Students will assist individuals who appear for an Austin municipal court docket scheduled to help community members clear past due fines and fees, as well as arrest warrants and driver’s license holds related to unpaid criminal justice debt. Students will help individuals complete financial affidavits that an onsite municipal court judge will use to determine to what extent people are able to pay criminal justice debt and whether they are entitled to debt relief. Students also will help people navigate the driver’s license reclamation process and apply for Occupational Driver’s Licenses if necessary.
Organization
Driver’s License Reclamation Project, Mithoff Pro Bono Program
The Driver’s License Reclamation Project is a student-led internal project of the Richard and Ginni Mithoff Pro Bono Program dedicated to addressing how driver’s license suspensions contribute to a cycle of incarceration for debt and create significant employment barriers in low-income communities. The Driver’s License Reclamation Project is supporting the Court Debt Relief and Driver’s License Reclamation Clinic in collaboration with the Austin Municipal Courts and the Texas Fair Defense Project.
Project Details
- Project Date
Monday, November 13
- Project Time
- 5pm-8:30pm
- Approximate hours of work requested
- 4.5 hours, including training
- Training
- Thursday, November 9, 12pm-1pm (CCJ 3.306); if you cannot attend on November 9, a make-up training session will be held on Friday, November 10, 11am-12pm (CCJ 3.306)
- Skills used
- Document preparation/review, client communication
- Project location
- Windsor Park Branch, Austin Public Library, 5833 Westminster Drive
- Number of student volunteers requested
- 14
- Class year preference
- 1L, 2L, 3L, LLM
- To Apply
- Submit email stating interest, any language skills, and which training you will attend to Sarah Sedgwick at ssedgwick@law.utexas.edu