Free Legal Clinic Comes To McMinnville May 13

The Tennessee Justice Bus will be providing a free legal clinic at the Magness Library in McMinnville Monday.

Justice Bus Coordinator Alyvia Bush said there will be a volunteer attorney there to give legal assistance, resources, and advice on any civil matters. Bush said she feels some people avoid the bus in fear that it is part of the broader justice system, but said their only goal is to educate and support the community.

“We are here to help people,” Bush said. “And that’s the real message that we want to get across. So we’re here to help, any – any legal questions that people may have. We’re hoping that people come out, speak with our volunteer attorney, and get the legal assistance and resources that they need.”

Bush said they do a lot of work related to custody, divorce, trusts, and wills. She said the bus will visit the library from 11:00am to 2:00pm.

“You do have a lot of people across the state of Tennessee that don’t necessarily have the luxury of, you know, retaining an attorney,” Bush said. “And too, the justice system and the legal system can be confusing to people that aren’t involved with it on a daily basis, so it is very important for, you know, people to be able to meet with someone that can translate the legal terminology to them so that, while they’re navigating their case or, you know, their legal matter, that they can have a full understanding of what’s going on.”

Bush said they also help people review their eligibility for expungement.

“If somebody has something that’s on their record, and they’re curious of whether or not it can be expunged, we – if their records are available on an online source, we can look at that and review that with them, or if they have those records present with them for us to review which ones that they’re interested in seeing in regard to the eligibility, we can look that up for them and review if it’s eligible,” Bush said.

Bush said the bus has traveled all over the state since the program started over three years ago, but has not come to Warren County before now.

Bush said any attorneys in the area who want to volunteer can reach out through the Justice Bus website.