I 

118TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 5029 

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 27, 2023 

Mr. MORAN (for himself, Ms. ROSS, Mr. HUNT, Mr. PFLUGER, and Mr. IVEY) 

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. SHORT TITLE. 

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Strong Communities 

5 Act of 2023’’. 


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1 SEC. 2. STRONG COMMUNITIES PROGRAM. 

2 Section 1701 of title I of the Omnibus Crime Control 

3 and Safe Streets Act of 1968 (34 U.S.C. 10381) is amend4 ed by adding at the end the following: 

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

6 ‘‘(1) DEFINITIONS.—In this subsection: 

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, investiga25 tion, or prosecution of any violation of criminal 

26 law. 


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

2 amounts otherwise appropriated to carry out this 

3 section for a fiscal year (beginning with fiscal year 

4 2023) to make competitive grants to local law en5 forcement agencies to be used for officers and re6 cruits to attend law enforcement training programs 

7 at eligible entities if the officers and recruits agree 

8 to serve in law enforcement agencies in their com9 munities. 

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

11 through a local law enforcement agency under this 

12 subsection, each officer or recruit described in para13 graph (2) shall— 

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

15 officer for a total of not fewer than 4 years dur16 ing the 8-year period beginning on the date on 

17 which the officer or recruit completes a law en18 forcement training program for which the offi19 cer or recruit receives benefits; 

20 ‘‘(B) complete the service described in sub21 paragraph (A) in a local law enforcement agen22 cy located within— 

23 ‘‘(i) 7 miles of the residence of the of24 ficer or recruit where the officer or recruit 

25 has resided for not fewer than 5 years; or 


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1 ‘‘(ii) if the officer or recruit resides in 

2 a county with fewer than 150,000 resi3 dents, within 20 miles of the residence of 

4 the officer or recruit where the officer or 

5 recruit has resided for not fewer than 5 

6 years; and 

7 ‘‘(C) submit to the eligible entity providing 

8 a law enforcement training program to the offi9 cer or recruit evidence of employment of the of10 ficer or recruit in the form of a certification by 

11 the chief administrative officer of the local law 

12 enforcement agency where the officer or recruit 

13 is employed. 

14 ‘‘(4) REPAYMENT.— 

15 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—If an officer or recruit 

16 does not complete the service described in para17 graph (3), the officer or recruit shall submit to 

18 the local law enforcement agency an amount 

19 equal to any benefits the officer or recruit re20 ceived through the local law enforcement agency 

21 under this subsection. 

22 ‘‘(B) REGULATIONS.—The Attorney Gen23 eral shall promulgate regulations that establish 

24 categories of extenuating circumstances under 


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1 which an officer or recruit may be excused from 

2 repayment under subparagraph (A).’’. 

Æ 


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