Prairie State Legal Services Inc

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
371030764
IRS 990 coverage
2010–2025
Forms available
Form 990 2025
Location
Rockford, IL, USA
Phone
8159652134
Rating
80
Verdict
STRONG
Rating confidence
Moderate
Sector
Human Services

Official website

Reported finances

Revenue
$23,752,745
Expenses
$22,862,247
Assets
$24,458,121
Liabilities
$6,105,292

Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2025. Amounts in USD.

Leadership & pay

28 people listed

Executive titles in this filing

  • Denise Conklin (Executive Director)
  • William Beckman (President)
  • Kenneth E Davies (Vice President)

Highest reported compensation

  • Denise Conklin (Executive Director): $194,852 total reported compensation
  • Gretchen Farwell (Managing Attorney): $162,282 total reported compensation
  • Adrian Barr (Managing Attorney): $161,364 total reported compensation

Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2025. Names and roles reflect this filing, not necessarily current officeholders.

Overview

Mission

To provide or coordinate the delivery of high quality free civil legal services to low-income individuals, families and groups

What it reported doing in 2025

Provision of legal services to low-income clients in civil matters to eligible persons; 13,018 disposed cases in 2025

Operating model

Revenue model
Grant-funded. 64% of the money available for current operations came from government grants.
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. Expenses are high relative to revenue and total assets are small relative to annual expenses; liquid coverage is unknown.

Rating breakdown

  • Financial Efficiency: 77
  • Transparency & Controls: 79
  • Accountability: 95
  • Sustainability: 40
  • Growth: 100

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 78.3%; rating input score 78
  • Program expense ratio: 80.8%; rating input score 81
  • Fundraising efficiency: $24.73 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 61; 61st percentile among comparable filings

Transparency & Controls

  • Consistency checks: 100%; rating input score 100; 64th percentile among comparable filings
  • Pay-setting controls: 3 of 6 controls in place; rating input score 50
    • Compensation committee: Pass
    • Independent consultant: Missing
    • Other Form 990s reviewed: Missing
    • Written employment contract: Missing
    • Compensation survey or study: Pass
    • Board or committee approval: Pass
  • 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; 64th percentile among comparable filings
  • Governance controls: 8 of 9 controls in place; rating input score 89
    • Conflict-of-interest policy: Pass
    • Whistleblower policy: Pass
    • Document-retention policy: Pass
    • CEO compensation review process: Pass
    • Other executive compensation review process: Fail
    • Form 990 shared with the board: Pass
    • Board meeting minutes documented: Pass
    • Audit committee oversight: Pass
    • Independent financial-statement audit: Pass

Sustainability

  • Operating margin: 3.7%; rating input score 40; 40th percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 1.07; rating input score 31; 31st percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.25; rating input score 46; 46th percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 5%; rating input score 58; 58th percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: 6.9% per year; rating input score 100; 52nd percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: 7.2% per year; rating input score 100; 58th percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: 11.5% per year; rating input score 100; 73rd percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • Where the money goes: 78.3% of revenue deployed · 80.8% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 21 of 21 board members independent · 8 of 9 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 1 filed program accomplishment · $18.5M in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $195K · 28 people listed · 3 of 6 pay-setting controls reported
  • Consistency: 33 of 33 current checks pass
  • Schedules: 5 filed schedules · includes major donors and executive pay
  • Filing history: 16 filing years from 2010 to 2025
  • Contacts: How to reach this organization
  • Money network: 7 filed money-flow records
  • Related organizations: Filed and resolved organization relationships.
  • 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.

  • Moderate — Sustainability: Operating margin scored 40/100.
  • Moderate — Sustainability: Total-asset coverage ratio scored 31/100.
  • Review — Accountability: Governance controls: Other executive compensation review process not reported.
  • Moderate — Sustainability: Liabilities to assets ratio scored 46/100.
  • Review — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 58/100.