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University of Kentucky
College of Law
620 S. Limestone
Lexington, KY 40506-0048
phone (859) 257-1678
fax (859) 323-1061

Rural Drug Prosecution Assistance Project Terms
Background Information

The University of Kentucky College of Law (UK Law) has received grants from the United States Department of Justice (DOJ) for the Rural Drug Prosecution Assistance Project (RDPAP).
The RDPAP’s purpose is to enhance the ability of the criminal justice system in the rural parts of Kentucky to prosecute, defend, and adjudicate the increased volume of drug and drug-related crimes. RDPAP also is intended to involve UK Law students and graduates to the extent practicable in methamphetamine-related criminal enforcement, defense, and judicial processes including those in Kentucky’s drug court system in order to more effectively deal with methamphetamine-related crime.
The RDPAP includes three programs:
1. An internship program under which students at UK Law will be placed with sub-recipients (the "Summer Internship Program").
2. A salary supplement program under which UK Law graduates will receive salary supplements while working with qualified employers (the “ Graduate Employment Program”).
3. A tuition remission program under which UK Law graduates will receive tuition remission payments based upon their employment with qualified employers (the “Tuition Remission Program”).

The three RDPAP programs are all subject to certain conditions and requirements. A RDPAP participant must be employed in a Qualified Rural County (1) in a Qualified Position. (2) The RDPAP employer must represent that the criminal caseload in which the employer is involved has been substantially impacted since January 1, 2000, by drug and drug-related prosecutions;(3) and, that it is unable to employ or retain the UK students and graduates without RDPAP funding.(4) In addition, RDPAP employers may be required to make representations concerning the participant’s involvement in methamphetamine-related criminal actions and that RDPAP money supplements, but does not supplant, funds already committed for grant purposes.(5)

Program Information.
1. Summer Internship Program.
  1. Overview. The Summer Internship Program is designed to provide internship opportunities with Circuit Courts, Public Defenders, and Commonwealth’s Attorneys, for students interested in the criminal justice system and at the same time augment the resources available to the criminal justice system in Qualified Rural Counties.
  2. Application and Selection. Students and potential employers interested in participating in the Summer Internship Program will apply to UK Law. Student applicants may be reviewed and approved for participation by potential employers. UK Law will match approved students and potential employers, and allocate positions in the Summer Internship Program, using its sole judgment.
  3. Term of Employment and Compensation. Employers will employ each student for a period commencing after the student’s spring final exams at UK Law and ending prior to the day on which the immediately-following fall semester commences at UK Law (for example, May 15 – August 15, 2008). If an employer pays its interns on an hourly basis, then it will pay a gross starting hourly wage of at least $11.95 per hour. If an employer pays its interns on a salary basis, then the employer will pay a gross salary based upon a minimum of $11.95 per hour. Employers will not pay to any summer intern total gross compensation in excess of $6,000. Please note that “gross” means prior to the deduction of withholding taxes, etc. Other than compensation, the terms and conditions of employment for students participating in the Summer Internship Program shall be the employer’s standard terms and conditions for interns. Students selected by UK Law will be paid by the employer, and the employer will qualify for reimbursement by UKRF using RDPAP funds. It is expected that interns will work a full summer. Splitting an internship with other employment or working a half of a summer is not permissible. Employment may not begin until the day after the student's last final exam in the Spring nor may it continue after the next Fall semester begins.
2. Graduate Employment Program.
  1. Overview. The Graduate Employment Program is designed to provide post-graduation employment opportunities with Circuit Courts, Public Defenders, and Commonwealth’s Attorneys, for students interested in the criminal justice system and at the same time augment the resources available to the criminal justice system in Qualified Rural Counties. UK Law graduates and UK Law students who contemplate graduating in May are eligible to participate in the Graduate Employment Program.
  2. Application and Selection. Graduates and graduating students and potential employers interested in participating in the Graduate Employment Program will apply to UK Law. Graduates and graduating student applicants will be reviewed and approved for participation by potential employers. UK Law will match approved graduates and graduating students and potential employers, and allocate positions in the Graduate Employment Program, using its sole judgment. The employer may condition participation in the Graduate Employment Program on (a) a student graduating prior to or during May 2008 and, (b) a student cum graduate successfully passing the Kentucky bar examination at the administration next following the student cum graduate’s graduation.
  3. Compensation. The terms and conditions of employment for graduates participating in the Employment Program shall be the employer’s standard terms and conditions for employees of similar rank and grade. The maximum annual amount that may be awarded under this application with respect to any single participant in the Employment Program shall be as follows: (a) Administrative Office of the Courts and Department of Public Advocacy - $24,000 in any single year; Commonwealth’s Attorney - $46,500 in any single year. Please note that these are “gross” figures meaning that they are prior to the deduction of withholding taxes, etc.
  4. Period of Program. The terms and conditions of
    
    a.            Third-year law students at UK Law School (Class of 2008) who are awarded full-time positions in the Graduate Employment Program will be funded for only one year (2008-2009 program year). Each participant in the Tuition Remission Program from the Class of 2008 who successfully completes the program will be eligible to receive tuition remission. However, participants from the Class of 2008 will not be able to apply to participate in the Graduate Employment Program or the Tuition Remission Program in subsequent years.
    
