[Federal Register Volume 64, Number 118 (Monday, June 21, 1999)]
[Rules and Regulations]
[Pages 33016-33018]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 99-15622]


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DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE

28 CFR Part 92

[OJP(OJP)-1205]
RIN 1121-AA50


Timing of Police Corps Reimbursements of Educational Expenses

AGENCY: Office of Justice Programs, Office of the Police Corps and Law 
Enforcement Education, Justice.

ACTION: Interim final rule.

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SUMMARY: This interim final rule concerns the timing of Police Corps 
reimbursements of educational expenses. The Police Corps Act (42 U.S.C. 
14091 et seq.) provides that participants who complete one or more 
years of college study before being accepted into the Police Corps 
program are to be reimbursed for eligible educational expenses incurred 
during those years. The Police Corps Act does not specify the timing of 
these reimbursements. This rule provides that

[[Page 33017]]

reimbursements will be made through two equal payments at the start and 
conclusion of a participant's first year of service as a police officer 
or sheriff's deputy. This rule also permits the Director of the Office 
of the Police Corps and Law Enforcement Education, on a showing of good 
cause, to advance the date of a participant's first reimbursement 
payment to precede the start of required service.

DATES: This Interim Final Rule is effective on June 21, 1999. Comments 
on this rule must be received on or before September 20, 1999.

ADDRESSES: Comments should be sent to: Police Corps Reimbursement 
Schedule, Office of the Police Corps and Law Enforcement Education, 
Office of Justice Programs, 810 Seventh Street, NW, Washington, DC 
20531.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Robert Cole, Program Coordinator, 
Office of the Police Corps and Law Enforcement Education at 202-353-
8953. This is not a toll-free number.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

Authority

    This action is authorized under the Violent Crime Control and Law 
Enforcement Act of 1994, 42 U.S.C. 14091 et seq. (``Police Corps 
Act'').

Background

    The Office of Justice Programs, Office of the Police Corps and Law 
Enforcement Education (``Office of the Police Corps'') offers, pursuant 
to the Police Corps Act, 42 U.S.C. 14091 et seq., and through the 
Police Corps program, financial aid on a competitive basis to college 
students who agree to undergo rigorous training and serve as police 
officers in specially designated areas for at least four years.
    Once a college student is accepted into the Police Corps, he or she 
receives financial aid on a prospective basis through scholarship 
payments. 42 U.S.C. 14095(a). If a college student completes one or 
more years of college study before being accepted into the Police 
Corps, he or she is entitled to be reimbursed for educational expenses 
incurred during the years prior to his or her acceptance into the 
program. 42 U.S.C. 14095(b). The Police Corps Act does not specify the 
timing of these reimbursements, and the reimbursements do not include 
interest.
    The relevant implementing regulation pertaining to the Police Corps 
Act at 28 CFR 92.5(b)(7) currently provides that reimbursements are 
made through four equal payments, one upon completion of each of the 
four years of required service. This interim final rule changes the 
current regulatory provision to accelerate reimbursements. Under this 
new rule, participants will be reimbursed in full for all eligible 
educational expenses once they successfully complete their first year 
of required service.
    The change will enable participants to promptly repay student loans 
and, by allowing the Director flexibility in dealing with special 
individual circumstances, enable participants to have funds available 
to make loan payments and meet other ongoing financial obligations 
during the 16 to 24 weeks of required residential training. By reducing 
the number of payments per participant, the change also will ease the 
administrative burden on both the Office of the Police Corps and state 
lead agencies.

Executive Order 12866

    This interim final regulation has been drafted and reviewed in 
accordance with Executive Order 12866, section 1(b), Principles of 
Regulation. The Office of Justice Programs has determined that this 
rule is not a ``significant regulatory action'' under Executive Order 
12866, section 3(f), Regulatory Planning and Review, and accordingly 
this rule has not been reviewed by the Office of Management and Budget.

Executive Order 12612

    This interim final regulation will not have substantial direct 
effects on the States, on the relationship between the national 
government and the States, or on the distribution of power and 
responsibilities among the various levels of government. Therefore, in 
accordance with Executive Order 12612, it is determined that this rule 
does not have sufficient federalism implications to warrant preparation 
of a Federalism Assessment.

Regulatory Flexibility Act

    The Office of Justice Programs, in accordance with the Regulatory 
Flexibility Act (5 U.S.C. 605(b)), has reviewed this regulation and by 
approving it certifies that this regulation will not have a significant 
economic impact upon a substantial number of small entities for the 
following reasons:
    (1) This interim final rule provides the schedule under which 
eligible applicants receive reimbursements for educational expenses 
under the Act; and
    (2) Such reimbursements impose no requirements on small business or 
on small entities.

Unfunded Mandates Reform Act of 1995

    This interim final rule will not result in the expenditure by 
State, local, and tribal governments, in the aggregate, or by the 
private sector, of $100 million or more in any one year, and it will 
not uniquely affect small governments. Therefore, no actions were 
deemed necessary under the provisions of the Unfunded Mandates Reform 
Act of 1995.

