Milwaukee County Finance Committee Approves $250,000 for Right to Counsel Program

MILWAUKEE – The Milwaukee County Board of Supervisors Finance Committee has unanimously approved an amendment to allocate $250,000 in funding for the Legal Aid Society’s Right to Counsel project.

Authored by Supervisor Jack Eckblad, this amendment will help sustain the Right-to-Counsel program, which provides free legal representation to eligible households facing eviction, particularly families with minor children who cannot afford legal assistance. Administered by United Way, this initiative is expected to be enhanced by additional grants to further support its mission.

Supervisor Eckblad issued the following statement:

“There is a broad, positive, progressive coalition of stakeholders who support this program, and I am proud that we were able to bring all of them to bear in order to get this funding through finance committee. I want to thank the Supervisors who have worked most closely with me on this program, Supervisors Martinez and Gomez-Tom, and I especially want to thank our partners on the Common Council who passed their $250,000 contribution to Eviction Free Milwaukee unanimously. With the unanimous support of the County Finance Committee, I am confident there is a coalition on the County Board to win final approval.”

The amendment will now be sent to the full County Board for approval during the annual budget adoption meeting scheduled for November 7, 2024.

NOTE: This press release was submitted to Urban Milwaukee and was not written by an Urban Milwaukee writer. While it is believed to be reliable, Urban Milwaukee does not guarantee its accuracy or completeness.