Douglas County staff back Kansas Legal Services for eviction defense pilot

Who Douglas County hires to defend tenants in eviction court could determine whether undocumented renters are protected at all. County staff have backed Kansas Legal Services for the new pilot, but advocates say Kansas Holistic Defenders is the safer choice because it can represent undocumented residents, a gap that could leave some of the county’s most vulnerable tenants outside the door just as eviction cases move faster.

The commission set the process in motion after directing staff on Dec. 17, 2025, to develop a limited legal-counsel framework using $40,000 already in the county’s FY 2026 budget for eviction prevention. Staff proposed a seven-month pilot from June through December 2026 that could provide legal advice, limited-scope representation or full representation to as many as 80 people. The Douglas County District Court Self Help Center is slated to serve as a lead referral source, with tenants coming through the weekly answer docket and, possibly, a virtual docket for people facing work, childcare, disability or transportation barriers.

County reviewers scored Kansas Legal Services at 97 percent and Kansas Holistic Defenders at 81 percent. Staff said both groups had eviction-defense experience, but they favored Kansas Legal Services for its long housing-law history, statewide work with public and private funding, and ability to serve special populations such as seniors and veterans. Kansas Legal Services proposed spending 83 percent of the money on legal staff and less than 10 percent on indirect costs. Kansas Holistic Defenders proposed putting just under half the funding into direct representation, with a 10 percent indirect rate.

Advocates have argued that the county should instead choose Kansas Holistic Defenders. Gabi Sprague of Lawrence Tenants said the group has worked with the renters union for years, responding to referrals and helping renters understand what happens after an eviction notice. Sam Allison-Natale, the group’s executive director, said Kansas Holistic Defenders has been the only organization providing free full-representation eviction defense and brief services at the Douglas County answer docket, and that it has kept a database of eviction cases for the past six months. Supporters say that experience matters most because it is tied directly to who gets legal help, including undocumented tenants.

The fight over the contractor follows a longer county push to build a right-to-counsel framework. Lawrence and Douglas County added a tenant right-to-counsel goal to the May 2024 A Place For Everyone plan to end chronic homelessness, and commissioners have discussed the idea repeatedly in work sessions and regular meetings. On March 25, 2026, they voted 3-2 to approve a pilot, then voted 3-1 on April 22 to move ahead with the process and search for a provider. Staff issued informal proposals to Kansas Legal Services and Kansas Holistic Defenders on April 23, with an April 30 deadline.

The county is also leaning on work already underway. Douglas County’s Eviction Resolution Program launched in September 2023 through the District Court Self Help Center and connects tenants and landlords to rental assistance, legal aid and mediation through partners including Kansas Legal Services, Kansas Holistic Defenders, Building Peace and the Housing Stabilization Collaborative. Staff estimate about 165 people a year could qualify for limited to full representation based on 2025 eviction case statistics.

The closest comparison may be Topeka, where Kansas Legal Services’ first-year eviction-defense program gave advice to 92 tenants, limited-scope help to 17 and full representation to 10, and 34 cases had been dismissed by March 2025. That program operated on an $84,137 contract that funded a half-time attorney and half-time paralegal. Douglas County is working with less than half that amount, so the choice before commissioners will decide not only which nonprofit gets the contract, but how far limited county dollars can stretch when renters need counsel most.