I

105TH CONGRESS

1ST SESSION H. R. 657

To establish a National Center for Rural Law Enforcement, and for other

purposes.

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

FEBRUARY 10, 1997

Mr. BALDACCI introduced the following bill; which was referred to the

Committee on the Judiciary

A BILL

To establish a 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 Act of 1997’’.

6 SEC. 2. FINDINGS.

7 The Congress finds that—

8 (1) effective and impartial enforcement of the

9 law is one of the most important functions of the

10 government;
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1 (2) the preservation of our form of Government

2 and the rights of our citizens are dependent upon

3 competent and professional law enforcement agen4 cies;

5 (3) responsibility for law enforcement in the

6 United States resides primarily with State and local

7 governments;

8 (4)(A) one-third of all Americans live in non9 urban areas and 90 percent of all law enforcement

10 agencies serve populations of fewer than 25,000 resi11 dents; and

12 (B) 75 percent serve a population of fewer than

13 10,000 residents;

14 (5) rural violent crime has increased over 35

15 percent from 1985 to 1995, and is taking a toll on

16 rural citizens and rural law enforcement practition17 ers;

18 (6) approximately 22,400 local government en19 tities exist in the 50 States, and the needs of rural

20 law enforcement in the areas of research, technical

21 assistance, and the delivery of executive education

22 and training programs have been jointly identified

23 by the Federal Bureau of Investigation, the Depart24 ment of Justice, and the National Center for Rural
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1 Law Enforcement at the University of Arkansas at

2 Little Rock; and

3 (7) the National Center for Rural Law Enforce4 ment at the University of Arkansas at Little Rock

5 will continue to cooperate with the Federal Bureau

6 of Investigation and the Department of Justice to

7 promote the development and implementation of

8 training and education programs for rural law en9 forcement agencies.

10 SEC. 3. NATIONAL CENTER FOR RURAL LAW ENFORCE11 MENT.

12 (a) IN GENERAL.—Title XVIII of the Violent Crime

13 Control and Law Enforcement Act of 1994 is amended

14 by adding at the end the following new subtitle:

15 ‘‘Subtitle D—National Center for

16 Rural Law Enforcement

17 ‘‘SEC. 180401. ESTABLISHMENT.

18 ‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—There is established at the Uni19 versity of Arkansas, at Little Rock, the National Center

20 for Rural Law Enforcement.

21 ‘‘(b) ADVISORY BOARD.—

22 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—There shall be established

23 within the National Center for Rural Law Enforce24 ment an Advisory Board (referred to in this Act as
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1 the ‘Advisory Board’) that shall be comprised of 15

2 members, of whom—

3 ‘‘(A) 10 shall be selected by the Attorney

4 General of the United States, in consultation

5 with the Director of the Federal Bureau of In6 vestigation, from personnel of rural law enforce7 ment agencies serving communities with popu8 lations of less than 25,000 people, 2 from each

9 of 5 regions (including the Northeast, North10 west, Southeast, Southwest, and Midwest);

11 ‘‘(B) 2 shall be selected by the Attorney

12 General from personnel of State law enforce13 ment agencies, 1 from training and 1 from law

14 enforcement;

15 ‘‘(C) 2 shall be selected by the Director of

16 the Federal Bureau of Investigation from em17 ployees of the Federal Bureau of Investigation;

18 and

19 ‘‘(D) the Executive Director of the Na20 tional Center for Rural Law Enforcement, who

21 shall serve as a permanent member of the Advi22 sory Board.

23 ‘‘(2) POWERS.—

24 ‘‘(A) Terms of the Advisory Board mem25 bers will be for 1 year, with 3 members rotating
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1 each year. The first Advisory Board members,

2 at their first meeting, will draw lots from 1 to

3 5 years.

4 ‘‘(B) The Advisory Board members shall

5 formulate, adopt, and publish guidelines govern6 ing the operation of the Center, consistent with

7 its mission.

8 ‘‘(3) TRAVEL EXPENSES.—The members of the

9 Advisory Board shall be allowed travel expenses, in10 cluding per diem in lieu of subsistence, at rates au11 thorized for employees of agencies under subchapter

12 I of chapter 57 of title 5, United States Code, while

13 away from their homes or regular places of business

14 in performance of services for the Advisory Board.

15 ‘‘(c) EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR.—

16 ‘‘(1) APPOINTMENT.—The Attorney General

17 shall appoint the Executive Director of the National

18 Center for Rural Law Enforcement in consultation

19 with the Director of the Federal Bureau of Inves20 tigation and the Chancellor of the University of Ar21 kansas at Little Rock. The Executive Director shall

22 serve a term not longer than 5 years.
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1 ‘‘(2) DUTIES.—The Executive Director shall

2 have the duties and responsibilities fulfilling func3 tions as set forth in this Act, including the prepara4 tion and submission of a periodic report to the Advi5 sory Board and the Chancellor of the University of

6 Arkansas at Little Rock.

7 ‘‘(d) PROCUREMENT OF TEMPORARY AND INTERMIT8 TENT SERVICES.—The National Center for Rural Law

9 Enforcement, with the advice of the Advisory Board, may

10 procure temporary and intermittent services under section

11 3109 of title 5, United States Code, at rates for individ12 uals that do not exceed the daily equivalent of the annual

13 rate of basic pay prescribed for members of the Senior

14 Executive Service, ES–6, Level V of the Executive Sched15 ule as authorized by section 5352 of such title.

16 ‘‘SEC. 180402. FUNCTIONS.

