The Senate Budget Committee has advanced legislation that would increase court fees in New Jersey,

That’s expected to provide an additional $10 million a year for the agency that represents poor clients in civil court cases.

Melville Miller is President of Legal Services of New Jersey. He says only about one in six poor adults gets the legal assistance they need.     

 “If we can represent them they’re probably not going to get representation and they’re facing the most critical of life’s necessities, keeping shelter, having food, safety of the family, those sorts of issues.”

Miller says the measure will be the first step to restoring funding and staff that have been reduced over the past three and a half years.

$17 million generated by the increased fees would fund the development of a statewide e-court information system including electronic filing and public access to digital court records.