{"data":{"id":"us-ky/krs-164.7890","jurisdiction":"us-ky","citation":"KRS 164.7890","heading":"Coal county scholarship program for pharmacy students.","body":"(1) To ensure the public health purpose of access to pharmaceutical services in the\ncoal-producing counties of the Commonwealth, which have been traditionally\nunderserved for pharmaceutical services due to a shortage of pharmacists in the\nCommonwealth, the General Assembly hereby establishes a coal county scholarship\nprogram to provide eligible Kentucky students the opportunity to attend an\naccredited school of pharmacy or a provisionally accredited school of pharmacy in\nthe Commonwealth, and to become certifie d pharmacists in the Commonwealth,\nprovided that the scholarship recipient agrees to practice pharmacy in a coal -\nproducing county for each year a scholarship is provided.\n(2) \"Coal-producing county\" as used in this section has the same meaning as in KRS\n42.4592(1)(c).\n(3) The authority may award scholarships, to the extent funds are available for that\npurpose, to any person who:\n(a) Is a Kentucky resident;\n(b) Is considered a permanent resident of a coal -producing county for at least one\n(1) year immediatel y preceding July 1 of the academic year in which the\nscholarship is made for students who first receive a scholarship under this\nsection on or after July 1, 2014;\n(c) Is a United States citizen as determined by the institution in accordance with\ncriteria e stablished by the Council on Postsecondary Education for the\npurposes of admission and tuition assessment;\n(d) Is enrolled or accepted for enrollment in a Pharm.D. program at an accredited\ninstitution or a provisionally accredited institution in the Common wealth on a\nfull-time basis, or is a student who has a disability defined by Title II of the\nAmericans with Disabilities Act, 42 U.S.C. secs. 12131 et seq., certified by a\nlicensed physician to be unable to attend the eligible program of study full -\ntime because of the disability;\n(e) Agrees to render one (1) year of qualified service in a coal -producing county\nof the Commonwealth for each year the scholarship was awarded. \"Qualified\nservice\" means a full -time practice in a coal -producing county of the\nCommonwealth of Kentucky as a licensed pharmacist for a majority of the\ncalendar year, except that an individual having a disability defined by Title II\nof the Americans with Disabilities Act, 42 U.S.C. secs. 12131 et seq., whose\ndisability, certified by anothe r licensed physician, prevents him or her from\npracticing full -time, shall be deemed to perform qualified service by\npracticing the maximum time permitted by the attending physician, in the\ncoal-producing county; and\n(f) Agrees to sign a promissory note as  evidence of the scholarship awarded and\nthe obligation to repay the scholarship amount or render pharmacy service as\nagreed in lieu of payment.\n(4) (a) Notwithstanding KRS 164.753(3), the amount of the scholarship shall not\nexceed forty percent (40%) of t he approximate average of first professional\nyear in -state tuition for all pharmacy schools in the United States. The\nauthority shall establish, by administrative regulation a procedure for\nawarding scholarships which shall give preference to students resi ding in\ncoal-producing counties and which shall establish procedures to award\nscholarships should funding be insufficient to award scholarships to all\neligible students. The authority may also, by administrative regulation,\nestablish scholarship amounts based on demonstration of initial financial need\nby eligible students.\n(b) The actual amount of the scholarship awarded to each eligible student by the\nauthority for each semester shall be based on the amount of funds available\nand the criteria established under paragraph (a) of this subsection.\n(5) (a) The authority shall requir e each student receiving a scholarship to execute a\npromissory note as evidence of the obligation.\n(b) The recipient shall render one (1) year of qualified service in a coal-producing\ncounty for each year the scholarship was awarded. Upon completion of eac h\nyear of qualified service in a coal-producing county, the authority shall cancel\nthe appropriate number of promissory notes. Promissory notes shall be\ncanceled by qualified service in the order in which the promissory notes were\nexecuted. Service credit shall not include residency service.