Law-Enforcement Officer Tuition Grant Fund and Program; established, report.

Law-Enforcement Officer Tuition Grant Fund and Program.Establishes the Law-Enforcement Officer Tuition Grant Fund and requires theDepartment of Criminal Justice Services to establish the Law-Enforcement OfficerTuition Grant Program for the purpose of providing grants from the Fund on acompetitive basis to local law-enforcement agencies to cover the cost oftuition, books, and mandatory fees at a public institution of higher educationfor up to two years for any law-enforcement officer employed by such agency whoenters into an agreement to continue to serve as a law-enforcement officer forsuch agency upon completion of his course of study for a period at least aslong as the length of the course of study undertaken and paid for pursuant tothe Program. The Fund and Program replace a similar provision of current lawwhereby the Department of Criminal Justice Services enters into contracts tomake payments directly to certain public and private institutions of highereducation to cover the cost of tuition, books, and mandatory fees for state andlocal law-enforcement officers who enroll in a program of study relating totheir law-enforcement duties. The bill requires the Department of CriminalJustice Services to report to the Chairmen of the House Committee onAppropriations, the House Committee on Education, the Senate Committee onFinance, and the Senate Committee on Education and Health no later thanSeptember 1, 2024, on the funding, utilization, and effectiveness of the Fundand Program. The bill has an expiration date of July 1, 2025.