About Us

Overview

Kansas Legal Services, a statewide non-profit corporation, is dedicated to helping low income Kansans meet their basic needs through the provision of essential legal, mediation and employment training services.

KLS strives to eliminate the causes of poverty and mitigate its effects by helping individuals achieve and maintain self-sufficiency and family supporting employment.

KLS served more than 25,000 individuals in all 105 counties last year through thirteen legal services, two mediation and six employment training offices located across the state.

History

During the 1920's, the American Bar Association acknowledged the need for special assistance to the poor by creating a committee on legal aid. State and local bar associations worked over the following decades to promote legal aid societies to provide free legal services to the poor.

Early legal services supporters recognized the pledge of "Equal Justice Under the Law" cannot be realized as long as people with limited resources do not have access to the justice system.

In the mid-1960's, legal aid societies were formed in Topeka, Wichita and Kansas City. From the 1960's until 1974, the three Kansas legal aid societies operated under the authority of the Office of Economic Opportunity, Office of Legal Services. Authority for the legal services program was transferred to the newly formed Legal Services Corporation during 1975.

Through all of these changes in administrative authority and funding, the Kansas legal aid societies continued to provide free legal services to the poor in Kansas.

In 1977, the Kansas City, Topeka and Wichita legal aid societiesmerged to form Kansas Legal Services, Inc. Kansas Legal Services now has twelve legal services, two mediation and five employment training offices located across the state, and maintains an extensive retainer contract system with cooperating members of the Kansas Bar Association.

Please review our Annual Reports for more details about our programs and activities.

Please meet our Board of Directors.

Below is a 1979 KLS Newsletter.