By Associated Press
Montgomery, AL – An organization that provides free legal assistance in civil cases to the poor has reduced its staff and may face job cuts because of a funding shortage.
The director of Legal Services Alabama, Jimmy Fry, says the organization once had 113 employees, but is now down to 98. Fry says that number could drop to 93 without additional funding.
Fry is a former district attorney and state appeals court judge.
Fry says about 90 percent of the group's funding comes from the federal government. He says about $6.2 million is budgeted for Alabama by the national Legal Services organization.
He says the group's ten Alabama offices remain open and expect to serve about 8,000 low-income clients by the end of the year.
Fry and Supreme Court Chief Justice Sue Bell Cobb say Alabama is one of only seven states that does not supply state funding to Legal Services.
(Copyright 2007 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)