Small Business Regulatory Enforcement Fairness Act of 1996

    This interim final rule is not a major rule as defined by section 
804 of the Small Business Regulatory Enforcement Fairness Act of 1996. 
This rule will not result in an annual effect on the economy of $100 
million or more; a major increase in cost or prices; or significant 
adverse effects on competition, employment, investment, productivity, 
innovation, or on the ability of United States-based companies to 
compete in domestic and export markets.

Paperwork Reduction Act

    There are no collection of information requirements contained in 
this regulation that would require review and approval by the Office of 
Management and Budget under the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995 (44 
U.S.C. 3501 et seq.).

Good Cause Exception

    This regulation is being published as an interim final rule, 
without prior publication of notice and comment, and is made effective 
immediately, for good cause. 5 U.S.C. 553(d)(3). Good cause can be 
demonstrated because advance notice of this interim final rule would be 
impractical, unnecessary, and contrary to the legislative intent, as 
well as the public interest, in making the Police Corps program 
available to men and women of all races and ethnicities without regard 
to individual economic circumstances or financial need. Indeed, the 
Police Corps Act requires that all participants be selected on a fully 
competitive basis and that states make special efforts to solicit 
applications from among members of all racial, ethnic, and gender 
groups. 42 U.S.C. 14096(a),(c). Economic need and financial 
circumstances are not a factor in the selection process. 42 U.S.C. 
14096(b).
    In order to achieve these ends, and in light of the substantial 
financial demands on many participants during training and/or during 
the first year of required service in the Police Corps program, a minor 
revision of the

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reimbursement schedule is necessary. In particular, both the Police 
Corps Act and the contract that each participant must sign upon 
acceptance into the Police Corps require that the participant complete 
a baccalaureate degree and also complete 16 to 24 weeks (approximately 
four to six months) of intense residential training before beginning 
his or her required four years of service as a police officer or 
sheriff's deputy. 42 U.S.C. 14095(d); 14097(b),(d). During Police Corps 
training, participants are not employed by a law enforcement agency and 
receive no salary. Instead, participants receive a statutory stipend of 
$250 per week. 42 U.S.C. 14097(f); 14098(a).
    The vast majority of Police Corps participants are accepted into 
the program as college sophomores, juniors, or seniors. Such 
participants frequently have student loans that they must begin to 
repay shortly after graduation from college and that, if not repaid in 
full shortly after graduation, accrue interest. In addition, some 
participants, because they have children or other significant support 
responsibilities, have ongoing financial obligations (child support, 
child care, mortgages, etc.) that cannot be satisfied through the 
training stipend. Reimbursement of participants in full during the 
first year of service, as provided for in this rule, will enable all 
participants--regardless of their personal or family economic 
circumstances--to repay student loans and similar obligations on a 
timely basis. Moreover, the flexibility to advance the first 
reimbursement payment will enable the Director to address special 
circumstances such as child support obligations. Together, these 
changes will make participation in the Police Corps feasible and 
practical across all economic groups, as contemplated by the Police 
Corps Act.
    Further demonstration that such a revision of the reimbursement 
schedule is necessary and practical is evident by the activities in 
recent months of states that participate in the Police Corps program. 
States have requested an accelerated reimbursement schedule to address 
situations such as those outlined above. In addition, at least one 
state has expressed concern to the Office of the Police Corps and Law 
Enforcement Education that the current rule inhibits qualified men and 
women with dependents from applying to the program.
    Finally, to publish a notice of a proposed rulemaking and await 
receipt of comments would significantly delay an appropriate response 
to the unintended financial hardships that the current rule poses to 
participants and prospective participants whose financial circumstances 
do not permit them to pay student loan expenses and dependent support 
while they await reimbursements owed under the statute and contract. 
Such delay would be contrary to the public interest and would be in 
contravention of the Congressional intent set forth in the Police Corps 
Act that the Police Corps be available to qualified applicants without 
regard to economic circumstances.
    The Office of the Police Corps is, however, interested in receiving 
public comment on the interim final rule and will consider fully all 
such comments. Therefore, comments to be considered in preparing a 
final rule must be submitted on or before September 20, 1999.

List of Subjects in 28 CFR Part 92

    Colleges and universities, Education, Educational facilities, 
Educational study programs, Law enforcement officers, Schools, Student 
aid.

    For the reasons set forth in the preamble, 28 CFR part 92 is 
amended as follows:

PART 92--[AMENDED]

    1. The authority citation for part 92 continues to read as follows:

    Authority: 42 U.S.C. 13811-13812; 42 U.S.C. 14091-14102.

    2. Section 92.5 is amended by revising paragraph (b)(7) to read as 
follows:


Sec. 92.5  What educational expenses does the Police Corps cover, and 
how will they be paid?

* * * * *
    (b) * * *
    (7) Reimbursements for past expenses will be made directly to the 
Police Corps participant. One half of the reimbursement will be paid 
after the participant is sworn in and starts the first year of required 
service. The remainder will be paid upon successful completion of the 
first year of required service. The Director may, upon a showing of 
good cause, advance the date of the first reimbursement payment to an 
individual participant.
Laurie Robinson,
Assistant Attorney General, Office of Justice Programs.
[FR Doc. 99-15622 Filed 6-18-99; 8:45 am]
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