[Federal Register Volume 68, Number 153 (Friday, August 8, 2003)]
[Notices]
[Pages 47367-47368]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 03-20222]


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LEGAL SERVICES CORPORATION


Freedom of Information Act--General Notice of Organization, 
Function, Rules of Procedure, and Substantive Rules

AGENCY: Legal Services Corporation.

ACTION: General notice of the organization, function, rules of 
procedure, and substantive rules of the Legal Services Corporation.

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SUMMARY: This notice is being published by LSC in accordance with 5 
U.S.C. 552(a)(1) and for the guidance and interest of the public.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Pat Batie, FOIA Officer, Office of 
Legal Affairs, Legal Services Corporation, 3333 K St., NW, 3rd Floor, 
Washington, DC 20007; (202) 295-1625 (phone); (202) 337-6519 (fax); 
[email protected].

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: In accordance with section (a)(1) of the 
Freedom of Information Act (``FOIA'') 5 U.S.C. 552, LSC publishes in 
the Federal Register, for the guidance and interest of the public, the 
following general information concerning LSC:
    (a) A description of the organization of the Corporation and the 
established places at which, the employees from whom, and the methods 
whereby, the public may obtain information, make submittals or 
requests, or obtain decisions;
    (b) Statements of the general course and method by which LSC's 
functions are channeled and determined;
    (c) Rules of procedure, descriptions of forms available or the 
places where forms may be obtained, and instructions on the scope and 
contents of all papers, reports, or examinations; and
    (d) Substantive rules of general applicability adopted as 
authorized by law, and statements of general policy or interpretations 
of general applicability formulated and adopted by LSC.

I. Description of LSC

    LSC is a private, non-profit corporation, headquartered in 
Washington, DC and established by Congress in 1974 to assure equal 
access to justice under the law for all Americans. LSC is headed by a 
bipartisan Board of Directors appointed by the President and confirmed 
by the Senate. LSC does not provide legal services directly to indigent 
clients; rather it provides grants to independent local programs chosen 
through a system of competition. Currently, LSC funds 197 legal aid 
programs. Together these programs serve every county and congressional 
district in the nation, as well as the U.S. territories.
    In 2001, LSC grantees handled more than one million civil cases. 
The most common types of cases handled by LSC-funded programs involve 
family law, housing, employment, government benefits, and consumer 
issues. LSC-funded programs do not handle criminal cases, nor do they 
accept fee-generating cases that private attorneys are willing to 
accept on a contingency basis. LSC recipients are also prohibited from 
claiming or collecting attorney's fees and engaging in class actions, 
rulemaking, lobbying, litigation on behalf of prisoners, representation 
in drug-related public housing evictions, and representation of certain 
categories of aliens.

II. Organization

    LSC consists of five major components: the Office of the President, 
the Office of Compliance and Administration, the Office of Legal 
Affairs, the Office of Programs, and the Office of Governmental 
Relations and Public Affairs. In addition to these primary offices 
there is the Office of Inspector General. While the Office of Inspector 
General exists as part of LSC, the Office functions independently from 
the rest of the LSC components, with the Inspector General appointed 
directly by the LSC Board of Directors. The major functions and 
responsibilities of each of these components is described below.

Office of the President

    The Office of the President is responsible for the implementation 
of Board policy and oversight of the Corporation's operations.

Office of Compliance and Administration

    The Office of Compliance and Administration is comprised of the 
Office of Compliance and Enforcement, Office of Human Resources, Office 
of Financial and Administrative Services and Office of Information 
Technology.
    The Office of Compliance and Enforcement (OCE) is responsible for 
ensuring that LSC grantees are complying with the laws, regulations, 
terms and conditions applicable to them as a condition of receipt of 
Federal funds. OCE conducts investigations and audits of grantees, 
responds to inquiries and complaints relating to grantee compliance 
with applicable law and regulations, processes requests for prior 
approvals and Private Attorney Involvement and fund balance waivers, 
and approves subgrant agreements.
    The Office of Human Resources (OHR) develops and administers human 
resources policies, procedures, and

[[Page 47368]]

strategies; and to provide advisory services on human resource issues 
to management and staff.
    The Office of Financial and Administrative Services is comprised of 
the Office of the Comptroller and the Administrative Services Division. 
The Office of Comptroller maintains the efficiency of the Corporation's 
financial system and the integrity of its accounts, oversees procedures 
that generate all of the Corporation's financial transactions, and 
provides accounting and financial information to the LSC Board of 
Directors, the President and Office Directors. In addition to cash 
management, accounts payable, payroll, grants administration and other 
routine financial transactions, the Office of Comptroller generates 
annual and periodic financial reports and assists with the accumulation 
of data for LSC's Budget Request to Congress. The Administrative 
Services Division (ASD) provides day-to-day administrative support 
services to facilitate efficient operations of LSC.
    The mission of the Office of Information Technology (OIT) is to 
develop, implement and maintain a networked computer environment, 
featuring a well defined integrated information system for LSC.