17 ‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—The Director of the National

18 Center for Rural Law Enforcement shall provide for—

19 ‘‘(1) the training of supervisory and executive

20 managers of rural law enforcement in a systematic

21 and effective manner;

22 ‘‘(2) the support of rural law enforcement agen23 cies with technical assistance and practical and fo24 cused research;
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1 ‘‘(3) equitable education and training opportu2 nities for rural law enforcement personnel;

3 ‘‘(4) the delivery of training programs by Fed4 eral agencies and the Center;

5 ‘‘(5) the promotion, development, and adoption

6 of a voluntary national system of education and

7 training standards and certification;

8 ‘‘(6) the development and dissemination of in9 formation designed to assist States and units of

10 local government in rural areas throughout the coun11 try;

12 ‘‘(7) grants to, and contracts with, Federal,

13 State, and general units of local government, public

14 and private agencies, educational institutions, orga15 nizations, and individuals to carry out this subtitle;

16 ‘‘(8) the establishment and continuation of a

17 clearinghouse and information center for the collec18 tion, preparation, and dissemination of information

19 on criminal justice and rural law enforcement, in20 cluding programs for prevention of crime and recidi21 vism, and management training of law enforcement

22 personnel;

23 ‘‘(9) assistance and service in a consulting ca24 pacity to Federal, State, and local criminal justice
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1 agencies in the development, maintenance, and co2 ordination of programs, facilities and services, train3 ing, research, and prevention with respect to crime

4 in rural areas;

5 ‘‘(10) the encouragement and assistance to

6 Federal, State, and local government programs and

7 services, and programs for law enforcement officers,

8 judges and judicial personnel, probation and parole

9 personnel, correctional personnel, welfare workers,

10 and other persons;

11 ‘‘(11) the development of technical training

12 teams to aid in the development of seminars, work13 shops, and training programs within the States and

14 with the State and local agencies that work with

15 rural law enforcement managers;

16 ‘‘(12) the conduct, encouragement, and coordi17 nation of research relating to law enforcement and

18 criminal justice issues, including the causes, diag19 nosis, and prevention of criminal activity;

20 ‘‘(13) the formulation and dissemination of

21 rural law enforcement policy, goals, standards, and

22 recommendations for Federal, State, and local crimi23 nal justice agencies, organizations, institutions, and

24 personnel; and
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1 ‘‘(14) evaluation programs that study the effec2 tiveness of new approaches, techniques, systems,

3 programs, and devices employed to improve rural

4 law enforcement systems.

5 ‘‘(b) AUTHORITY.—The National Center for Rural

6 Law Enforcement may—

7 ‘‘(1) enter into contracts with public or private

8 agencies, organizations, or individuals for the per9 formance of any of the functions of the Center;

10 ‘‘(2) enter into cooperative agreements with

11 Federal, State, and local agencies and nonprofit en12 tities to carry out the functions of the Center;

13 ‘‘(3) arrange with and reimburse the heads of

14 Federal departments and agencies for the use of

15 personnel, facilities, or equipment of such depart16 ments and agencies;

17 ‘‘(4) confer with and avail itself of the assist18 ance, services, records, and facilities of State and

19 local governments or other public or private agen20 cies, organizations, and individuals; and

21 ‘‘(5) procure the services of experts and con22 sultants in accordance with section 3109 of title 5,

23 United States Code, at rates of compensation not to

24 exceed the daily equivalent of the rate authorized for

25 members of the Senior Executive Service, ES–6,
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1 Level 5, as authorized by section 5352 of title 5,

2 United States Code.

3 ‘‘(c) METHODS.—In carrying out its functions under

4 this section, the National Center for Rural Law Enforce5 ment shall—

6 ‘‘(1) utilize consensus building;

7 ‘‘(2) work in cooperation with—

8 ‘‘(A) rural, nonurban law enforcement

9 agencies;

10 ‘‘(B) agencies of Federal, State, and local

11 governments; and

12 ‘‘(C) institutions of higher learning, law

13 enforcement associations, and other not-for14 profit organizations;

15 ‘‘(3) request and receive from other Federal de16 partments and agencies such statistics, data, pro17 gram reports, and other materials necessary for the

18 Center to carry out its functions;

19 ‘‘(4) arrange with and reimburse the heads of

20 other Federal departments and agencies for the use

21 of personnel, facilities, or equipment of such depart22 ments and agencies; and

23 ‘‘(5) use the assistance, services, records, and

24 facilities of State and local governments or other
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1 public or private agencies, organizations, and indi2 viduals.

3 ‘‘SEC. 180403. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.

4 ‘‘There are authorized to be appropriated to carry out

5 this subtitle, as a separate line item in the Department

6 of Justice Appropriations Act—

7 ‘‘(1) $12,000,000 for fiscal year 1998; and

8 ‘‘(2) such sums as are necessary for each of the

9 fiscal years 1999 through 2002.’’.

10 (b) TECHNICAL AMENDMENT.—The table of contents

11 for the Violent Crime Control and Law Enforcement Act

12 of 1994 is amended by adding at the end of the matter

13 relating to title XVIII, the following:

‘‘SUBTITLE D—NATIONAL CENTER FOR RURAL LAW ENFORCEMENT

‘‘Sec. 180401. Establishment.

‘‘Sec. 180402. Functions.

‘‘Sec. 180403. Authorization of appropriations.’’.

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