Contact: Dan Adkins

U.S. Senator Mitch McConnell, College of Law Dean Alan Vestal and UK President Lee T. Todd Jr.

The program is designed to educate law students about drug-related criminal justice system opportunities in qualified rural counties, to provide stipends for otherwise unpaid internships, and to give salary grants and tuition remissions for graduates working with the legal system.

LEXINGTON, Ky. (March 24, 2005) -- U.S. Sen. Mitch McConnell today announced $1 million in federal funds earmarked for the University of Kentucky College of Law to provide law students and graduates with the chance to work in cases prosecuting rural defendants of charges related to illegal drugs.

The UK College of Law Rural Drug Prosecution Assistance Project will help commonwealth attorneys, U.S. attorneys, the Kentucky Attorney General’s Office and circuit court judges by providing students as summer interns to help in the fight against illegal drugs. The program will also provide salary grants and tuition remissions for graduates to work with the legal and judicial system.

"I am pleased to have secured funding for the University of Kentucky College of Law," said Sen. McConnell. "The funding will enable UK law students to work alongside criminal justice professionals to help combat the illegal drug problem in Kentucky."

“This program benefits our law students by giving them actual experience on the front lines of the war on drugs,” UK President Lee T. Todd Jr. said. “It also gives attorneys additional help to make sure our justice system functions the way it is intended. We appreciate Sen. McConnell’s efforts to enhance educational opportunities for our future lawyers, while helping our nation curtail the threat of illegal drugs.”

The program is designed to educate law students about drug-related criminal justice system opportunities in qualified rural counties, to provide stipends for otherwise unpaid internships, and to give salary grants and tuition remissions for graduates working with the legal system.