I 

116TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION H. R. 7624 

To amend the Omnibus Crime Control and Safe Streets Act of 1968 to 

provide that COPS grant funds may be used for local law enforcement 

recruits to attend schools or academies if the recruits agree to serve 

in precincts of law enforcement agencies in their communities. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

JULY 16, 2020 

Mr. CORREA (for himself, Mr. RESCHENTHALER, Mr. HARDER of California, 

and Mr. FITZPATRICK) introduced the following bill; which was referred 

to the Committee on the Judiciary 

A BILL 

To amend the Omnibus Crime Control and Safe Streets 

Act of 1968 to provide that COPS grant funds may 

be used for local law enforcement recruits to attend 

schools or academies if the recruits agree to serve in 

precincts of law enforcement agencies in their communities. 

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

3 SECTION 1. STRONG COMMUNITIES PROGRAM. 

4 Section 1701 of Omnibus Crime Control and Safe 

5 Streets Act of 1968 (34 U.S.C. 10381) is amended— 


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1 (1) by redesignating subsection (m) as sub2 section (n); and 

3 (2) by inserting after subsection (l) the fol4 lowing: 

5 ‘‘(m) COPS STRONG COMMUNITIES PROGRAM.— 

6 ‘‘(1) DEFINITIONS.— 

7 ‘‘(A) ELIGIBLE ENTITY.—The term ‘eligi8 ble entity’ means— 

9 ‘‘(i) an institution of higher education, 

10 as defined in section 101 of the Higher 

11 Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 1001), 

12 that, in coordination or through an agree13 ment with a local law enforcement agency, 

14 offers a law enforcement training program; 

15 or 

16 ‘‘(ii) a local law enforcement agency 

17 that offers a law enforcement training pro18 gram. 

19 ‘‘(B) LOCAL LAW ENFORCEMENT AGEN20 CY.—The term ‘local law enforcement agency’ 

21 means an agency of a State, unit of local gov22 ernment, or Indian Tribe that is authorized by 

23 law or by a government agency to engage in or 

24 supervise the prevention, detection, investigaVerDate Sep 11 2014 04:55 Aug 04, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H7624.IH H7624

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1 tion, or prosecution of any violation of criminal 

2 law. 

3 ‘‘(2) GRANTS.—The Attorney General may use 

4 amounts otherwise appropriated to carry out this 

5 section for a fiscal year (beginning with fiscal year 

6 2020) to make competitive grants to local law en7 forcement agencies to be used for recruits to attend 

8 eligible entities if the recruits agree to serve in law 

9 enforcement agencies in their communities. 

10 ‘‘(3) ELIGIBILITY.—To be eligible for a grant 

11 under this subsection, each recruit described in 

12 paragraph (2) shall— 

13 ‘‘(A) serve as a full-time law enforcement 

14 officer for a total of not fewer than 4 years dur15 ing the 8-year period after the date on which 

16 the recruit completes a law enforcement train17 ing program for which the recruit received ben18 efits; 

19 ‘‘(B) complete their service in a local law 

20 enforcement agency located within— 

21 ‘‘(i) 5 miles of the residence of the re22 cruit where the recruit has resided for not 

23 fewer than 5 years; or 

24 ‘‘(ii) if the recruit resides in a county 

25 with less than 100,000 residents, within 20 


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1 miles of the residence of the recruit where 

2 the recruit has resided for not fewer than 

3 5 years; and 

4 ‘‘(C) submit evidence of employment of the 

5 recruit to the eligible agency in the form of a 

6 certification by the chief administrative officer 

7 of the local law enforcement agency where the 

8 recruit is employed. 

9 ‘‘(4) REPAYMENT.— 

10 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—If a recruit does not 

11 complete the service described in paragraph (3), 

12 the recruit shall submit to the local law enforce13 ment agency an amount equal to any benefits 

14 the recruit received under this subsection. 

15 ‘‘(B) REGULATIONS.—The Attorney Gen16 eral shall promulgate regulations that establish 

17 categories of extenuating circumstances under 

18 which a recruit may be excused from repayment 

19 under subparagraph (A).’’. 

Æ 


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