Ohio libraries offer new, free legal resource

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Finding accurate legal information and forms can be surprisingly difficult. Ohio Legal Help is the only legal resource that specifically addresses Ohio’s complicated legal landscape, and now every library in the state of Ohio will offer this free resource to Ohioans.

“Ohio Legal Help is a useful and user-friendly resource that will help guide people through what may be a complicated process and provide them with correct and locally accurate legal information,” said Adult Services Manager Joe O’Rourke.

Guided by trusted organizations like the Supreme Court of Ohio, the Ohio Legal Assistance Foundation, the Ohio State Bar Foundation, and the Ohio Library Council, this website was created as an answer to a 2015 charge by the Ohio Task Force on Access to Justice to close the civil justice gap. The task force recommended in its report to “develop and maintain a statewide website devoted to providing free and accurate legal information to Ohio residents.”

In response to this charge, in 2017 a Steering Committee of diverse stakeholder groups — including the Supreme Court of Ohio, the Ohio Judicial Conference, the Ohio Clerk of Courts Association, the Ohio State Bar Association, the Ohio Legal Assistance Foundation, the Alliance of Ohio Legal Aids, the Consortium of Ohio County Law Libraries, the Ohio Library Council, and the Ohio Domestic Violence Network — came together to develop Ohio Legal Help.

Ohio Legal Help was created as an invaluable resource to help individuals with common civil legal issues. The site provides location-specific forms, authoritative legal information vetted by attorneys, and security for users to retain privacy.

Founded in 2018, Ohio Legal Help is a nonprofit organization that helps all Ohioans access the civil justice system. It provides plain language legal help information, interactive self-help tools and connections to local legal and community resources that can help people resolve their legal issues.

The Delaware County District Library serves as the public information provider for our community, using traditional and innovative technology to encourage curiosity, free inquiry, and lifelong learning in a friendly environment.

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