by Christina Jackson, NALP Director of Public Service Initiatives & Fellowships

Happy Friday and Happy Leap Year! What are you going to do with your extra day?

Here are the week’s headlines:

• Some money found for indigent defense in Louisiana;
• eFile Texas enhancements to increase access to justice;
• OPM unveils USAJobs overhaul;
• More states take action to regulate student loan servicers;
• Bill to provide Idaho state funds to public defenders moves forward;
• Spotlight on Public Service Servants;
• Super Music Bonus!

The summaries:

February 19, 2016 – “The Plaquemines Parish Public Defenders Office will get a $30,000 infusion from the state, enough to put the two attorneys furloughed earlier this week back to work through the end of March. Public Defender Matthew Robnett said he got word late Thursday that the Louisiana Public Defender Board managed to scrape together the money by canceling some contracts. But he said it’s only a stopgap measure — albeit a welcome one — amid a funding crisis affecting indigent defender offices across the state. ‘It’s a Band-Aid, at best, and a very short-term Band-Aid,’ Robnett said, two days after he and fellow attorney Clarke Beljean, the only lawyers in his office, were furloughed through June 30, the end of the fiscal year. ‘I think we’ll find ourselves in the same situation a month from now if we don’t find help from somewhere else,’ he said. Plaquemines is one of many public defender offices across the state hard hit by declining revenue, much of which comes from traffic tickets and court fees. With a decline in speeding and other tickets, many offices, including the one in New Orleans, have been forced to lay off or furlough lawyers or otherwise restrict services.” (The New Orleans Advocate)

February 23, 2016 – “Tyler Technologies, Inc. (NYSE: TYL) today announced that eFileTexas™ — Texas’ electronic court filing system, which went live in all 254 Texas counties more than nine months ahead of schedule — has been enhanced with a free tool that helps self-represented litigants more easily access and work within the justice system. eFileTexas, developed and managed by Tyler, is the largest mandatory electronic court filing system in the U.S. The new tool—called eFileTexas SelfHelp^™ leverages the eFileTexas system and allows courts and legal aid organizations to develop Web-based interviews and provide relevant, informative content to help self-represented litigants with court filings. This results in a reduction of erroneous filings as well as staff time answering pro se questions.” (Business Wire)

February 24, 2016 –  “The website candidates use to apply for nearly every job in federal government is undergoing a major overhaul, with the Office of Personnel Management announcing on Wednesday a series of changes to make the much-maligned platform more accessible.” “The features — which include allowing applicants to track the progress of an application on the site and save progress on a pending application, among others — will be rolled out throughout the rest of the year, OPM acting Director Beth Cobert said. The first changes went live Feb. 20, helping job seekers complete the process by seamlessly transitioning them to the relevant agency’s website. ‘Throughout the rest of the year, new features will be added to increase the usability of the USAJOBS website by enhancing the job application process for those interested in careers in the federal government,’ Cobert said. ‘By streamlining the USAJOBS process, we will also improve our ability to attract the best and brightest to apply for jobs in the federal workforce.'” “The agency created an instructional video to help users understand the changes coming to the site.” (Government Executive)

February 24, 2016 – “There’s no national standard regulating the companies that borrowers encounter most frequently when paying off their student loans. So a growing number of states are taking matters into their own hands. A New Jersey bill requiring student loan servicers to have a license to operate in the state is one step closer to becoming law after making it out of committee earlier this week. The bill, introduced by New Jersey Democratic Assembly members Gary Schaer and Annette Quijano, bans servicers — the companies that manage the student loan repayment process for borrowers — from misleading borrowers, providing them with inaccurate information and recklessly applying loan payments, among other consumer protections. In addition, the bill creates a student loan ombudsman to field, track and hopefully resolve borrower complaints. Servicers are ‘currently unregulated in New Jersey and we feel there is a tremendous need for standardization,’ Schaer said.” (Market Watch)

February 25, 2016 – “A bill to provide some state funding to public defenders unanimously moved forward Thursday in a vote from the Idaho Legislature’s House Judiciary, Administration and Rules Committee. The bill, sponsored by Rep. Christy Perry, R-Nampa, was drafted through the state’s Public Defense Reform Interim Committee after several years of study regarding Idaho’s inadequate defense. If it passes, the bill would allow counties to apply for grants to assist in funding for the county’s public defenders. Currently, the state of Idaho provides no funding to public defenders, despite people having a constitutional right to an attorney no matter their ability to pay. As is, the cost of funding a public defender is left up to each individual county.” “The bill will move forward to the full House for debate.” (Idaho Press Tribune)

Spotlight on Outstanding Public Servants: