Award Information
Description of original award (Fiscal Year 2010, $200,000)
The Bureau of Justice Assistance's (BJA) Tribal Civil and Criminal Legal Assistance (TCCLA) grants program, authorized by 25 USC 3651, et seq., enhances tribal court systems and improves access to those systems. In general, the TCCLA program provides for direct legal services for indigent defendants and respondents in tribal justice systems. More specifically, the TCCLA program provides civil legal assistance services for Indian tribes, members of Indian tribes, and tribal justice systems, pursuant to the federal poverty guidelines; criminal legal assistance services for Indian tribes, members of Indian tribes, and tribal justice systems, pursuant to the federal poverty guidelines; and deliver national or regional scope advocacy training and technical assistance to tribal justice systems.
The Lummi Nation will improve and strengthen the Lummi Tribal community's ability to resolve disputes through the assistance of legal representation in civil matters and by generally enhancing the ability of Lummi Tribal members to access the Lummi Tribal Court system. This funding will enable the hiring of an attorney who will provide direct attorney services to enrolled Lummi respondents in child support enforcement, Lummi Nation housing evictions, natural resource violations, exclusion/banishment cases, and family law matters. In matters of family law, representation could be limited to situations when the dispute only involves one Lummi Tribal member. This attorney would also organize and improve the existing civil forms bank, develop new forms, maintain the forms bank, and assist the community in determining what forms to use in a particular case.
CA/NCF