Senate File 250 - Introduced SENATE FILE 250 BY SWEENEY (COMPANION TO HF 209 BY COMMITTEE ON JUDICIARY) A BILL FOR An Act creating a rural attorney recruitment assistance 1 program, and making appropriations. 2 BE IT ENACTED BY THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF IOWA: 3 TLSB 2603XS (1) 91 jda/jh
S.F. 250 Section 1. NEW SECTION . 256.231 Rural attorney recruitment 1 assistance program fund. 2 1. Program created. The college student aid commission 3 shall establish a program to assist rural counties and 4 municipalities in recruiting attorneys. 5 2. Application. Each interested county or municipality 6 must apply to the college student aid commission to be included 7 in the rural attorney recruitment assistance program. Before 8 making a determination of eligibility, the college student aid 9 commission shall conduct a county or municipality assessment 10 designed to evaluate the countys or municipalitys need for an 11 attorney and the countys or municipalitys ability to sustain 12 and support an attorney. The college student aid commission 13 shall maintain a list of counties and municipalities that 14 have been assessed and are eligible for participation in the 15 program. The college student aid commission may revise any 16 county or municipality assessment or conduct a new assessment 17 as necessary to reflect any change in conditions within a 18 county or municipality. 19 3. County or municipality eligible to participate. A county 20 or municipality is eligible to participate in the program if 21 all of the following are true: 22 a. The county or municipality has a population of less than 23 twenty-six thousand and is located more than twenty miles from 24 a city with a population of at least fifty thousand, based on 25 the 2020 federal decennial census. 26 b. The county or municipality agrees to provide the countys 27 or municipalitys portion of the incentive payment pursuant 28 to the provisions of this section. Such payments shall be in 29 addition to the advertised salary and benefits of the attorney 30 position. 31 c. The college student aid commission determines the county 32 or municipality is eligible. 33 4. Incentive payment to participating attorneys. Any 34 attorney who is selected to enter into an agreement and who, in 35 -1- LSB 2603XS (1) 91 jda/jh 1/ 6
S.F. 250 conjunction with the eligible county or municipality, fulfills 1 the requirements of the program is entitled to receive an 2 incentive payment in five equal annual installments, each in 3 an amount equal to ninety percent of the annual university of 4 Iowa college of law resident tuition and fees as determined on 5 July 1, 2026. 6 5. Agreement for payment of recruitment assistance. 7 a. Any agreement for the payment of recruitment assistance 8 pursuant to this section must obligate the rural county or 9 municipality served by the attorney to provide thirty-five 10 percent of the total amount of the incentive payments in 11 five equal annual installments. After the rural county or 12 municipality certifies to the college student aid commission 13 that the county or municipality has paid the attorney the 14 required amount, the college student aid commission shall 15 pay to the attorney the remaining balance. The college 16 student aid commission shall pay the required amount out of 17 moneys appropriated pursuant to this section. A county or 18 municipality may prepay its portion of the incentive payments 19 at any time during the five-year period. The college student 20 aid commission shall only pay upon completion of each annual 21 employment obligation. A county or municipality may include 22 provisions in the agreement that the county or municipality 23 determines are necessary to attract and retain the attorney, 24 including provisions that implement residency requirements. 25 b. The agreement must require the attorney to do all of the 26 following: 27 (1) Become a contract attorney with the office of the state 28 public defender and designate the minimum number of hours that 29 the attorney must provide as a contract attorney during each 30 calendar year during the contract period. 31 (2) Participate in volunteer lawyer projects through 32 nonprofit organizations providing critical legal assistance to 33 low-income and vulnerable Iowans. 34 6. County and municipality funding. Any eligible county 35 -2- LSB 2603XS (1) 91 jda/jh 2/ 6
S.F. 250 or municipality may appropriate moneys for the purpose of 1 carrying out the provisions of this section. An eligible 2 county or municipality may enter an agreement with any county, 3 municipality, school district, or nonprofit entity to assist 4 the county or municipality in carrying out the provisions of 5 this section. 6 7. Filing and approval of recruitment assistance 7 agreement. A recruitment assistance agreement entered into 8 pursuant to this section is not effective until it is filed 9 with and approved by the college student aid commission. The 10 agreement must provide that the attorney practice law full-time 11 in the eligible county or municipality for at least five years. 