By Ellis S.B. No. 1702
76R442 KEL-D
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
1-1 AN ACT
1-2 relating to a scholarship program to assist deserving students at
1-3 public law schools who commit to practice law in certain public
1-4 interest fields.
1-5 BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
1-6 SECTION 1. Subchapter D, Chapter 54, Education Code, is
1-7 amended by adding Section 54.219 to read as follows:
1-8 Sec. 54.219. TEXAS LEGAL SERVICES SCHOLARSHIPS. (a) In
1-9 this section:
1-10 (1) "Indigent" means having an annual family income
1-11 that is not more than 125 percent of the income standard
1-12 established by applicable federal poverty guidelines.
1-13 (2) "Law school" means a law school that is part of an
1-14 institution of higher education.
1-15 (3) "Trust fund" means the Texas Legal Services
1-16 Scholarship Trust Fund.
1-17 (b) The Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board shall
1-18 award scholarships, in a number to be determined by the
1-19 coordinating board after reviewing the total amount of money
1-20 available to the trust fund, to eligible students. The
1-21 coordinating board may distribute a scholarship to the recipient in
1-22 installments during the time the recipient attends law school. A
1-23 scholarship recipient may use a scholarship to pay the tuition and
1-24 fees or other expenses necessary to attend law school.
2-1 (c) To be eligible for a scholarship under this section, a
2-2 student must:
2-3 (1) be a Texas resident, as defined by coordinating
2-4 board rules;
2-5 (2) be enrolled in a law school as a full-time
2-6 student;
2-7 (3) meet minimum academic standards established by the
2-8 coordinating board;
2-9 (4) establish financial need;
2-10 (5) have received a Pell Grant as an undergraduate
2-11 student;
2-12 (6) agree to fulfill the public service obligation of
2-13 Subsection (d)(1) or the public interest obligation of Subsection
2-14 (d)(2)(A) or (B); and
2-15 (7) comply with any other requirements adopted by the
2-16 coordinating board under this section.
2-17 (d) To receive a scholarship under this section, a student
2-18 must agree to serve for five years in this state as:
2-19 (1) a full-time prosecuting attorney in the office of
2-20 a district attorney, criminal district attorney, county attorney,
2-21 or municipal attorney with responsibility to prosecute criminal
2-22 cases; or
2-23 (2) an attorney of record who provides significant
2-24 representation in a specified number of cases per year, as
2-25 determined by the coordinating board, in the field of:
2-26 (A) criminal defense for the indigent; or
2-27 (B) civil legal services for the indigent.
3-1 (e) A scholarship recipient must fulfill the public service
3-2 obligation of Subsection (d)(1) or the public interest obligation
3-3 of Subsection (d)(2)(A) or (B) not later than the end of the fifth
3-4 year after the date on which the recipient graduates from law
3-5 school or is admitted to the state bar, whichever is later, unless
3-6 the coordinating board for good cause provides the recipient with
3-7 additional time to fulfill that obligation.
3-8 (f) A scholarship under this section is conditioned on the
3-9 recipient's maintenance of all qualifications provided by this
3-10 section and performance of the applicable public service obligation
3-11 of Subsection (d)(1) or the public interest obligation of
3-12 Subsection (d)(2)(A) or (B). The scholarship is considered a loan
3-13 until the conditions of the scholarship are met.
3-14 (g) The coordinating board shall require a student who
3-15 receives a scholarship under this section to sign a promissory note
3-16 acknowledging the conditional nature of the scholarship and
3-17 promising to repay the amount of the scholarship plus applicable
3-18 interest and reasonable collection costs if the student does not
3-19 satisfy the conditions of the scholarship. The coordinating board
3-20 shall determine the terms of the promissory note. To the extent
3-21 practicable, the terms must be the same as those applicable to
3-22 state or federally guaranteed student loans made at the same time.
3-23 All amounts collected in repayment of a scholarship, including
3-24 interest but excluding collection costs paid by the coordinating
3-25 board to another person to collect or assist in collecting the
3-26 amount, shall be deposited to the credit of the trust fund.
3-27 (h) The coordinating board shall determine the amount
4-1 required to be repaid by a scholarship recipient who does not
4-2 complete the public service obligation of Subsection (d)(1) or the
4-3 public interest obligation of Subsection (d)(2)(A) or (B), as
4-4 applicable, in proportion to the part of the obligation that the
4-5 recipient has not completed. For a recipient who does not complete
4-6 the public interest obligation of Subsection (d)(2)(A) or (B), the
4-7 coordinating board shall make the proportionality determination on
4-8 an annual basis, considering the portion of the obligation for each
4-9 year the recipient completed.
4-10 (i) A student who receives a scholarship under this section
4-11 is considered to have failed to satisfy the conditions of the
4-12 scholarship, and the scholarship automatically becomes a loan, if
4-13 the student fails to remain enrolled in or to make steady progress
4-14 in law school without good cause as determined by the coordinating
4-15 board.
4-16 (j) The coordinating board shall adopt rules as necessary
4-17 for the administration of this section, including rules relating to
4-18 the establishment of scholarships, the criteria for awarding a
4-19 scholarship, the determination of eligibility, the total
4-20 scholarship amount that an eligible student may receive, and the
4-21 indigent criminal defense and indigent civil legal services that a
4-22 scholarship recipient may perform in satisfaction of Subsection
4-23 (d)(2)(A) or (B).
4-24 (k) Before the date applications for scholarships are
4-25 considered under this section for any academic period, the
4-26 coordinating board shall distribute to each law school the
4-27 eligibility criteria and a description of the weight given to each
5-1 factor and the role each factor plays in the decision to award
5-2 scholarships.
5-3 (l) The coordinating board shall award scholarships under
5-4 this section from the amount available in the trust fund. The
5-5 trust fund is established outside the treasury but is held in trust
5-6 by the comptroller. Money in the trust fund may be spent without
5-7 appropriation and only to fund the program. Interest and income
5-8 from the assets of the trust fund shall be credited to and
5-9 deposited in the trust fund. In each state fiscal year the
5-10 coordinating board may spend from the trust fund to cover the costs
5-11 of administering this section an amount not to exceed 2.5 percent
5-12 of the total amount of money deposited into the trust fund in that
5-13 fiscal year.
5-14 (m) The coordinating board may solicit and accept gifts and
5-15 grants from any public or private source for the purposes of this
5-16 section and shall deposit a gift or grant to the credit of the
5-17 trust fund.
5-18 (n) The legislature may appropriate money to the trust fund.
5-19 SECTION 2. (a) The Texas Higher Education Coordinating
5-20 Board shall adopt rules for awarding scholarships under Section
5-21 54.219, Education Code, as added by this Act, not later than
5-22 December 1, 1999.
5-23 (b) The coordinating board shall award scholarships under
5-24 Section 54.219, Education Code, as added by this Act, beginning
5-25 with the 2000-2001 academic year.
5-26 SECTION 3. The importance of this legislation and the
5-27 crowded condition of the calendars in both houses create an
6-1 emergency and an imperative public necessity that the
6-2 constitutional rule requiring bills to be read on three several
6-3 days in each house be suspended, and this rule is hereby suspended.