SMRLS Now Offers Free Legal Help to Scott County Crime Victims

Kevin Jonassen, Staff Attorney, Southern Minnesota Regional Legal Services

Kevin Jonassen, Staff Attorney, Southern Minnesota Regional Legal Services

With a two-year Department of Justice grant, Southern Minnesota Regional Legal Services (SMRLS) now participates in the Minnesota Crime Victim Legal Services Project. Along with its project partners, SMRLS is helping create the resources needed to provide wraparound legal services to victims of crime in Scott County, one of only three sites in the state offering services through the pilot program.

The program's attorney, Kevin Jonassen, provides free assistance to crime victims needing help with such things as referrals to other programs, legal advice, and legal representation, if needed. The program can also assist with reparations, restraining orders, housing issues, ID theft repair, divorces, and other issues. It also seeks to address barriers that keep people from accessing the legal system after being victimized. Read more about this cutting edge program.