Legal Services programs are private non-profit organizations providing free legal assistance to low income consumers. At least one program serves every city and town in Indiana. Many areas are served by more than one program. Legal Services programs generally serve clients with income below 125% of the federal poverty level (Click Here to see a chart showing these amounts) but there are exceptions under some circumstances. Many legal services programs have special grants to serve elders regardless of their income.

Legal Services programs help with "civil" legal problems. In most cases they do not provide criminal representation because other organizations (like public defenders) are available to do so.  Because legal services resources are limited, programs cannot handle every legal dispute that arises. Instead, most programs survey low income individuals and other interested parties in their communities to learn what problems are considered the most important and then concentrate their services in those areas.

Some Legal Services programs provide primarily advice and other limited forms of assistance so that they can serve large numbers of people who need their help. Other programs provide more extensive assistance to smaller numbers of clients. Because of restrictions imposed by some of the funding sources that support legal services, some programs are restricted in terms of who they can represent and what services they can provide. When this is the case, that program can usually make referrals to a different source that provides the restricted services. All of the Legal Services organizations in Indiana work closely together to ensure that they can provide the broadest range of services possible to the largest number of eligible individuals. This website is an example of that effort.