Kansas’ rural attorney shortage threatens legal access

Former Bourbon County Attorney Justin Meeks recalls a time when he rendered his services in more than a dozen counties, traveling many hundreds of miles to help bridge representation gaps in rural areas.

That was 10 years ago and not much has changed on that front, said Meeks, who was elected as Linn County Attorney in November. With a population just under 9,900, Meeks said that Linn County — bordering Missouri in eastern Kansas — has just “one attorney with an office.” He said the ratio is “even crazier” in Labette — a county in rural southeast Kansas with a population closer to 20,000.

“We’re in desperate need of attorneys,” Meeks told State Affairs.

The struggle to meet the demand, according to an 84-page report released last year by a 35-member committee analyzing the issue, is just as drastic in rural areas throughout Kansas. Declining population levels in the state’s most underserved rural areas has resulted in a marked decline in the number of accessible attorneys — as some areas have less than one attorney available per 1,000 people —threatening overall access to the justice system.

“You go in and start your practice and it’s not growing — because you have to have people to serve,” Meeks said.

Just over 1,400 attorneys are available to provide local representation for 1.3 million rural Kansans — or half the state’s total population — while the vast majority of lawyers are concentrated in a handful of the most populous counties.

The report magnified the need for an influx of young talent in rural Kansas, noting that one-third of the state’s practicing lawyers are 60 or older. The report also classified 49 of the state’s 105 counties as legal deserts — one or fewer attorneys per 1,000 people.

Fort Scott, the largest town in Bourbon County, boasts more attorney options than many surrounding counties, Meeks said. And that is primarily due to its easy access to U.S. Highway 69, a major north-south corridor running through eastern Kansas. But even so, Meeks said an aging attorney population is compounding matters.

“I’m 51, and was the youngest attorney in Fort Scott,” he said, adding that the primary reason he opted to pursue a professional career in Fort Scott is because he had family there. He also noted that rural areas such as Fort Scott may not be attractive to younger professionals looking to launch their career because there isn’t much to do in those areas entertainment-wise.

Meeks said that committees looking into the issue are doing all they can, but may be unable to fix the problem “because it’s a demographic issue.” The recruitment of recent college graduates to rural areas of the state is a tough sell, according to Dodge City Attorney David Rebein.

“It’s not just a judiciary problem, it’s a rural Kansas problem and a quality of life issue,” said Rebein, who also chairs the Kansas Bar Association’s Rural Justice Committee. “The shortage of attorneys parallels shortages in other professionals — such as physicians, teachers, accountants, engineers, and nurses. And that’s what really makes a rural community vibrant — is if you can get those kinds of services locally.”

Judges tasked with appointing attorneys for indigent defendants in those areas is a far more cumbersome process than in the “not too distant past,” according to Rebein.

“A lot of times, the attorneys are hundreds of miles away,” he said. “Or, even if they are close, they have more cases than they can optimally handle.”

The county where Rebein lives — Ford — narrowly avoids the legal desert desig- nation with roughly one working attorney per 1,000 residents, according to the data. Hodgemen County, another rural county that borders Ford to the north, is one of two counties with no working attorneys, meaning its 1,700-plus residents have to travel elsewhere for legal representation.

The report identified several obstacles that have hindered efforts to draw prospective attorneys and graduating law students to rural areas. Financial burdens including student debt, perceived lack of mentorship for younger attorneys, the difficulty of starting the first primary practice in a thinly populated area, scarcity of housing and child care and lack of job availability for spouses are some of the main challenges.

Student debt has played an increasing role in driving aspiring rural lawyers to high- er-paying jobs, which are more typically found in urban areas. The report showed that rural attorneys graduating before 1980 carried minuscule student debtloads compared with more recent graduates, who carry an average debt of $125,000.

Rural attorneys earn lower starting salaries than their counterparts in urban areas. And some attorneys in rural areas don’t earn a regular salary but income that varies based on the number of cases they close.

When it comes to recruitment, Rebein said future efforts will focus on Hispanics and women.

Roughly 67% of Dodge City’s population is Hispanic, which Rebein has taken note of. He asserted that the recruitment of that specific demographic could be part of his committee’s “longterm game-plan.”

“We need to get out into the schools and show that this is a realistic and attractive alternative for a career — and if you’re bilingual, you’ll have a tremendous leg up and will be a very valuable commodity,” Rebein said. “So we need to get in there and get our fair share too.”

The recruitment of women is vital to addressing the issue, he said, noting that more women than men have been graduating from the state’s law schools in recent years.

“In terms of diversity, probably the biggest change in the last 50 years is the rise of women in the profession,” he said. “So we need to get out and do a better job of recruiting women.”

Solving the problem

The Kansas Supreme Court has proposed a loan forgiveness program to boost rural lawyers. Rebein said legislative intervention is probably necessary to address the full scope of the issue.

Lawmakers recently considered legislation that would incentivize lawyers and students to practice law outside the state’s urban centers. Senate Bill 214, which stalled in committee after a February hearing, would create two loan programs — one for law students and one for practicing attorneys — that would apply to any county besides the five largest: Douglas, Johnson, Sedgwick, Shawnee and Wyandotte.

Qualified students at the University of Kansas and Washburn University’s law schools could receive loans of up to $30,000 annually for three years. Those loans would be forgiven if the student completed all requirements, including practicing law for as many years as they received the loan — or else they’d be required to repay the loan themselves. The program for current lawyers in rural communities would offer those who have existing student loan debt $20,000 annually for a total of $100,000.

Sen. Kellie Warren, a Leawood-based attorney who also serves as the chair of the Senate Judiciary Committee, told State Affairs that the lawmakers need to continue looking carefully at the issue, “whether that’s legislative intervention or something different.”

Warren said the focus probably needs to be on “making the state, overall more attractive” to the next generation of attorneys. She added that the Legislature has made strides in the area of cost of living, making it more affordable overall to raise a family in the state. She cited legislative headway in cutting the state portion of the food sales tax, the elimination of the state portion of property taxes; while also removing state income tax on Social Security benefits.

“Those things should help all employers and employees here,” said Warren, R-Leawood.

Warren added that more judicial work is being done remotely, which she said could go a long way toward alleviating the problem.

“And there aren’t as many in-person courtrooms and other events, so hopefully the remote practice of law will be helpful to address this situation,” she said.