II 

109TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. 2039 

To provide for loan repayment for prosecutors and public defenders. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

NOVEMBER 17, 2005 

Mr. DURBIN (for himself, Mr. SPECTER, Mr. DEWINE, Mr. LEAHY, Mr. KENNEDY, Mrs. FEINSTEIN, Mr. FEINGOLD, Mr. HARKIN, Mr. AKAKA, Mr. 

LAUTENBERG, Ms. CANTWELL, Mr. PRYOR, and Mr. KERRY) introduced 

the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee 

on the Judiciary 

A BILL 

To provide for loan repayment for prosecutors and public 

defenders. 

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Prosecutors and De5 fenders Incentive Act of 2005’’. 
2 

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1 SEC. 2. LOAN REPAYMENT FOR PROSECUTORS AND DE2 FENDERS. 

3 Title I of the Omnibus Crime Control and Safe 

4 Streets Act of 1968 (42 U.S.C. 3711 et seq.) is amended 

5 by adding at the end the following: 

6 ‘‘PART HH—LOAN REPAYMENT FOR 

7 PROSECUTORS AND PUBLIC DEFENDERS 

8 ‘‘SEC. 2901. GRANT AUTHORIZATION. 

9 ‘‘(a) PURPOSE.—The purpose of this section is to en10 courage qualified individuals to enter and continue em11 ployment as prosecutors and public defenders. 

12 ‘‘(b) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 

13 ‘‘(1) PROSECUTOR.—The term ‘prosecutor’ 

14 means a full-time employee of a State or local agen15 cy who— 

16 ‘‘(A) is continually licensed to practice law; 

17 and 

18 ‘‘(B) prosecutes criminal cases at the State 

19 or local level. 

20 ‘‘(2) PUBLIC DEFENDER.—The term ‘public de21 fender’ means an attorney who— 

22 ‘‘(A) is continually licensed to practice law; 

23 and 

24 ‘‘(B) is— 

25 ‘‘(i) a full-time employee of a State or 

26 local agency or a nonprofit organization 
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1 operating under a contract with a State or 

2 unit of local government, that provides 

3 legal representation to indigent persons in 

4 criminal cases; or 

5 ‘‘(ii) employed as a full-time Federal 

6 defender attorney in a defender organiza7 tion established pursuant to subsection (g) 

8 of section 3006A of title 18, United States 

9 Code, that provides legal representation to 

10 indigent persons in criminal cases. 

11 ‘‘(3) STUDENT LOAN.—The term ‘student loan’ 

12 means— 

13 ‘‘(A) a loan made, insured, or guaranteed 

14 under part B of title IV of the Higher Edu15 cation Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 1071 et seq.); 

16 ‘‘(B) a loan made under part D or E of 

17 title IV of the Higher Education Act of 1965 

18 (20 U.S.C. 1087a et seq. and 1087aa et seq.); 

19 and 

20 ‘‘(C) a loan made under section 428C or 

21 455(g) of the Higher Education Act of 1965 

22 (20 U.S.C. 1078–3 and 1087e(g)) to the extent 

23 that such loan was used to repay a Federal Di24 rect Stafford Loan, a Federal Direct Unsub-
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1 sidized Stafford Loan, or a loan made under 

2 section 428 or 428H of such Act. 

3 ‘‘(c) PROGRAM AUTHORIZED.—The Attorney General 

4 shall establish a program by which the Department of Jus5 tice shall assume the obligation to repay a student loan, 

6 by direct payments on behalf of a borrower to the holder 

7 of such loan, in accordance with subsection (d), for any 

8 borrower who— 

9 ‘‘(1) is employed as a prosecutor or public de10 fender; and 

11 ‘‘(2) is not in default on a loan for which the 

12 borrower seeks forgiveness. 

