7-206. Legal education for public legal service and rural practice loan repayment assistance program; rules and regulations; contents.

The board shall develop and recommend to the Commission on Public Advocacy rules and regulations that will govern the legal education for public legal service and rural practice loan repayment assistance program. The rules and regulations shall include:

(1) Recipients shall be either: (a) Full-time, salaried attorneys working for a tax-exempt charitable organization and whose primary duties are public legal service or (b) full-time attorneys primarily serving in a designated legal profession shortage area;

(2) Loan applicants shall pay an application fee established by the rules and regulations at a level anticipated to cover all or most of the administrative costs of the program. All application fees shall be remitted to the State Treasurer for credit to the Legal Education for Public Service and Rural Practice Loan Repayment Assistance Fund. Every effort shall be made to minimize administrative costs and the application fee;

(3) The maximum annual loan amount, which initially shall not exceed six thousand dollars per year per recipient, shall be an amount which is sufficient to fulfill the purposes of recruiting and retaining public legal service attorneys in occupations and areas with unmet needs, including public legal service attorneys with skills in languages other than English and attorneys committed to working in designated legal profession shortage areas. The board may recommend adjustments of the loan amount annually to the commission to account for inflation and other relevant factors;

(4) Loans shall be made only to refinance existing educational loans;

(5) Information on the potential tax consequences of income from discharge of indebtedness;

(6) Recipients shall agree to practice the equivalent of at least three years of full-time practice in public legal service or a designated legal profession shortage area; and

(7) Other criteria for loan eligibility, application, payment, and repayment assistance necessary to carry out the purposes of the Legal Education for Public Service and Rural Practice Loan Repayment Assistance Act.

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