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The Price of Justice: Reducing Financial Barriers to Court Access
Thursday October 22, 2026 10:45am - 12:15pm EDT
Cincinnati Convention Center
The cumulative financial burden of participating in the civil justice system is substantial and varies widely across jurisdictions. Participants in the court system are often responsible for many costs, such as filing fees, service of process, answer fees, transcript fees, and more, even without the additional cost of hiring an attorney. While fee waiver processes exist to ensure that all litigants, regardless of income, are able to access justice, the process can be so confusing and/or burdensome that many eligible people never use it.
One of the first barriers that litigants face is a lack of information about 1) the existence of fee waivers and 2) the eligibility requirements that must be met in order to receive a waiver, including what information a litigant needs to provide. This session will open with an interactive exercise designed to identify these issues, allowing participants to see, from the perspective of a court user, the information that is (and is not) available to them.
Next, participants will hear from national experts about best practices for fee waivers, including the kinds of information and tools that can help court users understand how to request a waiver, and the kinds of processes and tools that can help courts resolve waiver requests efficiently.
Finally, panelists with hands-on experience in administering fee waivers and/or working to reform fee waiver processes will share their specific perspectives and experiences. Participants will hear, for example, from clerks about their experiences helping court users navigate fee waiver applications, the problems they identified, and the solution they've adopted. And they will hear how other states and counties have examined their fee waiver systems and proposed changes. Participants will leave the session with an understanding of general fee waiver best practices and real-life examples of those best practices in action.

Speakers
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Hannah Makowske

National Center for State Courts
Hannah Makowske is a Court Management Consultant with the National Center for State Courts. Her recent work at NCSC includes a report on national trends and best practices regarding fee waivers. Prior to joining NCSC, Hannah was a staff law clerk at the United States Court of Appeals... Read More →
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Josh Butz

National Center for State Courts
Joshua Butz, MPA is a Court Management Consultant with the National Center for State Courts. As a part of the Access to Justice Program, Joshua works with self-help resources, court navigator programs, accessible forms and webtools, regulatory reform, technology solutions, and several... Read More →
avatar for Katie Dilks

Katie Dilks

Executive Director, Oklahoma Access to Justice Foundation
avatar for Lisa Foster

Lisa Foster

Co-Executive Director, Fines and Fees Justice Center
Lisa Foster is the Co-Executive Director of the Fines and Fees Justice Center, a national nonprofit dedicated to ending the unjust and harmful imposition of fines and fees in the criminal legal system. A retired judge, Lisa is also the former director of the Office for Access to Justice... Read More →
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Michael Roth

Davidson County Juvenile Court
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Thursday October 22, 2026 10:45am - 12:15pm EDT
Cincinnati Convention Center 537 Elm St, Cincinnati, OH 45202
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