13 ‘‘(d) TERMS OF AGREEMENT.— 

14 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—To be eligible to receive re15 payment benefits under subsection (c), a borrower 

16 shall enter into a written agreement that specifies 

17 that— 

18 ‘‘(A) the borrower will remain employed as 

19 a prosecutor or public defender for a required 

20 period of service of not less than 3 years, unless 

21 involuntarily separated from that employment; 

22 ‘‘(B) if the borrower is involuntarily sepa23 rated from employment on account of mis24 conduct, or voluntarily separates from employ25 ment, before the end of the period specified in 
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1 the agreement, the borrower will repay the At2 torney General the amount of any benefits re3 ceived by such employee under this section; 

4 ‘‘(C) if the borrower is required to repay 

5 an amount to the Attorney General under sub6 paragraph (B) and fails to repay such amount, 

7 a sum equal to that amount shall be recoverable 

8 by the Federal Government from the employee 

9 (or such employee’s estate, if applicable) by 

10 such methods as are provided by law for the re11 covery of amounts owed to the Federal Govern12 ment; 

13 ‘‘(D) the Attorney General may waive, in 

14 whole or in part, a right of recovery under this 

15 subsection if it is shown that recovery would be 

16 against equity and good conscience or against 

17 the public interest; and 

18 ‘‘(E) the Attorney General shall make stu19 dent loan payments under this section for the 

20 period of the agreement, subject to the avail21 ability of appropriations. 

22 ‘‘(2) REPAYMENTS.— 

23 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—Any amount repaid 

24 by, or recovered from, an individual or the es25 tate of an individual under this subsection shall 
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1 be credited to the appropriation account from 

2 which the amount involved was originally paid. 

3 ‘‘(B) MERGER.—Any amount credited 

4 under subparagraph (A) shall be merged with 

5 other sums in such account and shall be avail6 able for the same purposes and period, and sub7 ject to the same limitations, if any, as the sums 

8 with which the amount was merged. 

9 ‘‘(3) LIMITATIONS.— 

10 ‘‘(A) STUDENT LOAN PAYMENT

11 AMOUNT.—Student loan repayments made by 

12 the Attorney General under this section shall be 

13 made subject to such terms, limitations, or con14 ditions as may be mutually agreed upon by the 

15 borrower and the Attorney General in an agree16 ment under paragraph (1), except that the 

17 amount paid by the Attorney General under 

18 this section shall not exceed— 

19 ‘‘(i) $10,000 for any borrower in any 

20 calendar year; or 

21 ‘‘(ii) an aggregate total of $60,000 in 

22 the case of any borrower. 

23 ‘‘(B) BEGINNING OF PAYMENTS.—Nothing 

24 in this section shall authorize the Attorney Gen25 eral to pay any amount to reimburse a borrower 
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1 for any repayments made by such borrower 

2 prior to the date on which the Attorney General 

3 entered into an agreement with the borrower 

4 under this subsection. 

5 ‘‘(e) ADDITIONAL AGREEMENTS.— 

6 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—On completion of the re7 quired period of service under an agreement under 

8 subsection (d), the borrower and the Attorney Gen9 eral may, subject to paragraph (2), enter into an ad10 ditional agreement in accordance with subsection 

11 (d). 

12 ‘‘(2) TERM.—An agreement entered into under 

13 paragraph (1) may require the borrower to remain 

14 employed as a prosecutor or public defender for less 

15 than 3 years. 

16 ‘‘(f) AWARD BASIS; PRIORITY.— 

17 ‘‘(1) AWARD BASIS.—Subject to paragraph (2), 

18 the Attorney General shall provide repayment bene19 fits under this section on a first-come, first-served 

20 basis, and subject to the availability of appropria21 tions. 

22 ‘‘(2) PRIORITY.—The Attorney General shall 

23 give priority in providing repayment benefits under 

24 this section in any fiscal year to a borrower who— 
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1 ‘‘(A) received repayment benefits under 

2 this section during the preceding fiscal year; 

3 and 

4 ‘‘(B) has completed less than 3 years of 

5 the first required period of service specified for 

6 the borrower in an agreement entered into 

7 under subsection (d). 

8 ‘‘(g) REGULATIONS.—The Attorney General is au9 thorized to issue such regulations as may be necessary to 

10 carry out the provisions of this section. 

11 ‘‘(h) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—There 

12 are authorized to be appropriated to carry out this section 

13 $25,000,000 for fiscal year 2006 and such sums as may 

14 be necessary for each succeeding fiscal year.’’. 

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