As Mardi Gras approaches and Loyola students prepare for the celebration, attorney and Loyola Law graduate Raleigh Ohlmeyer wants them to know he’s there for them if they need him.

Ohlmeyer has been providing legal services to Loyola students for several years, continuing a service started by his father, Raleigh Ohlmeyer Jr. He was first asked to assist a Loyola student by an administrator, a friend of the family who was familiar with his criminal law practice. From then on, she would call him on occasion when a student needed legal assistance.

“This practice continued for a few years until we started getting more calls directly from students,” Ohlmeyer said. “At that time we discovered that the student housing had begun reprinting our cards and providing them to the students in the dorms.”

Robert Reed, director of Residential Life, said Loyola has been working with Ohlmeyer for the past four years and that he provides a valuable service to students.

“We have an agreement that Mr. Ohlmeyer will assist students that have been arrested,” Reed said. “All the student needs to do is call him.”

Usually called by a student, family member or friend regarding an incarceration, Ohlmeyer said he begins to make efforts to have them released.

“I am pleased to do what I can to assist in the release of Loyola students from jail without expectation of payment,” Ohlmeyer said.

“However, if I am hired by that student to represent them in the legal matter, I do charge a fee to be paid by the student. I do often give the student consideration, regarding the amount of my fee.”

An arrested student can either call Ohlmeyer directly at 585-7370 or call University Police, where the dispatcher will give out his number, Reed said.

Ohlmeyer makes it clear that he is not employed or otherwise retained by Loyola, noting that his only attachment to the school is as an alumnus of the Loyola Law School.

In an average year, Ohlmeyer said he receives calls from between 15 and 25 students. He said he has assisted about 15 students within the past year. “I think it’s a good service for Loyola students,” Urban Martinez, business freshman, said.

“A lot of students are here on a financial need basis and can’t afford to get out of jail and don’t have parents here locally to help them out. It’s a good benefit for the students.”

Having gotten Ohlmeyer’s card in an ID holder passed out by Residential Life at the beginning of the year, Martinez said he didn’t know what it was for and he guesses many other students don’t know as well.

“If I were arrested, which is highly unlikely, I would definitely use it,” Martinez said.

Jordan Hultine can be reached at [email protected].