Justice Bus makes legal help more accessible

By Lauren Breunig

Today at 3:02 PM

ST. CLOUD 鈥� Chris Klimpel knew she wanted to help people.

She鈥檇 previously worked as a teacher and in marketing before becoming a paralegal and joining Mid-Minnesota Legal Aid鈥檚 St. Cloud office in 2020. Klimpel said she didn鈥檛 have enough of an affinity for math and science to be a nurse, so she figured she could wade through pages of legal documents and footnotes to help people get the assistance they need.

Klimpel works with Mid-Minnesota Legal Aid鈥檚 teams that help seniors and others with housing issues. The U.S. Constitution guarantees the right to an attorney only in criminal cases, not civil cases such as divorce and eviction.

鈥淚f your landlord files an eviction action against you, and you go to court and they have an attorney and you can鈥檛 afford one 鈥� who鈥檚 going to win?鈥� she said. 鈥淟ow-income and people in need 鈥� are at a tremendous disadvantage because our world does not guarantee them an attorney.鈥�

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Klimpel and fellow paralegal Pam Manthei work to increase access to legal aid by driving around a 14-county radius in a Justice Bus, a mobile office used for consultations.

Mid-Minnesota Legal Aid is a nonprofit law firm that provides legal assistance to people with low incomes, seniors, people with disabilities, and others who need help. It has offices in Minneapolis, St. Cloud and Willmar. The affiliated Minnesota Disability Law Center has two additional offices in Duluth and Mankato, with an outreach coordinator in the Crookston area.

Among those offices, the nonprofit has four Justice Buses.

Since 2021, the buses have been used to connect with people who might not be able to make it to a Mid-Minnesota Legal Aid office. Manthei said they have worked with surrounding counties to identify good locations to visit.

鈥淲e鈥檝e gone to a lot of senior centers and food shelves,鈥� said Manthei, who works with seniors on addressing issues with things such as Medicaid and Social Security benefits. 鈥淚鈥檝e even been asked to drive through a few apartment complexes so residents can get our information and know where to go for help.鈥�

The bus and Mid-Minnesota Legal Aid staff have also made stops at county fairs and other community events to raise awareness, said Manthei, who has worked at the nonprofit law firm for 30 years.

The Justice Bus, a blue Sprinter van, is covered with information about how to contact Mid-Minnesota Legal Aid. Inside, the van is climate-controlled and has Wi-Fi, a computer, a printer, and pretty much anything else needed for it to be a fully functional office, Klimpel said. It also has a wheelchair lift to increase accessibility.

It took a decade for the buses to become a reality, thanks in part to former Mid-Minnesota Legal Aid Deputy Director Ann Cofell, Manthei said. It was made possible with the help of the Minnesota Legal Services Coalition.

鈥淚t was her dream to do that,鈥� Manthei said of Cofell. 鈥淚 know she invested. It was probably almost a decade鈥檚 worth of persistent, gentle, effective advocacy to get a tool so that we could get the word out and reach people where they need to be.鈥�

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As paralegals, Klimpel and Manthei meet with clients to discuss their legal questions, help them fill out paperwork, and connect them with a Mid-Minnesota Legal Aid lawyer who can assist them.

While Klimpel and Manthei cannot give out legal advice, their goal is to help make the process as easy as possible and ensure clients are able to get the support they need.

They help people who are not legally equipped to handle dire, time-sensitive issues, such as a notice to vacate an apartment.

鈥淟egal aid is kind of like the legal emergency room, so if you walk into the emergency room with a broken leg, they鈥檙e going to see you and they鈥檙e going to set your broken leg,鈥� Klimpel said. 鈥淭hey may not be able to take care of all the other things that you have going on 鈥� but they鈥檒l be able to help because nobody expects you to know how to set your own broken leg.鈥