    b.            Current participants in the Graduate Employment and/or the Tuition Remission Programs (UK Law Classes of 2006 and 2007) will be notified by the College of Law as to whether they may apply to continue in the those programs for the 2008-2009 program year.
    
    c.             RDPAP funding will be exhausted for all participants in the Summer Internship, Graduate Employment and Tuition Remission Programs at the close of the 2008-2009 program year. The programs will not continue.
3. Tuition Remission Program.
  1. Overview. The Tuition Remission Program is designed to provide tuition reimbursement assistance for UK Law graduates employed by Circuit Courts, Public Defenders, and Commonwealth’s Attorneys, in positions which would qualify for inclusion in the Graduate Employment Program. By offering such repayment assistance, the Tuition Remission Program should assist the criminal justice system in Qualified Rural Counties by facilitating the retention of such graduates. UK Law graduates and UK Law students who contemplate graduating the following May are eligible to participate in the Tuition Remission Program. Such individuals are eligible to participate in the Tuition Remission Program whether or not they participate in the Employment Program.
  2. Application and Selection. Graduates and graduating students interested in participating in the Tuition Remission Program will apply to UK Law. UK Law will allocate positions in the Tuition Remission Program using its sole judgment. UK Law may condition participation in the Tuition Remission Program on (a) a student graduating the May following the selection of the student to participate in the Tuition Remission Program, and, (b) a student cum graduate successfully passing the Kentucky bar examination at the administration next following the student cum graduate’s graduation. UK Law shall condition participation in the Tuition Remission Program on the receipt of certain representations and certifications from the employer as to the employment status of the graduate or graduating student participant, and the importance of the RDPAP funds.
  3. Compensation. The tuition remission awards to participants in the Tuition Remission Program shall be at the sole discretion of UK Law. The maximum amount of the tuition remission payments made to any recipient participating in the Tuition Remission Program shall be (a) $10,000 in any single year.
  4. No Prorating. Participants in the Tuition Remission Program must work one full year as a licensed attorney to be eligible to apply for a remission.
Contingent Upon Funding, Discretion of UK Law.

Contingent upon funding, waiver of claims. UK Law anticipates that it has sufficient RDPAP funding. However, it cannot guarantee that funding. By their submission of an application, applicants acknowledge that the programs outlined hereunder are completely contingent on the availability of RDPAP funding from DOJ. Should such funding not be available, or should such funding be curtailed or reduced in any way, the programs may be eliminated, curtailed or reduced. Any such elimination, curtailments or reductions shall be in UK Law’s sole discretion, including as to amounts already committed, and need not be pro rata or uniform in any respect. If UK Law is for any reason unable to obtain or reimburse RDPAP funds, or if UK Law is required to return RDPAP funds to the DOJ, then applicants have no legal or equitable rights or remedies under this contract or otherwise against the University of Kentucky, the University of Kentucky Research Foundation, UK Law, or any other academic or administrative unit of the University of Kentucky or any current or former employees of the University of Kentucky. Rights and remedies include, but are not limited to, rights or remedies arising out of contract, tort, estoppel or reliance.
Discretion of UK Law. By their submission of an application, applicants acknowledge that (1) the allocation of available funds among the programs outlined hereunder and administrative costs, (2) the allocation of available funds among various classes of employers, (3) the allocation of available funds among various classes of students and graduates, (4) the selection of and allocation of funds to individual employers, students and graduates, and (5) the determination of the magnitude of individual allocations, are all entirely within the sole discretion of UK Law.

1. “Qualified Rural County” means any Kentucky county other than Jefferson, Fayette, and Kenton counties.

2. "Qualified Job” means a position (a) as an intern or clerk with the Circuit Court, (b) as an intern or lawyer with the Public Defender Office, or, (c) as an intern or lawyer with the Commonwealth’s Attorney.

