Kern County Bar Association

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
953724546
IRS 990 coverage
2014–2024
Forms available
Form 990 2024
Location
Bakersfield, CA, USA
Phone
6613344700
Rating
81
Verdict
STRONG
Rating confidence
Moderate

Official website

Reported finances

Revenue
$13,561,767
Expenses
$11,439,940
Assets
$4,347,825
Liabilities
$180,224

Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2024. Amounts in USD.

Leadership & pay

15 people listed

Executive titles in this filing

  • Anthony Azemika (President)
  • Paul Harman (Past President)
  • James Harvey (Vice President)

Highest reported compensation

  • Rebecca Beagle (Executive Dir.): $99,231 total reported compensation

Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2024. Names and roles reflect this filing, not necessarily current officeholders.

Overview

Mission

To provide educational and informational services and assistance to local attorneys and to provide services through the indigent defense program.

What it reported doing in 2024

The Kern County Bar Association Dependency Advocacy Program provides high-quality legal representation and advocacy for parents, children, and other parties involved in juvenile dependency proceedings in Kern County. The program works to protect the rights and interests of vulnerable children, ensure due process, and promote family reunification whenever safely possible. Through the dedicated efforts of its attorneys and staff, the program helps ensure that cases move efficiently through the court system while prioritizing the safety, well-being, and permanency of children in foster care.

Operating model

Revenue model
Earned-program. 97% of the money available for current operations came from fees and other program revenue.
Distribution model
Direct operator. The filing allocates 100% of reported program-service expenses outside its grant, affiliate-payment, and member-benefit lines. This expense classification does not rule out separately announced grant awards.

The verdict

STRONG - A large share of available resources goes toward mission work and the filed numbers largely add up. Some filing-based governance responses are negative or unanswered and total assets are small relative to annual expenses; liquid coverage is unknown.

Rating breakdown

  • Financial Efficiency: 79
  • Transparency & Controls: 86
  • Accountability: 79
  • Sustainability: 59
  • Growth: 100

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 82.6%; rating input score 83
  • Program expense ratio: 98.3%; rating input score 98
  • Fundraising efficiency: Limited

Transparency & Controls

  • Consistency checks: 91.7%; rating input score 92; 6th percentile among comparable filings
  • Pay-setting controls: Limited
  • Foreign activity oversight: Limited
  • Grant itemization coverage: Limited
  • Major donor itemization: Yes; rating input score 100
  • Related-party transparency: Limited

Accountability

  • Independent voting board: 100%; rating input score 100; 66th percentile among comparable filings
  • Governance controls: 4 of 8 controls in place; rating input score 50
    • Conflict-of-interest policy: Pass
    • Whistleblower policy: Pass
    • Document-retention policy: Pass
    • CEO compensation review process: NotApplicable
    • Other executive compensation review process: Fail
    • Form 990 shared with the board: Pass
    • Board meeting minutes documented: Fail
    • Audit committee oversight: Missing
    • Independent financial-statement audit: Fail

Sustainability

  • Operating margin: 15.6%; rating input score 77; 77th percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 0.38; rating input score 10; 10th percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.04; rating input score 85; 85th percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 0.9%; rating input score 87; 87th percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: 9.4% per year; rating input score 100; 68th percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: 10.4% per year; rating input score 100; 75th percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: 17.4% per year; rating input score 100; 85th percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • Where the money goes: 82.6% of revenue deployed · 98.3% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 12 of 12 board members independent · 4 of 8 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 3 filed program accomplishments · $11.2M in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $99K · 15 people listed
  • Highest-paid contractors: 5 contractors listed · $1.8M reported
  • Consistency: 26 of 26 current checks pass
  • Schedules: 5 filed schedules · includes major donors
  • Filing history: 11 filing years from 2014 to 2024
  • Contacts: How to reach this organization
  • Money network: 1 filed money-flow record
  • Related organizations: 1 filed related-organization link
  • Grant readiness: Federal tax and exclusion status, award history, and grant-maker relationships.
  • People: Everyone the filings name, and which of them the filings identify by more than a name.
  • Staff and benefit plans: Retirement and health plans the organization files with the Department of Labor, and the people in them.

Key Signals

Signals prioritize questions for review. They are not findings of misconduct.

  • Review — Accountability: Governance controls: 3 of 7 not reported.
  • High — Sustainability: Total-asset coverage ratio scored 10/100.