Lawrence Tenants advocate for Douglas County ordinance for tenant right to counsel

A local renter-led advocacy group plans to present the Douglas County Commission an ordinance to guarantee tenants legal representation in eviction cases. 

Lawrence Tenants hope for the ordinance to be on the commission’s agenda for consideration by August.

“And once that happens, obviously we will be mobilizing people and thinking of other ways to get the community involved in that conversation,” said Vince Munoz, of Lawrence Tenants.

Gabi Sprague, educator with Lawrence Tenants, gave a presentation on tenant right to counsel during a town hall Saturday. TRTC “guarantees all tenants in Douglas County the right to a lawyer when facing an eviction,” according to the presentation. 

The proposed TRTC ordinance would cover every tenant regardless of their income; cover any legal proceeding where a tenant could lose their housing or housing subsidy; provide legal representation; and require that the county contract with nonprofit legal providers for the service, according to Sprague’s presentation. 

Findings from the National Coalition for a Civil Right to Counsel show that 4% of tenants have legal representation in eviction cases nationwide compared to 83% of landlords. The Douglas County Tenant Experiences Report, released in 2024, states that “slightly over 48% of homes (in the county) are renter-occupied.” Almost 600 evictions were filed in the county last year, per Lawrence Tenants. 

The joint city-county strategic plan to end homelessness, “A Place For Everyone,” contains a written commitment to “Establish the tenant’s right to legal representation in Douglas County” as part of initiatives to further affordable housing options in the area. But currently, there is no ordinance in place establishing TRTC in Lawrence or Douglas County. 

As discussed during the town hall, Lawrence Tenants’ work builds on key organizational principles from the Kansas City Tenants union. KC Tenants led Kansas City, Missouri, in adopting the city’s first Tenant Bill of Rights, which includes a Right to Counsel program that launched in June 2022. An external review found that one year after implementing TRTC, “86% of represented tenants stayed housed and had no eviction record.”

John Pollock, an attorney and coordinator of NCCRC, joined the Lawrence Tenants town hall via Zoom to provide national context.

New York City was the first jurisdiction to adopt TRTC in eviction cases in 2017. As of this year, five states, two counties and 19 cities have enacted TRTC for eviction cases. 

“Outcomes basically from these cases show that right to counsel was keeping tenants in the home,” Pollock said. “Even when they weren’t saving their home, they were avoiding the really serious kind of eviction that can cause tenants to become homeless, to lose their belongings, to become ineligible for future housing.”

Of 1,051 respondents to the tenant experiences survey, 86 people received eviction notices while renting in the county. Only 6% of these responders had legal representation for their eviction. Around 23% of this group, or 20 people, were evicted and experienced homelessness as a result.

Ultimately, greater rates of residents experiencing homelessness lead to increased demand on city and county budgets to fund shelters, emergency health care, foster care programs and related services, Pollock said.

“The right to counsels are saving cities and states and counties money,” Pollock said. “The studies have shown this over and over now that … for every dollar that’s being spent on counsel, that you’re seeing these three or four or five dollars in avoided costs.”

Sprague expressed urgency for Douglas County to adopt a TRTC ordinance in light of the City of Lawrence’s plan to further criminalize homelessness with a ban on camping within Lawrence starting in August. Those who are camping could face up to $1,000 in fines or a jail term of up to six months. 

“When we keep people in their homes, we don’t subject them to being on the street,” Sprague said.

She said trends from the Douglas County Tenant Experiences Report highlight the need for TRTC, such as rising rent costs that can increase the risk of eviction for tenants. Additionally, lawyers can help tenants to file counterclaims when landlords have deferred maintenance or have not adhered to the Kansas Residential Landlord Tenant Act. These are issues that renters consistently identified in the countywide survey.

Lawrence Tenants also link the push for TRTC to improving racial equity in housing.

“There is a racial disparity in our community that Black residents of Douglas County are often behind on rent, are often facing eviction, and are evicted at twice the rate of their white counterparts,” Sprague said.

Demographics data from the Lawrence Community Shelter shows that Black and Indigenous people are staying at the shelter at disproportionate rates compared to their white counterparts in the city.

During small group breakout sessions at the town hall, there was a strong consensus among attendees that the power imbalances between renters and landlords need to be disrupted through TRTC.

Such disruptions can be powerful even for tenants not facing eviction. If a landlord is not following state or county laws, lawyers participating in TRTC can prevent eviction for their clients by demonstrating the landlord’s noncompliance. As a result, landlords are encouraged to come into compliance with all of their current and future tenants.

“It’s almost like a backdoor regulation or way of enforcing existing regulations,” Munoz said. “So, you know, everyone who’s a renter, regardless of income level, regardless of how you feel about your finances, can benefit from this.”

Lawrence Tenants is asking Douglas County renters and allies to join their campaign for TRTC. Their next event is a new member orientation set for 5:30 to 7 p.m. Thursday, June 19 via Zoom. Registration is available at this link. 

Wulfe Wulfemeyer (they/them), community reporter, has worked with The Lawrence Times since May 2025. They can be reached at wulfe@lawrencekstimes.com.

Read their complete bio here. Read their work for the Times here.

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