Legal Services Corporation – Federal Register Recent Federal Regulation Documents

The Legal Services Corporation (``Corporation'') is required by law to establish maximum income levels for individuals eligible for legal assistance. This document updates the specified income levels to reflect the annual amendments to the Federal Poverty Guidelines as issued by the Department of Health and Human Services.

On February 11, 2010, LSC issued an Interim Final Rule and Request for Comments repealing its regulatory prohibition on the claiming of, and the collection and retention of attorneys' fees pursuant to Federal and State law permitting or requiring the awarding of such fees. The action was taken in accordance with the elimination on the statutory prohibition on attorneys' fees in LSC's FY 2010 appropriation legislation. The rule moved provisions on accounting for and use of attorneys' fees and acceptance of reimbursements from clients from part 1642 (which was eliminated) to part 1609 of LSC's regulations. LSC also made technical changes to its regulations to remove cross references to the obsolete statutory and regulatory citations. With this document, LSC is responding to the comments received and confirming the February 11 rule as final without change.

The Legal Services Corporation (LSC) is the national organization charged with administering Federal funds provided for civil legal services to low-income people.

The Legal Services Corporation (``LSC'') intends to revise the Accounting Guide for LSC Recipients to reflect changes that have occurred since the last publication of the Accounting Guide in 1997 and is soliciting public comment on the proposed changes. The proposed revisions incorporate: (1) New internal control provisions for electronic banking transactions; (2) financial oversight concepts from the Sarbanes Oxley Act of 2002; (3) references to the accounting standards codification by the Financial Standards Accounting Board (FASB) released on July 1, 2009; (4) key practices to enhance fraud prevention; (5) provisions in other LSC policies, including the LSC Property Acquisition and Management Manual and LSC Program Letters; (6) revisions to accounting procedures and internal controls to reflect current best practices; (7) updated and new references to other sources of information; and (8) other changes to clarify existing provisions. The proposed revisions to the Accounting Guide for LSC Recipients (2010 edition), in redline format indicating the proposed changes to the current Accounting Guide (1997), can be located by accessing LSC's Web site at https://www.lsc.gov/pdfs/proposed_ revisions_to_accounting_guide_for_lsc_recipients.pdf.

The Legal Services Corporation (LSC) hereby announces its intention to award grants and contracts to provide economical and effective delivery of high quality civil legal services to eligible low-income clients, beginning January 1, 2010.

The Legal Services Corporation (``Corporation'') is required by law to establish maximum income levels for individuals eligible for legal assistance. This document updates the specified income levels to reflect the annual amendments to the Federal Poverty Guidelines as issued by the Department of Health and Human Services.

On occasion, the Legal Services Corporation (LSC) has available special funding to help meet the emergency needs of programs in disaster areas. This Notice sets forth instructions for current LSC grant recipients who have experienced needs due to a disaster in a federally-declared disaster area and who wish to apply for disaster relief funding, when such funds are available. This information is also posted to the LSC Web site at www.lsc.gov.

LSC is revising its regulation on procedures for disclosure of information under the Freedom of Information Act to implement changes in that law made by the OPEN Government Act of 2007. LSC is also designating the Office of Inspector General as a separate component for receiving requests for its records and making two technical amendments.