3.For purposes of this representation: (a) Substantially impacted” means a situation where the criminal caseload of the Sub-recipient has increased in terms of the number of cases by 10% or more over the five year period. (b) “Drug prosecutions” means prosecutions for the acquisition, possession, or sale of illegal drugs. (c) “Drug-related prosecutions” means criminal cases where the offense charged is factually associated with the acquisition, possession or sale of illegal drugs. Examples of “drug-related prosecutions” would include, by way of illustration but not by way of limitation: (1) the prosecution of a defendant on a theft charge where the defendant used or intended to use the proceeds of the theft for the purchase of illegal drugs; (2) the prosecution of a defendant on a firearms charge where the defendant possessed the firearms while engaged in the acquisition, possession or sale of illegal drugs; or (3) the prosecution of a defendant on a murder charge based upon the felony murder rule where the qualifying felony involved the acquisition, possession or sale of illegal drugs.

4. As to the Summer Internship Program, the employer represents that it would not have been able to employ the student or students employed under the Internship Program without the availability of the RDPAP funds. As to the Graduate Employment Program, the employer represents that its ability to employ or retain the graduate or graduating student employed under the Graduate Employment Program was materially enhanced by the availability of the RDPAP funds, and that the RDPAP funds have not been used simply to substitute for Sub-recipient funds in a pre-existing position. By “materially enhanced” the Sub-recipient means either (a) that without the RDPAP funds the position held by the Graduate would not have been available, (b) that without the RDPAP funds it is unlikely that the Sub-recipient would have been able to hire the Graduate to fill the position, or (c) that without the RDPAP funds it is unlikely that the sub-recipient would have been able to retain the Graduate in the position. As to the Tuition Remission Program, the employer must verify the recipient’s employment status, and must represent that its ability to employ or retain a participant was materially enhanced by the availability of the RDPAP funds in the Tuition Remission Program. By “materially enhanced” the employer means that without the RDPAP funds in the Tuition Remission Program it is unlikely that the employer would have been able to employ or retain the graduate to fill the position. The employer also must maintain and make available to UK Law, the University of Kentucky Research Foundation, and DOJ such records as are appropriate to verify the recipient’s employment status.

5.

a. Methamphetamine and Drug Courts. Employer represents that it is willing and able to involve UK Law students and graduates to the extent practicable in methamphetamine-related criminal enforcement, defense, and judicial processes including those in Kentucky’s drug court system in order to more effectively deal with methamphetamine-related crime.

b. Supplementing, Not Supplanting. Employer represents that it will comply with the RDPAP II supplementing, not supplanting requirement. That requirement provides:
State and local governments must use Methamphetamine Initiative grant funds to supplement, and not supplant, state, local or Bureau of Indian Affairs funds already committed for grant purposes (hiring, training, purchases, and/or activities) that would exist in the absence of the grant. In other words, grantees may not use COPS funds to replace state, local or Bureau of Indian Affairs funds for any allowable cost budgeted prior to or during the grant period.
Why This Condition:
The Public Safety Partnership and Community Policing Act of 1994 specifically states that federal funds under COPS programs may not be used to supplant (replace) existing local, state, or Bureau of Indian Affairs funds that would be spent for identical purposes in the absence of the grant.
What You Should Do:
Officer and Support Resources-To meet this grant condition, you must ensure that:

Each individual employed under the Methamphetamine Initiative grant program is newly hired on or after the grant award start date, unless an exception is authorized in writing by the COPS Office. (Note to Sub-recipient: as indicated in paragraph 1.c. of this application, the RDPAP II grant permits you to use RDPAP II funds to continue the employment of UK Law graduates originally hired into the Employment Program with the assistance of RDPAP I funds (either salary supplement or full salary plus benefits). The RDPAP II grant also permits you to employ in the Employment Program UK Law graduates previously employed as interns in the RDPAP I Internship Program.) If current personnel are redeployed into this program, they must be paid with local funds. The COPS grant funds may be used to backfill the resulting vacancy with newly hired personnel for an equivalent amount of time.

The officer(s) and civilian(s) that you are hiring brings your force to a number over and above the number of funded officer and civilian positions that you had on the date of your Methamphetamine Initiative grant program application (including funded but vacant positions).

During the life of your grant, you must continue to hire as many new, locally-funded officers and/or civilians as you would have if you had not received your grant. You may not cancel or postpone spending money in your budget that is committed to hiring other new officers and/or civilians.

You must take expeditious and timely steps to fill any vacancies that were created on or after the date of your grant application by retirement, resignation, or other reasons with new officers/civilians other than your Methamphetamine Initiative program officers and civilians.

Example: If you are redeploying a current employee who would otherwise be paid $30,000 in salary and benefits during the life of the grant project, your agency must continue to pay this employee with local funds. The COPS grant funds may be used to “backfill” the resulting vacancy with a new hire, even though the COPS-funded civilian will not be working directly on the Methamphetamine Initiative project.

The Rural Drug Prosecution Assistance Project is funded by the United States Department of Justice. The College of Law is appreciative of the efforts of Senator Mitch McConnell in support of the Rural Drug Prosecution Assistance Project.