12 8. Ineligibility for participation in other programs. A 13 person shall not participate in the program if the person has 14 previously participated in the program, or any other state or 15 federal scholarship, loan repayment, or tuition reimbursement 16 program that obligates the person to provide attorney services 17 within an underserved area. 18 9. Fund established. A rural attorney recruitment 19 assistance program fund is created in the state treasury under 20 the control of the college student aid commission. The college 21 Student aid commission may accept gifts, grants, bequests, 22 and other private contributions, as well as state or federal 23 moneys, for deposit in the fund. The college student aid 24 commission shall remit all repayments made pursuant to this 25 section to the fund. All moneys deposited or paid into the 26 fund are appropriated to the college student aid commission 27 to be used for meeting the requirements of this section 28 and increasing the number of attorneys participating in the 29 program. During a fiscal year, up to five percent of the 30 moneys in the fund may be used by the college student aid 31 commission to cover implementation and administration costs 32 associated with this section. Notwithstanding section 8.33, 33 moneys in the fund that remain unencumbered or unobligated 34 at the close of a fiscal year shall not revert but shall 35 -3- LSB 2603XS (1) 91 jda/jh 3/ 6
S.F. 250 remain available for expenditure for the purposes designated. 1 Notwithstanding section 12C.7, subsection 2, interest or 2 earnings on moneys in the fund shall be credited to the fund. 3 10. Rules. The college student aid commission shall adopt 4 rules to administer this section. 5 11. Limitation. The program shall not provide assistance 6 for more than five attorneys. This subsection is repealed July 7 1, 2026. 8 Sec. 2. CODE EDITOR DIRECTIVE. The Code editor shall 9 designate section 256.231, as enacted in this Act, as a new 10 subpart within chapter 256, subchapter VII, part 4, entitled 11 rural attorney recruitment assistance program. 12 EXPLANATION 13 The inclusion of this explanation does not constitute agreement with 14 the explanations substance by the members of the general assembly. 15 This bill creates the rural attorney recruitment assistance 16 program. The bill requires the college student aid commission 17 (commission) to establish a program for attorneys to assist 18 rural counties and municipalities in recruiting attorneys. 19 The bill requires each interested county or municipality to 20 apply to the commission. The commission is required to conduct 21 a county or municipality assessment designed to evaluate 22 the countys or municipalitys need for an attorney and the 23 countys or municipalitys ability to sustain and support an 24 attorney before admitting a county or municipality into the 25 program. The bill requires the commission to maintain a list 26 of counties and municipalities that have been assessed and are 27 eligible for participation in the program. The commission is 28 allowed to revise any county or municipality assessment or 29 conduct a new assessment as necessary to reflect any change in 30 conditions within a county or municipality. 31 The bill provides that a county or municipality is eligible 32 to participate in the program if it has a population of less 33 than 26,000 and is located more than 20 miles from a city with 34 a population of at least 50,000, based on the 2020 federal 35 -4- LSB 2603XS (1) 91 jda/jh 4/ 6
S.F. 250 decennial census. 1 The bill provides that any attorney who fulfills the 2 requirements of the program is entitled to receive an incentive 3 payment in five equal annual installments, each in an amount 4 equal to 90 percent of the university of Iowa college of law 5 resident tuition and fees as determined on July 1, 2026. This 6 is in addition to the advertised salary and benefits for the 7 attorney position. 8 The bill provides that any agreement for payment under 9 the program shall obligate the county or municipality served 10 by the attorney to pay 35 percent of the total amount of the 11 incentive payments in five equal annual installments. The bill 12 requires the commission, upon certification that the county 13 or municipality has paid the attorney the annual amount to 14 the commission, to pay the attorney the remaining balance. 15 The bill provides that the commission shall pay the required 16 amount out of moneys appropriated from the state. The bill 17 further provides that a county or municipality may prepay 18 its portion of the incentive payment at any time during the 19 five-year period. The bill requires the agreement to require 20 the attorney to become a contract attorney with the office of 21 the state public defender, designate the minimum number of 22 hours that the attorney must provide as a contract attorney, 23 and agree to participate in volunteer lawyer projects. 24 The bill allows any rural county or municipality to 25 appropriate moneys for the purpose of funding the program. 26 The bill provides that no recruitment assistance agreement 27 entered into is effective until it is filed with and approved 28 by the commission. The agreement shall provide that the 29 attorney practice law full-time in the eligible county or 30 municipality for at least five years. 31 The bill provides that no person may participate in the 32 program if the person has previously participated in the 33 program, or any other state or federal scholarship, loan 34 repayment, or tuition reimbursement program that obligates the 35 -5- LSB 2603XS (1) 91 jda/jh 5/ 6
S.F. 250 person to provide attorney services within an underserved area. 1 A rural attorney recruitment assistance program fund 2 is created and moneys in the fund are appropriated to the 3 commission to be used for the program and to increase the 4 number of attorneys in the program. The program is limited to 5 five attorneys in the first year. 6 -6- LSB 2603XS (1) 91 jda/jh 6/ 6