Kansas City’s first-ever “Right to Counsel Program” began on June 1, 2022, providing a free attorney to Kansas City tenants facing eviction.
If you are a tenant living within the city limits of Kansas City, Missouri (including those in Jackson, Clay, Platte, and Cass Counties), and your landlord has filed an eviction against you in court, you may be eligible for the Right to Counsel Program.
Kansas City has contracts with the following three organizations, which provide legal services for these cases:
- The Heartland Center for Jobs and Freedom
- Legal Aid of Western Missouri
- UMKC Law School Tenant Assistance Initiative
To apply for the Right to Counsel program, you can either call (816) 474-5112 or apply online at https://gkcassistanceprogram.org/EvictionDefense/. If you click this link, you will leave lawmo.org.
- You do not get to choose which agency you are assigned to.
- You must live in the property from which you are being evicted.
- If you have a trial scheduled within four business days, your application will be rejected. This does not give an attorney enough time to prepare.
- Only a limited number of applications are accepted each week.
- If all spots are filled, your application will be denied. You can apply the following week but if at the time of the new application you have a trial scheduled within 4 business days, your application will be rejected.
- New applicants are accepted starting at 8:00 a.m. on Monday.
- If Monday is a holiday, applications open on the next business day.
Questions or issues related to the Right to Counsel Program should be directed to (816) 474-5112.
Additional information about your rights as a tenant in Kansas City may be found at the following links:
2026 Manual del Inquilino / Propietario
