II 

117TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. 2701 

To provide for the establishment of the Office for Access to Justice in 

the Department of Justice, and for other purposes. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

AUGUST 10, 2021 

Mr. MURPHY (for himself and Mr. CORNYN) introduced the following bill; 

which was read twice and referred to the Committee on the Judiciary 

A BILL 

To provide for the establishment of the Office for Access 

to Justice in the Department of Justice, and for other 

purposes. 

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Office for Access to 

5 Justice Establishment Act of 2021’’. 

6 SEC. 2. DEFINITIONS. 

7 In this Act: 

8 (1) DEPARTMENT.—The term ‘‘Department’’ 

9 means the Department of Justice. 


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1 (2) DIRECTOR.—The term ‘‘Director’’ means 

2 the Director of the Office. 

3 (3) OFFICE.—The term ‘‘Office’’ means the Of4 fice for Access to Justice established under section 

5 3. 

6 SEC. 3. OFFICE ESTABLISHMENT. 

7 (a) IN GENERAL.—There is established within the 

8 Department the Office for Access to Justice, which shall 

9 be headed by a Director, who shall be appointed by the 

10 Attorney General. 

11 (b) PERSONNEL AND FUNDS.—The Attorney General 

12 shall provide to the Office such personnel and funds as 

13 are necessary to establish and operate the Office as a com14 ponent of the Department. 

15 SEC. 4. DUTIES. 

16 The Director shall— 

17 (1) serve as legal and policy advisor to the At18 torney General to ensure access to justice for low19 income and other underrepresented people in the 

20 criminal and civil justice systems; 

21 (2) serve as the principal legal advisor for the 

22 Department on the constitutional right to counsel 

23 and the other rights guaranteed under the Sixth 

24 Amendment to the Constitution of the United 

25 States; 


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1 (3) serve as the Executive Director of the Legal 

2 Aid Interagency Roundtable in accordance with sec3 tion 6; 

4 (4) serve as the liaison and point of contact be5 tween the Department and indigent defense and civil 

6 legal aid organizations, including Federal public de7 fender organizations, and conduct, along with the 

8 Office of the Attorney General, the Office of the 

9 Deputy Attorney General, and the Office of the As10 sociate Attorney General, semi-annual meetings with 

11 representatives of these organizations to receive 

12 input and recommendations on how to improve ac13 cess to justice and fulfillment of the right to counsel; 

14 (5) coordinate with other components and divi15 sions within the Department to ensure each is con16 sidering access to justice and right to counsel in pol17 icy, enforcement, and funding decisions; 

18 (6) consult with Department grantmaking com19 ponents to ensure funding decisions take into ac20 count access to justice; and 

21 (7) consult with the Secretary of State and 

22 serve as the central authority of the executive 

23 branch on access to justice before international and 

24 multilateral organizations. 


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1 SEC. 5. PROHIBITION AGAINST PARTICIPATION IN SETTLE2 MENT NEGOTIATIONS. 

3 The Office may not advise or participate in civil or 

4 criminal settlement negotiations involving or on behalf of 

5 the Department. 

6 SEC. 6. LEGAL AID INTERAGENCY ROUNDTABLE. 

7 (a) PURPOSE; COMPOSITION.— 

8 (1) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 180 days 

9 after the date of enactment of this Act, the Attorney 

10 General shall establish a Legal Aid Interagency 

11 Roundtable, which shall be headed by an Executive 

12 Director, to raise the awareness of executive branch 

13 agencies of the ways in which civil legal aid and indi14 gent defense can help advance a wide range of Fed15 eral objectives, including employment, family sta16 bility, housing, consumer protection, health services, 

17 and public safety. 

18 (2) COMPOSITION.—The Legal Aid Interagency 

19 Roundtable as established under paragraph (1) shall 

20 be composed of representatives of executive branch 

21 department offices identified by the Executive Direc22 tor of the Legal Aid Roundtable with the consent of 

23 the Attorney General. 

24 (3) REQUIREMENT.—The Executive Director of 

25 the Legal Aid Interagency Roundtable shall convene 


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1 the Legal Aid Interagency Roundtable not less fre2 quently than semi-annually. 

3 (b) DUTIES.—The Legal Aid Interagency Roundtable 

4 shall— 

5 (1) improve coordination among Federal pro6 grams that help the vulnerable and underserved so 

7 that such programs are more efficient and produce 

8 better outcomes by including, where appropriate, 

9 legal services among the range of supportive services 

10 provided; 

11 (2) develop a list of federally funded programs 

12 and resources that incorporate or may incorporate 

13 civil legal aid and indigent defense; 

14 (3) develop policy recommendations that im15 prove access to justice in Federal, State, local, and 

16 Tribal jurisdictions; 

17 (4) facilitate non-governmental partnerships to 

18 promote access to civil legal aid and indigent defense 

19 and further law enforcement and civil rights objec20 tives; 

21 (5) advance evidence-based research, data col22 lection, and analysis on civil legal aid and indigent 

23 defense, including the potential of technology innova24 tions and non-traditional legal professionals to im25 prove access to justice; 


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1 (6) promote the provision of civil legal aid to 

2 servicemembers, servicemember families, and vet3 erans; and 

4 (7) report on the activities of the Legal Aid 

5 Interagency Roundtable to the President on an an6 nual basis, including policy recommendations to im7 prove access to civil and criminal justice in the 

8 United States. 

9 (c) APPOINTMENT OF REPRESENTATIVES.—The 

10 head of each executive branch department and each par11 ticipating executive agency and office shall designate a 

12 senior Federal official who shall serve as their representa13 tive on the Legal Aid Interagency Roundtable. 

Æ 


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