(1) The Commission on Public Advocacy shall establish eligibility criteria and guidelines to determine on an annual basis (a) the service areas, (b) the legal services to be provided and the priorities for providing the services, which shall be determined in accordance with subsection (1) of section 25-3004, and (c) the service provider or providers for each service area. The commission shall annually certify one or more service providers for each service area. A single service provider may be certified for more than one service area. Such certification entitles the service provider to a distribution of funds as defined and determined by section 25-3004.

(2) The commission shall accept applications for certification on an annual basis from entities interested in providing free civil legal services to eligible low-income persons. In the application, each applicant shall certify to the commission that the applicant intends to provide free civil legal services to eligible low-income persons as determined by the commission.