2012 Nebraska Revised Statutes
Chapter 7 - ATTORNEYS AT LAW
7-206 - Legal education for public service loan repayment program; rules and regulations; contents.

7-206. Legal education for public service loan repayment 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 service loan repayment program. The rules and regulations shall include:

(1) Recipients shall be full-time, salaried attorneys working for a tax-exempt charitable organization and whose primary duties are public legal service;

(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 Loan Repayment 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 attorneys to work in rural areas and attorneys with skills in languages other than English. 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) A general program structure of loan forgiveness shall be established that qualifies for the tax benefits provided in section 108(f) of the Internal Revenue Code, as defined in section 49-801.01; and

(6) Other criteria for loan eligibility, application, payment, and forgiveness necessary to carry out the purposes of the Legal Education for Public Service Loan Repayment Act.