The Legal Aid and Services Fund is created. Money in the fund shall be used to provide civil legal services to eligible low-income persons. The Commission on Public Advocacy shall distribute all money in the fund periodically in the form of grants to service providers of civil legal services to eligible low-income persons as determined by the commission pursuant to section 25-3004. Any money in the fund available for investment shall be invested by the state investment officer pursuant to the Nebraska Capital Expansion Act and the Nebraska State Funds Investment Act. Any money left in the Legal Aid and Services Fund on December 31 of any year shall be distributed in the following year.
§ 25-3002.Legal Aid and Services Fund; created; use; investment.
Article 30: Legal Aid and Civil Legal Services Programs · Last amended 1999 · Last verified July 22, 2026
In one sentenceThis section creates the Legal Aid and Services Fund, directs the Commission on Public Advocacy to distribute its money as grants to civil legal service providers for low-income Nebraskans, and requires any year-end balance to be redistributed the following year.
Full Text of § 25-3002
Source
Laws 1997, LB 729, § 3; Laws 1999, LB 759, § 1.
Cross References
Nebraska Capital Expansion Act, see section 72-1269. Nebraska State Funds Investment Act, see section 72-1260.
Plain-English Summary
Section 25-3002 creates the Legal Aid and Services Fund and states what the money in it is for: providing civil legal services to eligible low-income persons. The commission does not spend the money itself. Instead, it distributes the fund periodically as grants to certified service providers, following the process section 25-3004 lays out.
The section also handles two practical questions. Idle money in the fund can be invested by the state investment officer under the Nebraska Capital Expansion Act and the Nebraska State Funds Investment Act, so the fund earns something while it waits to be granted out. And any money still sitting in the fund on December 31 of a given year does not vanish or revert — it carries forward and gets distributed the following year, so the program runs as a continuing cycle rather than a use-it-or-lose-it appropriation.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is the Legal Aid and Services Fund?
A fund created by section 25-3002 to hold money used for providing civil legal services to eligible low-income persons in Nebraska.
Who decides how the fund’s money is distributed?
The Commission on Public Advocacy, which distributes the money periodically as grants to certified service providers under the process in section 25-3004.
Can the fund’s money sit uninvested while it waits to be granted out?
No. Any money available for investment is invested by the state investment officer under the Nebraska Capital Expansion Act and the Nebraska State Funds Investment Act.
What happens to money left in the fund on December 31?
It does not lapse. Section 25-3002 requires it to be distributed in the following year.
Does this fund pay for anything besides free legal services to low-income Nebraskans?
No. The section limits the fund’s use to providing civil legal services to eligible low-income persons.
Is this the same fund used by the later Civil Legal Services Program?
No. The Civil Legal Services Program relies on a separate fund created by section 25-3009.
Source & verification. Section text and the amendment-history citation are
reproduced verbatim from the Nebraska Legislature, Revisor of Statutes, enacted by the
Nebraska Legislature. Last verified July 22, 2026. ·
Official source
Also known as: legal aid and services fund nebraskalegal aid grant funding nebraskacommission on public advocacy grantsnebraska legal aid fund investmenthow legal aid fund is distributed