Sec. 61.9605. AGREEMENT. (a) To qualify for loan repayment assistance under this subchapter, a person must enter into a written agreement with the board as provided by this section. The agreement must specify the conditions the person must satisfy to receive repayment assistance.

(b) The agreement must require the person to be employed for a period of five years with a district or county attorney's office that serves a rural county. Only employment with that district or county attorney's office as an attorney after the date the person enters into the agreement may be used to satisfy the employment requirement under the agreement.

(c) The agreement must provide that the repayment assistance the person receives before the person has been employed for five years as required by the agreement constitutes a loan until the person completes the five years of employment and satisfies any other applicable conditions of the agreement. The agreement must require the person to sign a promissory note acknowledging the conditional nature of the repayment assistance received and promising to repay the amount of that assistance received plus applicable interest and reasonable collection costs if the person does not satisfy the applicable conditions. The board shall determine the terms of the promissory note. To the extent practicable, the terms must be the same as those applicable to state or federally guaranteed student loans made at the same time. All amounts collected in repayment of a loan under this subsection, including interest, but excluding collection costs paid by the board to another person to collect or assist in collecting the amount, shall be deposited to the credit of the trust fund established by Section 61.9608.

Added by Acts 2001, 77th Leg., ch. 1320, Sec. 2, eff. Sept. 1, 2001.