Office of Legal Affairs

    The Office of Legal Affairs (OLA) serves as in-house counsel and 
chief legal advisor to the Corporation and performs the duties of 
Secretary of the Corporation. The General Counsel carries out 
traditional ``lawyer'' functions, including negotiating, drafting and 
reviewing legal instruments such as contracts, settlement agreements, 
releases, applications for funding, and grant documents, as well as 
representing LSC's interests in litigation, directly or through 
retention and oversight of outside counsel. OLA provides legal advice 
to the Corporation's Board of Directors and President, as well as to 
the various offices in the Corporation. Furthermore, the General 
Counsel is responsible for interpreting statutory requirements and 
drafting implementing regulations for consideration by the Board.

Office of Programs

    The Office of Programs is comprised of the Office of Program 
Performance and the Office of Information Management. The Office of 
Program Performance (OPP) is charged with the design and administration 
of the competitive grants process, the encouragement of competition, 
and the development and implementation of strategies to improve program 
quality. Program improvement efforts include identification of areas of 
weakness and follow-up for individual recipients, identification and 
sharing of innovations and ``best practices'' among recipients and 
others in the legal services delivery system, as well as broader 
strategies for improvement of the delivery system.
    The Office of Information Management (OIM) is responsible for 
gathering and disseminating information about LSC grantees and the 
delivery of legal services. This responsibility includes the 
development of Internet-based applications for obtaining information 
about the delivery of legal services by LSC grantees, the 
identification and collection of information about the civil legal 
needs of eligible clients, and the sharing of that information with LSC 
staff, grantee staff, and other interested parties.

Office of Government Relations and Public Affairs

    The Office of Governmental Relations and Public Affairs is 
responsible for managing LSC's communications and requests for 
information from Congress, the Executive Branch, the media, and the 
general public. The office coordinates the production of LSC's Fact 
Book and Annual Report.

Office of the Inspector General

    The Office of the Inspector General (OIG) has two principal 
missions: to assist management in identifying ways to promote 
efficiency and effectiveness in the activities and operations of LSC 
and its grantees; and to prevent and detect fraud and abuse. The OIG's 
primary tool for achieving these missions is fact-finding through 
financial, performance and other types of audits and reviews, as well 
as investigations into allegations of wrongdoing. Its fact-finding 
activities enable the OIG to develop recommendations to LSC and grantee 
management for actions or changes that will correct problems, better 
safeguard the integrity of funds, improve procedures or otherwise 
increase efficiency or effectiveness.

III. Availability of Information

    As an independent Corporation created by public law, LSC is 
governed by statute. The LSC Act and regulations provide guidance on 
the operation and responsibilities of LSC and its grantees. The Act can 
be found at 42 U.S.C. 2996 et seq. and the regulations at 45 CFR part 
1600 et seq. Furthermore, both the Act and regulations are posted at 
LSC's Web site, which is given below. LSC is further subject to 
restrictions contained in its annual appropriations legislation. The 
current Appropriations Act for FY 2003 is located at Pub. L. 108-7, 117 
Stat. 11 (2003). In addition to the LSC Act, regulations, and 
appropriations legislation, other rules and instructions, governing LSC 
and its recipients, may be found in the Corporation's Program Letters, 
Audit Guide, Property Manual and formal legal opinions issued by the 
OLA. These documents are available to the public either online or upon 
request.
    The LSC Act subjects the Corporation to both the Government in the 
Sunshine Act (5 U.S.C. 552b) and the Freedom of Information Act (5 
U.S.C. 552). LSC's implementing regulations provide that meetings of 
the Board of Directors and of committees of the Board will be open to 
the public, except that certain meetings or portions thereof may be 
closed to the public as provided by law and regulation. See 45 CFR 
1622.3 and 1622.5. LSC's FOIA regulations require that the Corporation 
make records concerning its operations, activities, and business 
available to the public to the maximum extent reasonably possible. 45 
CFR 1602.3. Thus, LSC maintains a public reading room at its offices 
and any person has the right to request LSC records in writing. The 
Corporation must release requested records to the requester unless they 
are protected from disclosure by the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA). 
Requests for records must be made in writing, with the envelope and the 
letter or the e-mail request clearly marked ``Freedom of Information 
Request.'' All such requests should be addressed to LSC's Office of 
Legal Affairs, 3333 K St., NW., 3rd Floor, Washington, DC 20007. In 
addition, LSC maintains a ``FOIA electronic reading room.'' For further 
information on this electronic reading room, please visit LSC online at 
http://www.lsc.gov.
    Other information regarding LSC's staff, location, functions, rules 
of procedure, substantive rules, statements of general policy or how 
the public may obtain information, make submissions or requests will 
also be found on the LSC Web site, as will links to legal services 
providers across the country. In addition, information about the OIG 
can be found at http://www.oig.lsc.gov.

Victor M. Fortuno,
General Counsel and Vice President for Legal Affairs.
[FR Doc. 03-20222 Filed 8-7-03; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 7050-01-P