzky still has concerns about the future of LADC and how it will continue to serve Dakota County residents in need.
“This is particularly appropriate as far as what is happening in the funding for legal aid,” Trotzky said. “We get money from the state, and we get money from the county, and we get money from the bar associations, as well as some individuals, primarily lawyers.”
The executive director said the state’s current financial position is an issue for LADC’s staff members to keep their eyes on.
“We’re in the second year of the last biennium, and they are working on the budget for next year,” she said. “We are looking at a significant cuts.”
