Share this post or save for later
Note: The Lawrence Times runs opinion columns and letters to the Times written by community members with varying perspectives on local issues. These pieces do not necessarily reflect the opinions of the Times staff.
Would you like to send a letter to the Times? Great! Here’s how to do it.
Last year, at least 222 of our neighbors in Douglas County were evicted from their homes. Despite many having legal arguments that can help them remain housed, only 4% of tenants nationally have attorneys during their eviction proceedings, compared to 83% of landlords.
On Wednesday, Sept. 3, Lawrence Tenants and our partners will present the Douglas County Commission with an ordinance that will guarantee free legal counsel to renters who face eviction. Our ordinance will keep tenants housed and fill the gap in enforcing existing renter rights that many tenants are not aware they have.
It’s shockingly easy to be evicted in our state. On Aug. 20, the county commission heard from local legal aid clinics and other service providers about existing eviction prevention programs. Even with these programs, Kristen Egan, the Douglas County housing and human services program manager, noted that she’s witnessed families face eviction after a parent lost wages in hourly paying jobs to take care of a sick child. Brynn Blair, managing attorney with Kansas Legal Service, said she’s seen domestic violence survivors escape their abuse only to be evicted after becoming a single-income household. Many others are forced from their homes merely because their wages have not kept up with housing costs and other economic inflation.
When someone falls behind on rent, they often think they have no legal argument to stay housed, but that’s not always the case. These tenants sometimes have counterclaims in which they can show a court that their landlord hasn’t maintained adequate living conditions; has violated federal, state, or local housing laws; or has otherwise failed to uphold their end of the lease. These violations can mean that the landlord may owe the renter damages, too, and if the amount the landlord owes outweighs the amount owed by the renter, then the renter should not be evicted.
But renters without legal training don’t know how to assert these arguments in court. That’s where a guaranteed attorney comes in. When Kansas City implemented a right to counsel program, 82% of represented renters received favorable outcomes in court.
Right to counsel also helps those of us who may not be at high risk of eviction. Imagine an apartment complex with 100 renters, one of whom is facing an eviction. If that one renter wins in court because the landlord frequently fails to address minimum health and safety conditions, then that landlord will not only have to start complying with the law for that one renter. They will also be incentivized to address the health and safety requirements for the remaining 99 renters in order to have the option to evict any of them in the future or to avoid the risk of proactive lawsuits from the remaining tenants. A right to counsel program helps all tenants.
The county has already committed, in principle, to a right to counsel. In the joint Lawrence-Douglas County homelessness plan, “A Place for Everyone,” our governments pledged to reach their housing justice goals with a number of tactics including to “establish the tenant’s right to legal representation in Douglas County.” It’s been more than a year and a half since that plan was published; it’s time to follow through.
Community members interested in supporting a tenant right to counsel should either speak during the general public comment period of the county commission meeting starting at 5:30 p.m. Wednesday, Sept. 3 at the Douglas County Courthouse, write to your county commissioner by noon the same day, or email comments to publiccomment@dgcoks.gov at least 24 hours before the meeting.
The commissioners will hear a presentation and ask questions during the work session at 4 p.m. before recessing and beginning their regular meeting at 5:30, so there will not be a vote on the ordinance that day. Make sure to ask your elected official to schedule a vote no later than Oct. 1 and to vote “yes” when the ordinance is on the agenda.
— Vince Munoz (he/him), Lawrence
Organizer, Lawrence Tenants
If this local platform matters to you, please help us keep doing this work.
Don’t miss a beat … Click here to sign up for our email newsletters
Click here to learn more about our newsletters first
More Community Voices:
Share this post or save for later
“Last year, at least 222 of our neighbors in Douglas County were evicted from their homes. … A right to counsel program helps all tenants,” Vince Munoz of Lawrence Tenants writes in this letter to the Times.
Tom Harper/Contributed photo Share this post or save for later
“The (Lawrence City Commission’s) 2026 debt decisions are particularly important because our community will pay for this debt for the next 25 years,” Holly Krebs writes in this column.
Share this post or save for later
“Taxpayers are already supporting recreation centers in the taxes we pay every year, but the city commission believes that … rec center fees will somehow solve their budget deficit problems,” Carol Kummer writes in this letter to the Times.
Share this post or save for later
“Everything we rely on — our supermarkets; our meds; our air conditioners and heat pumps; our vehicles … — does damage. What we don’t rely on is military aircraft performing ear-splitting flyovers in the name of intercollegiate sports,” Randi Hacker writes in this letter to the Times.
