A bill to authorize the Department of Justice to provide grant funding to accredited nonprofit organizations to provide better access to needed training for law enforcement officers in rural and smaller communities.
About This Bill
Committee
Latest Action · July 23, 2026
Read twice and referred to the Committee on the Judiciary.
The Training Rural Law Enforcement Officers Act of 2026 directs the Department of Justice to award grants to accredited nonprofit organizations to provide free training to small and rural police departments and sheriff's offices. The bill targets law enforcement agencies with fewer than 50 sworn officers, which account for the vast majority of the nation's over 18,000 local police departments. Eligible training includes de-escalation, officer wellness, leadership development, victim-centered response to domestic violence, critical incident management, and specialized training for handling calls involving mental health crises, substance abuse, veterans, and other vulnerable populations. The legislation also allows multiple small jurisdictions to pool their existing federal grants together to contract with nonprofit training providers. No specific funding amounts or timelines are specified in the bill; it simply authorizes the use of existing Department of Justice grant programs to support this new training access model for understaffed agencies that currently lack resources to pursue federal funding opportunities.
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