Panel hears bill to fund scholarships for law students who commit to public defender or deputy prosecutor service

House Bill 1049, heard March 26 before the Senate Education, Career and Development Committee, would create a scholarship program to recruit law students into public-service legal work as deputy prosecutors or public defenders. The bill requires recipients to pledge five years of full‑time service in the designated roles and tasks the Commission for Higher Education with administering the scholarship fund.

Representative Stuart Wald, the bill’s author, described the proposal as a targeted, state-level approach to address geographically uneven attorney supply and shortages in criminal-justice positions. Under the program described in committee testimony, a full‑time eligible law student would receive $20,000 per year; a part‑time student would receive $15,000 per year. The sponsor said those awards are intended to cover roughly 70% of typical in‑state law school tuition over the course of the program and that the 5‑year service commitment would trigger repayment if a…