Selection of grant recipients; contents of grant applications submitted for funding; allocations; matching amount; “civil filing fee fund” defined

(1) Grant recipients shall be selected from applications submitted to the state court administrator. The grant applications submitted for funding shall include all of the following: (a) The budget for the proposed center including the proposed compensation and qualifications of the employees. (b) A description of the proposed geographical area of service and an estimate of the number of participants to be served. (c) A description of current dispute resolution services, if any, available within the proposed geographical area. (d) A narrative of the applicant's proposed program that includes the support of civic groups, social services agencies, local courts, and criminal justice agencies to accept and make referrals; the present availability of resources; and the applicant's administrative capacity. (e) A description of the fee structure, if any, that will be applied to participants seeking dispute resolution. (f) Such additional information as is determined to be needed by the state court administrator. (2) If 1 or more applicants meet the eligibility requirements of section 9 and guidelines established under section 9, the state court administrator shall award a grant or grants from money distributed to the fund from the civil filing fee fund. Grants shall be allocated as follows: (a) 65% of the money received from the civil filing fee fund shall be made available for disbursement on the basis of the annual civil court filings reported by courts. An eligible applicant shall receive a pro rata share of the available grant funds on the basis of the annual civil court filings reported by courts located in the counties serviced by the applicant. (b) 35% of the money received from the civil filing fee fund and any money in the fund derived from other sources shall be made available for disbursement on the basis of performance measures and threshold funding levels established by the state court administrative office. (3) Nothing in subsection (2) requires a grant award that exceeds the proposed center's approved budget. (4) Each grant recipient shall provide a matching amount equal to at least 35% of the awarded grant amount. (5) As used in this section, "civil filing fee fund" means that fund as created in section 171 of the revised judicature act of 1961, 1961 PA 236, MCL 600.171.