Some Akron residents at risk of eviction could soon receive free legal assistance from the city.
Officials will introduce legislation to Akron City Council Monday to create a right-to-counsel program.
If approved, the city will work with Community Legal Aid and the United Way of Summit & Medina to provide free legal representation to eligible residents who are seven days from eviction.
Those eligible include families at 100% of the poverty rate with minor children in the home, or seniors with disabilities at 100% of the poverty rate, according to the legislation.
The three-year pilot program would use $750,000 already approved for this intent by city council in 2023, according to the legislation.
In 2023, the city received $5,335,558 in American Rescue Plan Act funding from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development to be used specifically for housing assistance, according to the legislation.
At that time, council unanimously passed a proposal to earmark $750,000 of that funding for a right-to-counsel program.
Community members and advocacy groups have called for a right-to-counsel program in Akron as homelessness continues to rise.
Other Ohio cities have already implemented similar programs.
In July 2020, Cleveland became the fourth U.S. city to create a right-to-counsel program, according to the Legal Aid Society of Cleveland. Last year, Right-to-Counsel – Cleveland (RTC-C) assisted more than 3,000 people in 1,051 eviction cases, according to its 2024 executive summary.
Advocates say free legal assistance helps level the playing field in eviction cases.
“We are enabling people – low-income tenants – to actually use their voice in the system to defend their rights. And without the right to counsel, that avenue is not there,” Legal Aid Society Executive Director Colleen Cotter told Cleveland City Council in 2023.
Last year, Columbus enacted a right-to-counsel program.
The initiative was part of Mayor Shammas Malik’s 2023 mayoral campaign and a goal he’d initially hoped to accomplish in his first 100 days in office.
Earlier this month, Malik mentioned the forthcoming pilot program in his second State of the City address.
Akron plans to spend $250,000 each year for three-year pilot. City officials will introduce the legislation during city council’s budget committee meeting at 3 p.m. Monday.
