I

107TH CONGRESS

1ST SESSION H. R. 1348

To provide funds to the National Center for Rural Law Enforcement, and

for other purposes.

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

APRIL 3, 2001

Mr. HUTCHINSON (for himself and Ms. HOOLEY of Oregon) introduced the

following bill; which was referred to the Committee on the Judiciary

A BILL

To provide funds to the National Center for Rural Law

Enforcement, and for other purposes.

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 ‘‘Rural Law Enforce5 ment Assistance Act of 2001’’.

6 SEC. 2. DEFINITIONS.

7 In this Act:

8 (1) BOARD.—The term ‘‘Board’’ means the

9 members of the Board of the Center elected in ac10 cordance with the bylaws of the Center.
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1 (2) CENTER.—The term ‘‘Center’’ means the

2 National Center for Rural Law Enforcement, a non3 profit corporation located in Little Rock, Arkansas.

4 (3) EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR.—The term ‘‘Execu5 tive Director’’ means the Executive Director of the

6 Center as appointed in accordance with the bylaws

7 of the Center.

8 (4) INSTITUTIONS OF HIGHER EDUCATION.—

9 The term ‘‘institutions of higher education’’ has the

10 meaning given the term in section 1201(a) of the

11 Higher Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 1141(a)).

12 (5) METROPOLITAN STATISTICAL AREA.—The

13 term ‘‘metropolitan statistical area’’ has the same

14 meaning given the term by the Bureau of the Cen15 sus of the Department of Commerce.

16 (6) RURALAREA.—The term ‘‘rural area’’

17 means an area that is located outside of a metropoli18 tan statistical area.

19 (7) RURALLAW ENFORCEMENT AGENCY.—The

20 term ‘‘rural law enforcement agency’’ means a crimi21 nal justice or law enforcement agency that serves a

22 county, parish, city, town, township, borough, or vil23 lage that is located in a rural area.
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1 SEC. 3. EDUCATION AND TRAINING PROGRAM GRANTS.

2 (a) GRANT AUTHORITY.—The Attorney General shall

3 annually make a grant to the National Center for Rural

4 Law Enforcement through the Office of Justice Programs,

5 Bureau of Justice Affairs, if the Executive Director cer6 tifies in writing to the Attorney General that the Center—

7 (1) is incorporated in accordance with applica8 ble State law;

9 (2) is in compliance with the bylaws of the Cen10 ter;

11 (3) will use amounts made available under this

12 section in accordance with subsection (b); and

13 (4) will not support any political party or can14 didate for elected or appointed office.

15 (b) USES OF FUNDS.—

16 (1) REQUIRED USES OF FUNDS.—The Center

17 shall use amounts made available under this section

18 to develop an education and training program for

19 criminal justice or law enforcement agencies in rural

20 areas and the employees of those agencies, which

21 shall include—

22 (A) the development and delivery of man23 agement, forensic and computer education and

24 training, technical assistance, and practical re25 search and evaluation for employees of rural

26 law enforcement agencies (including tribal law
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1 enforcement agencies and railroad law enforce2 ment agencies), including supervisory and exec3 utive managers of those agencies;

4 (B) conducting research into the causes

5 and prevention of criminal activity in rural

6 areas, including the causes, assessment, evalua7 tion, analysis, and prevention of criminal activ8 ity;

9 (C) the development and dissemination of

10 information designed to assist States and units

11 of local government in rural areas throughout

12 the United States;

13 (D) the establishment and maintenance of

14 a resource and information center for the collec15 tion, preparation, and dissemination of informa16 tion regarding criminal justice and law enforce17 ment in rural areas, including programs for the

18 prevention of crime and recidivism; and

19 (E) the delivery of assistance, in a con20 sulting capacity, to criminal justice agencies in

21 the development, establishment, maintenance,

22 and coordination of programs, facilities and

23 services, education, training, and research relat24 ing to crime in rural areas.
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1 (2) PERMISSIVE USES OF FUNDS.—The Center

2 may use amounts made available under a grant

3 under this section to enhance the education and

4 training program developed under paragraph (1),

5 through—

6 (A) educational opportunities for rural law

7 enforcement agencies;

8 (B) the development, promotion, and vol9 untary adoption of educational and training

10 standards and accreditation certification pro11 grams for rural law enforcement agencies and

12 the employees of those agencies;

13 (C) grants to, and contracts with, State,

14 and local governments, law enforcement agen15 cies, public and private agencies, educational in16 stitutions, and other organizations and individ17 uals to carry out this paragraph;

18 (D) the formulation and recommendation

19 of law enforcement policy, goals, and standards

20 in rural areas applicable to criminal justice

21 agencies, organizations, institutions, and per22 sonnel; and

23 (E) coordination with institutions of higher

24 education for the purpose of encouraging and

25 delivering programs of study with those institu-
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1 tions for employees of rural law enforcement

2 agencies.

