New Mexico Statutes Chapter 21. State and Private Education Institutions § 21-21Q-3. Community governance attorney and conditional tuition waiver program created; administration; rulemaking selection process; repayment

A. The “community governance attorney and conditional tuition waiver program” is created and shall be administered by the department. The department shall:

B. Participants shall enter the program in their final year of law school. The department shall select participants according to rules it promulgates and, in consultation with the commission, shall create a standard process for law students to apply to participate in the program.

C. The department shall award no more than two new waivers a year, in addition to renewing existing waivers for eligible participants, subject to the availability of funding.

D. Participation in the program shall be evidenced by a contract between the participant and the department. The contract shall provide for the payment of a participant's waiver and shall be conditioned upon the participant fulfilling the program obligations and meeting the university's standards for satisfactory academic progress. An applicant to the program shall sign the contract prior to being accepted into the program.

E. The contract shall include the following terms for repayment of the waiver:

F. The contract shall provide that the department forgive fifty percent of a waiver for each year that a participant is employed full time as a community governance attorney with a maximum salary of not more than fifty thousand dollars ($50,000) per year, subject to adjustment by the commission pursuant to Subsection G of this section.

G. The commission may approve subsequent increases in the maximum salary established pursuant to Subsection F of this section; provided that the maximum salary shall not exceed the salary rate for entry-level attorneys paid by legal service assistance entities in New Mexico that receive funding from the federally established legal services corporation.