(The Center Square) – More than $30 million in grant funds awarded through the North Carolina State Bar lacked assurance of payments to top recipients like Legal Aid of North Carolina and the North Carolina Justice Center, an audit says.
The Interest on Lawyers’ Trust Accounts, commonly called IOLTA, directed money to organizations with clearly partisan, political agendas, said first-term Republican state Auditor Dave Boliek.
“Attorneys in North Carolina have no choice but to allow the North Carolina State Bar’s IOLTA program to take interest from their trust accounts,” he said. “As our audit shows, IOLTA grants are going to organizations with clearly partisan, political agendas. With IOLTA’s revenues and grant payments surging, it’s incumbent that the flow of dollars is met with additional scrutiny to ensure proper use.”
Revenues and grant awards for the program rose from $3 million in 2018 to %16.7 million in 2024, with grant payments doubling from $6 million in 2023 to $11.9 million in 2025.
Independent verification wasn’t required for $4.5 million to Legal Aid of North Carolina for multiple programs; more than $1 million to the North Carolina Justice Center; more than $1 million to Pisgah Legal Services; and $555,000 to the Charlotte Center for Legal Advocacy.
