1.1                          A bill for an act 
  1.2             relating to crime prevention; creating a grant program 
  1.3             to provide funding to various local law enforcement 
  1.4             agencies for the hiring of new law enforcement 
  1.5             officers to investigate juvenile crime; requiring the 
  1.6             commissioner of public safety to administer the grant 
  1.7             program; appropriating money; proposing coding for new 
  1.8             law in Minnesota Statutes, chapter 299A. 
  1.9   BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF MINNESOTA: 
  1.10     Section 1.  [299A.62] [GRANT PROGRAM TO FUND HIRING OF LAW 
  1.11  ENFORCEMENT OFFICERS.] 
  1.12     Subdivision 1.  [PROGRAM ESTABLISHED.] The commissioner 
  1.13  shall award grants to local law enforcement agencies to hire law 
  1.14  enforcement officers.  The grants must be used by law 
  1.15  enforcement agencies to increase the complement of officers in 
  1.16  the agency by paying the salaries of new officers who are either 
  1.17  assigned primarily to the duty of investigating and preventing 
  1.18  juvenile crime or who replace another officer transferred into 
  1.19  the juvenile area.  If the agency transfers an officer to 
  1.20  juvenile crime investigation and prevention, the agency shall 
  1.21  hire another officer to take the place of the officer 
  1.22  transferred. 
  1.23     Subd. 2.  [AWARDING GRANTS.] Before making each grant, the 
  1.24  commissioner shall consult with and obtain the recommendations 
  1.25  of the attorney general and a representative from each of the 
  1.26  following groups:  the Minnesota chiefs of police association, 
  1.27  the Minnesota sheriffs association, and the Minnesota police and 
  2.1   peace officers association.  A grant may be awarded only to a 
  2.2   law enforcement agency that demonstrates in its application that 
  2.3   it currently has a need for an additional officer to be assigned 
  2.4   to the investigation and prevention of juvenile crime, based on 
  2.5   the juvenile crime rate in the area over which the agency has 
  2.6   jurisdiction.  More than one grant may be awarded to an agency.  
  2.7   However, each grant may fund only one position. 
  2.8      Subd. 3.  [AMOUNT OF GRANTS.] A grant must reimburse up to 
  2.9   150 percent of the entry level salary and benefits of a law 
  2.10  enforcement officer, not to exceed $75,000.  However, the money 
  2.11  may not be used to pay for equipment or uniforms for the 
  2.12  officer.  The grant is intended to be used for the salary of the 
  2.13  officer over a three-year period. 
  2.14     Subd. 4.  [GRANT CONDITIONS.] Grant recipients shall 
  2.15  continue to employ a law enforcement officer hired with money 
  2.16  granted under this section for at least a three-year period.  If 
  2.17  for any reason during the three-year period the employment 
  2.18  relationship ends, the agency shall hire an additional officer 
  2.19  so that the total number of officers employed by the agency does 
  2.20  not change.  A law enforcement agency that fails to comply with 
  2.21  this subdivision shall reimburse the commissioner as follows: 
  2.22     (1) if the failure occurs during the first year, the agency 
  2.23  shall reimburse the full amount of the grant; 
  2.24     (2) if the failure occurs during the second year, the 
  2.25  agency shall reimburse two-thirds of the grant; or 
  2.26     (3) if the failure occurs during the third year but prior 
  2.27  to the three-year anniversary of the officer's hiring, the 
  2.28  agency shall reimburse one-third of the grant. 
  2.29  The commissioner shall deposit the reimbursement in the state 
  2.30  treasury and credit it to the general fund. 
  2.31     Sec. 2.  [APPROPRIATION.] 
  2.32     $3,000,000 is appropriated to the commissioner of public 
  2.33  safety for the fiscal year ending June 30, 1997, to be used to 
  2.34  administer the grant program in section 1.