\n(c) If a recipient fails to complete an eligible program of study, or fails to render\nservice as a pharmacist as agreed in this subsection, the recipient shall be\nliable for the total repayment of the sum of all outstan ding promissory notes\nand accrued interest.\n(6) Any person who is in default on any obligation to the authority under any program\nadministered by the authority under KRS 164.740 to 164.785 shall not be awarded a\nscholarship or have a promissory note cancel ed until all financial obligations to the\nauthority are satisfied, except that ineligibility for this reason may be waived by the\nauthority for cause.\n(7) A repayment obligation imposed by this section shall not be voidable by reason of\nthe age of the recipient at the time of executing the promissory note.\n(8) Failure to meet repayment obligations imposed by this section shall be cause for the\nrevocation of the scholarship recipient's license to practice pharmacy, subject to the\nprocedures set forth in KRS Chapter 311.\n(9) Notwithstanding KRS 164.753(3), the authority shall establish by administrative\nregulation procedures for the administration of this program, including but not\nlimited to the execution of appropriate contracts and promissory notes, cancell ation\nof obligations, the rate of repayment, and deferment of repayment of outstanding\ndebt.\n(10) Notwithstanding any other statute to the contrary, the maximum interest rate\napplicable to repayment of a promissory note under this section shall be twelve\npercent (12%) per annum, except that if a judgment is rendered to recover payment,\nthe judgment shall bear interest at the rate of five percent (5%) greater than the rate\nactually charged on the promissory note.\n(11) (a) The coal county pharmacy scholarship  fund is hereby created as a revolving\nfund in the State Treasury to be administered by the Kentucky Higher\nEducation Assistance Authority for the purpose of providing scholarships to\nqualifying students studying pharmacy in schools in the Commonwealth.\n(b) The fund shall consist of amounts transferred from coal severance tax receipts\nas provided in paragraph (c) of this subsection and any other proceeds from\ngrants, contributions, appropriations, or other moneys made available for the\nfund.\n(c) 1. Receipts from the coal severance tax levied under KRS 143.020 shall be\ntransferred to the fund on an annual basis in an amount not to exceed the\nlesser of:\na. Four percent (4%) of the total annual coal severance tax revenues\ncollected under KRS 143.020; or\nb. The amount necessary to provide full funding for all students who\nqualify for a scholarship under this section, considering all other\nresources available.\n2. Transfers required by subparagraph 1. of this paragraph shall be made as\nfollows:\na. On or before Augu st 1 of each year, sixty -five percent (65%) of\nthe amount of funding provided for in this paragraph shall be\ntransferred to the fund; and\nb. The remaining thirty-five percent (35%) shall be transferred on or\nbefore December 1 of each year.\n3. The amount tr ansferred shall be based upon the prevailing revenue\nestimate for coal severance tax receipts at the time each transfer is made.\n(d) Any unallotted or unencumbered balances in the trust fund shall be invested\nas provided in KRS 42.500(9).\n(e) Income earned from the investments shall be credited to the trust fund.\n(f) Notwithstanding KRS 45.229, any fund balance at the close of the fiscal year\nshall not lapse but shall be transferred to the Osteopathic Medicine\nScholarship Program described in KRS 164.7891 w ithin ninety (90) days of\nthe end of the fiscal year.\n(g) All amounts included in the fund shall be continuously appropriated only for\nthe purposes specified in this section.\n(h) A general statement that all continuing appropriations are repealed,\ndiscontinued, or suspended shall not operate to repeal, discontinue, or suspend\nthis fund or to repeal this action.\n(i) All moneys repaid to the authority under this section shall be added to the\nfund.","path":["KRS Chapter 164"],"source_url":"https://apps.legislature.ky.gov/law/statutes/statute.aspx?id=42978","current_through":"Includes enactments through the 2026 Regular Session","vintage":"09/05/2026","retrieved_at":"2026-09-05T20:51:17Z","sha256":"21008d6631b936f880c2fbeae365d3638299cf87a92b6b355b04023c401f77eb","source_id":"us-ky","stale":false,"prev":"us-ky/krs-164.7889","next":"us-ky/krs-164.7891"},"notice":"GroundRules: Original legal text. Not legal advice."}