3 (c) POWERS.—In carrying out subsection (b), the Ex4 ecutive Director may—

5 (1) request the head of any Federal department

6 or agency to detail, on a reimbursable basis, 1 or

7 more employees of the Federal department or agency

8 to the Center to assist the Center in carrying out

9 subsection (b), and any such detail shall be without

10 interruption or loss of civil service status or privi11 lege;

12 (2) request the Administrator of the General

13 Services Administration to provide the Center, on a

14 reimbursable basis, the administrative support serv15 ices necessary for the Center to carry out subsection

16 (b); and

17 (3) procure temporary and intermittent services

18 under section 3109(b) of title 5, United States Code,

19 at rates of compensation established by the Board,

20 but not to exceed the daily equivalent of the max21 imum rate of pay payable for a position at level IV

22 of the Executive Schedule under section 5315 of title

23 5, United States Code.
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1 (d) REPORTING REQUIREMENTS.—The Executive Di2 rector shall annually submit to the Attorney General a re3 port, which shall include—

4 (1) a description of the education and training

5 program developed under subsection (b);

6 (2) the number and demographic representation

7 of individuals who attended programs sponsored by

8 the Center;

9 (3) a description of the extent to which re10 sources of other governmental agencies or private

11 entities were used in carrying out subsection (b);

12 and

13 (4) a description of the extent to which con14 tracts with other public and private entities were

15 used in carrying out subsection (b).

16 (e) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—There

17 are authorized to be appropriated to carry out this

18 section—

19 (1) $13,000,000 for fiscal year 2002; and

20 (2) such sums as may be necessary for each of

21 fiscal years 2003 through 2007.

22 SEC. 4. REGIONAL CENTERS.

23 (a) ESTABLISHMENT.—

24 (1) IN GENERAL.—The Center shall establish 8

25 regional centers, 1 in each geographic region listed
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1 in subsection (b) that will be under the supervision,

2 direction, and control of the Center.

3 (2) REQUIREMENT.—The 8 regional centers

4 shall be established 2 per year during 2002, 2003,

5 2004, and 2005.

6 (b) REGIONS.—For purposes of subsection (a), the

7 regions shall be as follows:

8 (1) REGION 1.—Region 1 shall be comprised of

9 the following States—

10 (A) Connecticut;

11 (B) Maine;

12 (C) Massachusetts;

13 (D) New Hampshire;

14 (E) New York;

15 (F) Rhode Island; and

16 (G) Vermont.

17 (2) REGION 2.—Region 2 shall be comprised of

18 the following States—

19 (A) Delaware;

20 (B) Maryland;

21 (C) New Jersey;

22 (D) Ohio;

23 (E) Pennsylvania;

24 (F) West Virginia; and

25 (G) Virginia.
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1 (3) REGION 3.—Region 3 shall be comprised of

2 the following States—

3 (A) Alabama;

4 (B) Florida;

5 (C) Georgia;

6 (D) Mississippi;

7 (E) North Carolina; and

8 (F) South Carolina.

9 (4) REGION 4.—Region 4 shall be comprised of

10 the following States—

11 (A) Iowa;

12 (B) Minnesota;

13 (C) Nebraska;

14 (D) North Dakota;

15 (E) South Dakota; and

16 (F) Wisconsin.

17 (5) REGION 5.—Region 5 shall be comprised of

18 the following States—

19 (A) Arkansas;

20 (B) Illinois;

21 (C) Indiana;

22 (D) Kentucky;

23 (E) Louisiana;

24 (F) Michigan;

25 (G) Missouri; and
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1 (H) Tennessee.

2 (6) REGION 6.—Region 6 shall be comprised of

3 the following States—

4 (A) Colorado;

5 (B) Kansas;

6 (C) New Mexico;

7 (D) Oklahoma; and

8 (E) Texas.

9 (7) REGION 7.—Region 7 shall be comprised of

10 the following States—

11 (A) Arizona;

12 (B) California;

13 (C) Nevada; and

14 (D) Utah.

15 (8) REGION 8.—Region 8 shall be comprised of

16 the following States—

17 (A) Alaska;

18 (B) Hawaii;

19 (C) Idaho;

20 (D) Montana;

21 (E) Oregon;

22 (F) Washington; and

23 (G) Wyoming.

24 (c) FUNDING.—
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1 (1) IN GENERAL.—All funds for the regional

2 centers shall be distributed by the Center which

3 shall determine the budget base of each regional cen4 ter based upon the budget request required to be

5 submitted by each regional center under paragraph

6 (2).

7 (2) BUDGET REQUEST.—Each regional center

8 shall submit a budget request to the Center at such

9 time and in such manner as the Executive Director

10 may reasonably require.

11 (d) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—There

12 are authorized to be appropriated to carry out this

13 section—

14 (1) $8,000,000 for fiscal year 2002;

15 (2) $16,000,000 for fiscal year 2003;

16 (3) $24,000,000 for fiscal year 2004;

17 (4) $32,000,000 for fiscal year 2005; and

18 (5) such sums as may be necessary for each of

19 fiscal years 2006 and 2007.

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