II 

110TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. 442 

To provide for loan repayment for prosecutors and public defenders. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

JANUARY 31, 2007 

Mr. DURBIN (for himself, Mr. SPECTER, Mr. LEAHY, Mr. SMITH, Mr. KERRY, 

and Ms. COLLINS) 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 ‘‘John R. Justice Pros5 ecutors and Defenders Incentive Act of 2007’’. 

6 SEC. 2. LOAN REPAYMENT FOR PROSECUTORS AND DE7 FENDERS. 

8 Title I of the Omnibus Crime Control and Safe 

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

10 by adding at the end the following: 


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1 ‘‘PART JJ—LOAN REPAYMENT FOR 

2 PROSECUTORS AND PUBLIC DEFENDERS 

3 ‘‘SEC. 3111. GRANT AUTHORIZATION. 

4 ‘‘(a) PURPOSE.—The purpose of this section is to en5 courage qualified individuals to enter and continue em6 ployment as prosecutors and public defenders. 

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

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

9 means a full-time employee of a State or local agen10 cy who— 

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

12 and 

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

14 or local level. 

15 ‘‘(2) PUBLIC DEFENDER.—The term ‘public de16 fender’ means an attorney who— 

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

18 and 

19 ‘‘(B) is— 

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

21 local agency or a nonprofit organization 

22 operating under a contract with a State or 

23 unit of local government, that provides 

24 legal representation to indigent persons in 

25 criminal cases; or 


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

2 defender attorney in a defender organiza3 tion established pursuant to subsection (g) 

4 of section 3006A of title 18, United States 

5 Code, that provides legal representation to 

6 indigent persons in criminal cases. 

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

8 means— 

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

10 under part B of title IV of the Higher Edu11 cation Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 1071 et seq.); 

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

13 title IV of the Higher Education Act of 1965 

14 (20 U.S.C. 1087a et seq. and 1087aa et seq.); 

15 and 

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

17 455(g) of the Higher Education Act of 1965 

18 (20 U.S.C. 1078–3 and 1087e(g)) to the extent 

19 that such loan was used to repay a Federal Di20 rect Stafford Loan, a Federal Direct Unsub21 sidized Stafford Loan, or a loan made under 

22 section 428 or 428H of such Act. 

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

24 shall establish a program by which the Department of Jus25 tice shall assume the obligation to repay a student loan, 


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

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

3 borrower who— 

4 ‘‘(1) is employed as a prosecutor or public de5 fender; and 

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

7 borrower seeks forgiveness. 

8 ‘‘(d) TERMS OF AGREEMENT.— 

9 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—To be eligible to receive re10 payment benefits under subsection (c), a borrower 

11 shall enter into a written agreement that specifies 

12 that— 

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

14 a prosecutor or public defender for a required 

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

16 involuntarily separated from that employment; 

17 ‘‘(B) if the borrower is involuntarily sepa18 rated from employment on account of mis19 conduct, or voluntarily separates from employ20 ment, before the end of the period specified in 

21 the agreement, the borrower will repay the At22 torney General the amount of any benefits re23 ceived by such employee under this section; 

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

25 an amount to the Attorney General under subVerDate Aug 31 2005 04:18 Feb 02, 2007 Jkt 059200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S442.IS S442

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1 paragraph (B) and fails to repay such amount, 

2 a sum equal to that amount shall be recoverable 

3 by the Federal Government from the employee 

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

5 such methods as are provided by law for the re6 covery of amounts owed to the Federal Govern7 ment; 

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

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

10 subsection if it is shown that recovery would be 

11 against equity and good conscience or against 

12 the public interest; and 

13 ‘‘(E) the Attorney General shall make stu14 dent loan payments under this section for the 

15 period of the agreement, subject to the avail16 ability of appropriations. 

17 ‘‘(2) REPAYMENTS.— 

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

19 by, or recovered from, an individual or the es20 tate of an individual under this subsection shall 

21 be credited to the appropriation account from 

22 which the amount involved was originally paid. 

23 ‘‘(B) MERGER.—Any amount credited 

24 under subparagraph (A) shall be merged with 

25 other sums in such account and shall be availVerDate Aug 31 2005 04:18 Feb 02, 2007 Jkt 059200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S442.IS S442

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1 able for the same purposes and period, and sub2 ject to the same limitations, if any, as the sums 

3 with which the amount was merged. 

4 ‘‘(3) LIMITATIONS.— 

5 ‘‘(A) STUDENT LOAN PAYMENT

6 AMOUNT.—Student loan repayments made by 

7 the Attorney General under this section shall be 

8 made subject to such terms, limitations, or con9 ditions as may be mutually agreed upon by the 

10 borrower and the Attorney General in an agree11 ment under paragraph (1), except that the 

12 amount paid by the Attorney General under 

13 this section shall not exceed— 

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

15 calendar year; or 

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

17 the case of any borrower. 

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

19 in this section shall authorize the Attorney Gen20 eral to pay any amount to reimburse a borrower 

21 for any repayments made by such borrower 

22 prior to the date on which the Attorney General 

23 entered into an agreement with the borrower 

24 under this subsection. 

25 ‘‘(e) ADDITIONAL AGREEMENTS.— 


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1 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—On completion of the re2 quired period of service under an agreement under 

3 subsection (d), the borrower and the Attorney Gen4 eral may, subject to paragraph (2), enter into an ad5 ditional agreement in accordance with subsection 

6 (d). 

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

8 paragraph (1) may require the borrower to remain 

9 employed as a prosecutor or public defender for less 

10 than 3 years. 

11 ‘‘(f) AWARD BASIS; PRIORITY.— 

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

13 the Attorney General shall provide repayment bene14 fits under this section on a first-come, first-served 

15 basis, and subject to the availability of appropria16 tions. 

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

18 give priority in providing repayment benefits under 

19 this section in any fiscal year to a borrower who— 

20 ‘‘(A) received repayment benefits under 

21 this section during the preceding fiscal year; 

22 and 

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

24 the first required period of service specified for 


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1 the borrower in an agreement entered into 

2 under subsection (d). 

3 ‘‘(g) REGULATIONS.—The Attorney General is au4 thorized to issue such regulations as may be necessary to 

5 carry out the provisions of this section. 

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

7 are authorized to be appropriated to carry out this section 

8 $25,000,000 for fiscal year 2008 and such sums as may 

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

Æ 


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