John R. Justice Prosecutors and Defenders Incentive Act

 

Goal: For all states and territories to be able to recruit and retain talented (and eligible) local, state, and federal public defenders and local and state prosecutors by setting up and maintaining a student loan repayment assistance program for attorneys with the most student loan financial burden who agree to commit to extended employment in public interest law. Objective: To offer an incentive to allow jurisdictions to attract and retain qualified local, state, and federal public defenders and local and state prosecutors who commit to extended employment in those roles and continue in that capacity for a minimum of 36 months. Performance Measure 1: Number of prosecutors funded; and, Performance Measure 2: Number of public defenders funded (state and federal).

Active 16.816 Office of Justice Programs, Department of Justice B - Project Grants Fiscal Year 2018 A total of 42 John R. Justice Student Loan Repayment Program awards were made to John R. Justice State Administering Agencies totaling $1,817,067.00 in the 2018 Fiscal Year (FY). A projection of FY 2019 is currently unavailable due to the solicitation still being open. The Bureau of Justice Statistics will calculate a minimum base allocation for each state, territory, and the District of Columbia. This minimum base allocation will then be supplemented by an amount proportional to that state’s or territory’s share of the national population. BJA reserves the right to reallocate unrequested funding in any fiscal year for use by participating states and to reduce future awards by amounts unexpended from the prior year, all based upon such reasonable formulas as is necessary to extend accessibility to program funding.
Fiscal Year 2021 For the most recent funding and awards, please visit https://bja.ojp.gov/program/john-r-justice-jrj-program/overview.
Fiscal Year 2022 Please visit https://bja.ojp.gov/program/john-r-justice/overview John R. Justice Prosecutors and Defenders Incentive Act, 34 U.S.C. 10671
Department of Justice Appropriations Act, 2023, Public Law 117-328 Applicants are limited to state and U.S. territory government agencies designated by their governor (or the mayor of the District of Columbia) to administer the JRJ Grant Program. The states, territories, and the District of Columbia will make loan payments directly to the institutions holding eligible beneficiary loans on behalf of eligible beneficiaries. See below for beneficiary eligibility information. Please see https://bja.ojp.gov/program/john-r-justice-jrj-program/overview under subtitle Eligibility for a full description of the criteria of the following beneficiaries: o Prosecutor - full-time employee of a State or unit of local government (including tribal government) who is continually licensed to practice law and prosecutes criminal or juvenile delinquency cases at the state or local government level o Public Defender - an attorney who is continually licensed to practice law and is a full-time employee of a State or unit of local government (including tribal government) who provides legal representation to indigent persons o A full-time employee of a nonprofit organization operating under a contract with a State or unit of local government who devotes substantially all of the employee's full-time employment to provide legal representation to indigent persons o A full-time Federal defender attorney in a defender org. that provides legal representation to indigent person The designated agency must submit a completed Application for Federal Assistance (Standard Form 424), including a signed certification form stating that they will comply with statutory and administrative requirements. The applicant is also required to submit a description that includes the goals of their program, the implementation process, and a timetable for implementation. Preapplication coordination is not applicable. 2 CFR 200, Uniform Administrative Requirements, Cost Principles, and Audit Requirements for Federal Awards applies to this program. See the current fiscal year's solicitation available at www.bja.gov. Upon approval by the Office of Justice Programs Assistant Attorney General, successful applicants are notified via DOJ's Justice Grants System (JustGrants). The grant award must be accepted electronically by the receiving organizations authorized official in JustGrants. Contact the headquarters or regional location, as appropriate for application deadlines See the current fiscal year's solicitation available at www.bja.gov. Not applicable. Contingent upon Congressional appropriations. Not applicable. Grants are made directly by the Office of Justice Programs (OJP) to the designated applicant State Administering Agency, based on results of a formula run by the Bureau of Justice Statistics (BJS). Grant funds will be used by States and Territories to make repayments, on behalf of eligible beneficiaries, of loan obligations to institutions holding eligible beneficiary loans. Performance Reports: To assist in fulfilling the Departments responsibilities under the Government Performance and Results Act of 1993 (GPRA), Public Law 103-62, and the GPRA Modernization Act of 2010, Public Law 111–352, recipients must provide data that measures the results of their work. Not applicable. In accordance with the requirement set forth in 2 CFR 200, Subpart F, grantees must maintain all financial records, supporting documents, statistical records, and all other records pertinent to the award for at least 3 years following the close of the most recent audit. Statutory formula is not applicable to this assistance listing.

Matching requirements are not applicable to this assistance listing.

MOE requirements are not applicable to this assistance listing. Generally awards will be for a two-year project and budget period. See the following for information on how assistance is awarded/released: See the Department of Justice Grants Financial Guide section on “Period of Availability of Funds" at https://ojp.gov/financialguide/DOJ/PostawardRequirements/chapter3.2a.htm. None/Not specified. Danielle Whitestone
U.S. Department of Justice
Office of Justice Programs
Bureau of Justice Assistance
Washington, DC 20531 USA
Danielle.Whitestone@usdoj.gov
Phone: (202) 598-0190 https://bja.ojp.gov/program/john-r-justice/overview 15-0404-0-1-754 (Project Grants (Discretionary)) FY 22$3,597,001.00; FY 23 est $5,000,000.00; FY 24 est $2,000,000.00; FY 21$1,813,710.00; FY 20$1,827,094.00; FY 19$1,820,640.00; FY 18$1,831,039.00; FY 17$1,806,643.00; FY 16$1,773,891.00; - See solicitation guidelines on the Office of Justice Programs web site at https://ojp.gov/funding/Explore/CurrentFundingOpportunities.htm. Solicitation guidelines are posted on the Office of Justice Programs web site at https://ojp.gov/funding/Explore/CurrentFundingOpportunities.htm . For additional guidance reference the Department of Justice Grants Financial Guide (https://ojp.gov/financialguide/DOJ/index.htm) and Post award Instructions (https://ojp.gov/financialguide/DOJ/PostawardRequirements/index.htm). Applicable administrative requirements and Department of Justice regulations applicable to specific types of grantees can be found in title 2 of the Code of Federal Regulations (2 C.F.R.). Fiscal Year 2018 A total of 42 John R. Justice Student Loan Repayment Program awards were made to John R. Justice State Administering Agencies (JRJ SAA’s) totaling $1,817,067.00 in the 2018 Fiscal Year (FY). State Administering Agencies then use their own discretion in identifying a methodology that best identified an attorney’s ability to repay their loans.
Fiscal Year 2021 Please review https://bja.ojp.gov/funding/opportunities/o-bja-2021-44009 for examples of FY21 funded projects.
Fiscal Year 2022 Please visit https://bja.ojp.gov/program/john-r-justice/overview