§ 679-E — New York state district attorney and indigent legal services attorney loan forgiveness program

§ 679-e. New York state district attorney and indigent legal services\nattorney loan forgiveness program. 1. Purpose. The president shall grant\nstudent loan forgiveness awards for the purpose of increasing the number\nof experienced attorneys serving in the position of district attorney or\nindigent legal services attorney in the counties of the state.\n 2. Definitions. a. (i) "Eligible attorney" means an attorney, who is a\nresident of and is admitted to practice law in New York state, who is\nemployed full-time as either a district attorney, as defined in\nsubparagraph (ii) of this paragraph, or an indigent legal services\nattorney, as defined in subparagraph (iii) of this paragraph, who is\nadmitted to practice law in this state for not more than eleven years or\nwho was within the eligible period as defined in paragraph b of this\nsubdivision during the time for which such person is seeking a student\nloan expense grant. Notwithstanding the foregoing, an eligible attorney\nshall include those district attorney applicants who were awarded\nprogram eligibility and who provided qualified service between April\nfirst, two thousand eight and March thirty-first, two thousand eleven;\nsuch an eligible attorney shall remain eligible to participate in the\nprogram provided they are within an eligible period measured from six\nyears from the date which such attorney was first employed as a district\nattorney.\n (ii) "District attorney" means the district attorney of one of the\ncounties of the state or an employee of the office of any such district\nattorney.\n (iii) "Indigent legal services attorney" means an attorney who is an\nemployee of (A) any agency designated by subdivisions one and two of\nsection seven hundred twenty-two of the county law, who is engaged in\nthe practice of criminal law on behalf of persons charged with a crime\nwho are financially unable to obtain counsel; (B) a not-for-profit\ncorporation that is exempt from the payment of federal income taxes\npursuant to section 501(c)(3) of the internal revenue code and\nestablished for the purpose of providing legal services that include\ncivil legal services to persons within New York state who are\nfinancially unable to obtain counsel; or (C) an agency specified in\nclause (A) of this subparagraph and/or a corporation specified in clause\n(B) of this subparagraph and who provides a combination of the civil and\ncriminal services specified therein.\n b. "Eligible period" means the six-year period after completion of the\nthird year and before the commencement of the tenth year of employment\nas an eligible attorney. For purposes of this section, all periods of\ntime during which an admitted attorney was employed as an eligible\nattorney and all periods of time during which a law school graduate\nawaiting admission to the New York state bar was employed by a\nprosecuting or criminal defense agency as permitted by section four\nhundred eighty-four of the judiciary law shall be combined.\n c. "Student loan expense" means the total loan balance required to be\npaid by the eligible attorney on the cumulative total of the attorney's\noutstanding student loans covering his or her cost of attendance at an\nundergraduate institution and/or law school, at the time of the\nattorney's first application for reimbursement. Interest paid or due on\nsuch loans shall be considered eligible for reimbursement under this\nprogram. For purposes of this calculation, the amount of the student\nloan expenses shall be reduced by any grants, loan forgiveness, or\nsimilar reductions to the attorney's indebtedness that the attorney has\nreceived or shall receive, including, but not limited to, law school\nloan forgiveness and public service scholarships.\n d. "Year of qualified service" means the twelve month period measured\nfrom the anniversary of the attorney's employment as an eligible\nattorney, or as a law school graduate awaiting admission to the New York\nstate bar employed by a prosecuting or criminal defense agency as\npermitted by section four hundred eighty-four of the judiciary law,\nadjusted for any interruption in employment. Any period of temporary\nleave from service taken by an eligible attorney shall not be considered\nin the calculation of qualified service. However, the period of\ntemporary leave shall be considered an interruption in employment and\nthe calculation of the time period of qualified service shall recommence\nwhen the eligible attorney returns to full time service.\n 3. Awards. a. An eligible attorney may apply for reimbursement after\nthe completion of each year of qualified service provided however that\nreimbursement to each eligible attorney shall not exceed three thousand\nfour hundred dollars, per qualifying year, subject to appropriations\navailable therefor. The president may establish: (i) an application\ndeadline and (ii) a method of selecting recipients if in any given year\nthere are insufficient funds to cover the needs of all the applicants.\nAwards shall be within the amounts appropriated for such purpose and\nbased on availability of funds.\n b. An eligible attorney may apply after the completion of the fourth\nyear of qualified service, and annually thereafter after the completion\nof the fifth through ninth year of qualified service, and may seek a\nstudent loan expense grant for only the previous year of qualified\nservice within the time periods prescribed by the president. An eligible\nattorney may receive student loan expense grants for no more than six\nyears of qualified service within an eligible period.\n 4. Rules and regulations. The president shall promulgate rules and\nregulations for the administration of this program. The president may\npromulgate rules and regulations to delegate to the entities employing\nthe eligible attorneys the responsibility to certify the employment\nstatus and the student loan balance of the applicants.\n