Bipartisan Rural Law Enforcement Crime-Fighting Scholarship Act

Summary: Bipartisan Rural Law Enforcement Crime-Fighting Scholarship Act - Directs the Attorney General, through the Office of Justice Programs and in consultation with the National Center for Rural Law Enforcement at the University of Arkansas, to establish a rural law enforcement scholarship program by providing grants to rural law enforcement agencies and consortia of law enforcement agencies to be used to allow law enforcement officers to observe the advanced strategies and technologies employed by Federal and urban law enforcement agencies to fight gangs, abolish illegal drug trafficking and distribution systems, and create safer neighborhoods and communities. 
Requires the Attorney General, before grants are awarded, to identify Federal and urban law enforcement agencies willing to allow rural law enforcement officers to observe and to publish a list of those agencies in the Federal Register. 
Limits each grant award to $2,500 for an individual rural law enforcement agency and $7,500 for a consortium of law enforcement agencies. 
Allows officers selected for a rural law enforcement scholarship to participate in a particular observation opportunity for a maximum period of one month.  Prohibits more than one officer from the same rural law enforcement agency from participating in the program. 
Permits grants to be used for paying the costs of official travel, lodging, and expenses that participating law enforcement officers incur. 
Directs the Attorney General to report to the House and Senate Judiciary Committees on the success of participating rural law enforcement agencies in employing strategies or technology observed. 
Authorizes appropriations.

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

    This Act may be cited as the ``Bipartisan Rural Law Enforcement 
Crime-Fighting Scholarship Act''.

SEC. 2. FINDINGS.

    The Congress finds that--
            (1) the organization of illegal gangs and many systems of 
        illegal drug trafficking and distribution have become 
        increasingly similar in both urban and rural areas of the 
        United States;
            (2) crime- and drug-ridden neighborhoods in both urban and 
        rural areas demonstrate many of the same characteristics;
            (3) many law enforcement agencies in urban areas utilize 
        the most modern technology and cutting-edge police tactics to 
        fight gangs, abolish illegal drug trafficking and distribution 
        systems, and create safer neighborhoods and communities; and
            (4) law enforcement agencies in rural areas may improve 
        their efforts in the community if officers have an opportunity 
        to participate in a program permitting them to conduct 
        firsthand observations of the strategies and technologies 
        utilized by Federal and urban law enforcement agencies to fight 
        gangs, abolish illegal drug trafficking and distribution 
        systems, and create safer neighborhoods and communities.

SEC. 3. ESTABLISHMENT OF THE RURAL LAW ENFORCEMENT CRIME-FIGHTING 
              SCHOLARSHIP PROGRAM.

    (a) In General.--The Attorney General, through the Office of 
Justice Programs and in consultation with the National Center for Rural 
Law Enforcement at the University of Arkansas, shall establish a rural 
law enforcement scholarship program by providing grants to rural law 
enforcement agencies and consortia of law enforcement agencies. The 
grants shall be used to allow law enforcement officers to observe the 
advanced strategies and technologies employed by Federal and urban law 
enforcement agencies to fight gangs, abolish illegal drug trafficking 
and distribution systems, and create safer neighborhoods and 
communities.
    (b) Site Identification and Notification.--
            (1) Identification.--Before grants are awarded and not 
        later than 90 days after the date of the enactment of this Act, 
        the Attorney General shall identify Federal and urban law 
        enforcement agencies willing to allow rural law enforcement 
        officers to observe the strategies and technologies used for 
        fighting crime and creating safer neighborhoods and 
        communities.
            (2) Notification.--Not later than 120 days after the date 
        of the enactment of this Act, the Attorney General shall 
        publish in the Federal Register a list of the urban and Federal 
        agencies identified under paragraph (1).
    (c) Grant Amounts.--
            (1) In general.--The Attorney General shall determine the 
        appropriate amount of each grant award after considering the 
        relative costs associated with each observation opportunity.
            (2) Maximum grant award.--Each grant award may not exceed 
        $2,500 for an individual rural law enforcement agency and 
        $7,500 for a consortium of law enforcement agencies.
    (d) Participation Requirements.--Officers selected for a rural law 
enforcement scholarship may participate in a particular observation 
opportunity for a maximum period of 1 month. Not more than 1 officer 
from the same rural law enforcement agency may participate. In cases in 
which 1 or more rural law enforcement agencies establish a consortium, 
not more than 1 officer from each agency in the consortium may 
participate.
    (e) Uses of Funds.--Subject to subsections (c) and (d), a grant 
received under this Act may be used to pay the costs of official 
travel, lodging, and expenses that law enforcement officers incur while 
participating in the program.

SEC. 4. ELIGIBILITY AND SELECTION.

    (a) Eligibility.--To be eligible to receive a grant under this Act, 
a rural law enforcement agency, on its own behalf or for a consortium 
of law enforcement agencies shall submit an application to the 
Secretary at such time, in such manner, and containing such information 
as the Secretary may reasonably require.
    (b) Selection.--The Attorney General shall select grant recipients 
by using the following criteria:
            (1) Criminal activities.--The extent of violent crime, drug 
        trafficking and distribution, drug use, and other major 
        indicators of crime that threaten the public safety in the area 
        served by the rural law enforcement agency, as identified in 
        studies conducted by the Department of Justice and in State 
        applications submitted under part E of title I of the Omnibus 
        Crime Control and Safe Streets Act of 1968 for the Edward Bryne 
        Memorial State and Local Law Enforcement Assistance Programs.
            (2) Program benefits.--The extent to which the observation 
        opportunity is likely to provide law enforcement officers who 
        participate in the scholarship program with knowledge or skills 
        that can be successfully employed in the area that the rural 
        law enforcement agency serves.

SEC. 5. REPORTING.

    Not later than 3 years after the date of the enactment of this Act, 
the Attorney General shall submit to the Committees on the Judiciary of 
the House of Representatives and the Senate a report regarding the 
success of participating rural law enforcement agencies in employing 
strategies or technology observed during participation in the rural law 
enforcement scholarship program.

SEC. 6. DEFINITIONS.

    For purposes of this Act:
            (1) The term ``consortium of law enforcement agencies'' 
        means not less than 1 rural law enforcement agency that 
        executes an agreement with other law enforcement agencies which 
        may include sheriff, highway patrol, and police departments 
        that seek to organize more comprehensive crime-fighting 
        strategies in rural areas.
            (2) The term ``law enforcement officer'' has the same 
        meaning given such term in section 1204(5) of title I of the 
        Omnibus Crime Control and Safe Streets Act of 1968 (42 U.S.C. 
        3796b(5).
            (3) The term ``metropolitan statistical area'' has the same 
        meaning given such term by the Bureau of the Census.
            (4) The term ``rural law enforcement agency'' means a law 
        enforcement agency that serves--
                    (A) a city, town, township, borough, or village 
                outside a metropolitan statistical area;
                    (B) a city, town, township, borough, or village of 
                less than 10,000 residents; or
                    (C) a county or parish of less than 80,000 
                residents.

SEC. 7. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.

    There are authorized to be appropriated $12,000,000 to carry out 
this Act for each of the fiscal years 2000 through 2005.