Legal Services of the Virgin Islands told senators that more than a year of delayed funding and a proposed $1 million budget jeopardize its ability to maintain civil legal services.
On Friday, Executive Director Shelby King Gaddy told the Senate Budget, Appropriations and Finance Committee that the nonprofit has requested $2,007,700 in funding for fiscal year 2027, the same amount approved for the past two years, but the governor’s budget recommends only $1 million.
She said Legal Services received no government allotments from March 2025 to June 2026 and had to patch the gap with other grant funding, some of which has since expired, even as it continues providing free services to low-income residents, seniors and domestic violence victims.
The nonprofit received a lump-sum government payment in June 2026, but Gaddy said it only covered past-due allotments through December 2025. She said the organization moved money around and relied on grants from other sources during the gap, but those financial stopgaps have since ended. “The funding that we had is no longer going to be available,” Gaddy told senators.
Gaddy said the full request would not expand the organization’s services, but would allow it to maintain current operations with adequate staffing. “We’re not growing; we’re just trying to meet the demand, and we need to properly staff,” she said.
Gaddy said Legal Services recorded 907 intakes between January and June 2026, including 722 on St. Croix and 185 on St. Thomas. She said a post-audit report showing 348 intakes reflected only the first quarter.
The disparity between the islands, she said, is largely due to staffing and outreach.
Legal Services currently has four attorneys on staff, three on St. Croix and one on St. Thomas, not including Gaddy, who said she still takes cases despite her role as executive director. The nonprofit is trying to fill three attorney vacancies and one administrative support position, including a managing attorney and a staff attorney for the St. Thomas office.
“Over the past two years, Legal Services has lost five attorneys, primarily due to attorneys seeking higher salaries and government attorney positions,” Gaddy testified. “Government attorneys make quite a bit more. Whether you’re in the attorney general’s office or the public defender’s office or DPNR or education, government attorneys operating under a collective bargaining agreement typically make a lot more than the attorneys for legal services. Most of the attorneys we’ve lost have gone to government positions outside of legal services.”
Gaddy said morale was “OK,” but employees were overworked as attorneys took on roles beyond litigation, including project director duties, community education and home and hospital visits for clients.
Litigation Director and St. Croix Managing Attorney Damion Sanders said Legal Services handled more matters in 2025 than in 2024, with daily walk-in and remote intake. Gaddy said demand has increased for assistance with evictions, domestic violence and guardianships.
Legal Services also has not received expected funding from the Human Services Department for services provided to residents age 60 and older. Gaddy said the department owes roughly three years of payments, with individual payments ranging from about $60,000 to $75,000.
The funding gap is particularly serious for guardianship cases, Gaddy said. She described a “huge jump in guardianships” involving seniors and people with mental illness. The cases require doctor evaluations and court-appointed visitors, which can cost families up to $1,000.
“If our clients can’t pay for them, they can’t get the guardianship,” she testified.
The organization also faces declining federal grant support. Gaddy said the Legal Services Corporation has reduced funding, a veterans grant is no longer available, and Victims of Crime Act and Violence Against Women Act grants have also decreased.
Gaddy said the problem with government funding was not the fiscal calendar but the timing of payments. “We would be OK if we got them timely,” she said.
Legal Services also relies on “mobile justice units” that function as mobile law offices, taking attorneys into remote communities on St. Croix and in the St. Thomas–St. John district on Tuesdays and Thursdays to provide on‑site legal help.
Senators praised Legal Services’ work and clean audit while questioning the delayed allotments, staffing shortages and district coverage. Sen. Hubert L. Frederick called the audit results “awesome” and noted that “no material findings were found.” Sen. Marvin A. Blyden thanked the organization for serving “our most vulnerable constituents,” while Sen. Kurt A. Vialet called the funding situation “an issue.” Committee Chair Sen. Novelle E. Francis Jr. called the request “reasonable” and said it would be considered during budget markup.
In closing, Gaddy asked senators to approve Legal Services’ $2,007,700 FY 2027 budget request, pay the remaining FY 2026 allotments and address what she called a critical guardianship gap affecting seniors and people with mental illness.
