Access to Justice Grant: Questions and Answers

Prospective grant applicants have asked the questions listed below. The questions and the answers provided are posted here for the benefit of all applicants.

Question 1: Is there a range or a maximum amount of funding that the grant allows for?

• Answer: The maximum available under the grant for FY 2025 is $900,000.

Question 2: Do you have a list of past award recipients that you can send us?

• Answer: The Office of Judicial Administration's records indicate that Kansas Legal Services was the sole award recipient from 1997 to 2022. In 2023, award recipients were: Kansas Legal Services, Kansas Holistic Defenders, and Building Peace. 

Question 3: I noticed there was not a suggested length for the application as a whole, and for the project narrative specifically. Do you have a recommended length for the grant application and for the project narrative portion?

• Answer: The grant application packet includes a blank Project Proposal Form (pp. 5–6). An application must include a completed project proposal form for each prospective project, along with the application attachments noted in section D (p. 4). There is no recommended length for the full application or the project narrative question on the project proposal form. However, we recommend that applicants avoid duplicating information in different sections of the project proposal form to the greatest extent practicable.

Question 4: Is it possible to know if other recipients aside from Kansas Legal Services have applied for grant funding in the past? Is this a competitive grant and will other applications aside from Kansas Legal Services be seriously considered?

• Answer: The Office of Judicial Administration does not have a comprehensive list of all past grant applicants. We can tell you that from 2013 to 2022, Kansas Legal Services was the only applicant for the Access to Justice Grant. In 2023, there were three applicants for grant funds. This is a competitive grant opportunity, and all applications that meet grant requirements will be seriously considered.

Question 5: On page 2 of the application packet, under G, it says priority will be given to "full or limited scope pro bono legal services to litigants involved in Kansas district court proceedings." Does this mean providing direct legal services to the public at no cost to the public, or does it mean services provided by pro bono attorneys?

• ​​Answer: In the context of that item in the application packet, the term “pro bono” means providing direct legal services to the public at no cost to the recipient of those services.

Question 6: Are we able to submit our completed application by email?

• We will accept completed applications by email to PeterJ@kscourts.org, as long as all required documents are submitted together.

Question 7: Will you accept an application that is postmarked by the deadline?

• Due to internal scheduling constraints, FY 2025 applications must be delivered to the Office of Judicial Administration by June 17, 2024.