Iowa 2023 John R. Justice Program

The John R. Justice (JRJ) Grant Program is a federally-funded, state-administered program that will provide student loan repayment assistance to local, state, and federal public defenders and local and state prosecutors. The JRJ Grant Program provides funding to repay loans made through the Federal Family Education Loan Program, William D. Ford Federal Direct Loan Program, Graduate and Professional Student PLUS Loan Program, Federal Perkins Loan Program, Federal Consolidation Loan Program and the Federal Direct Consolidation Loan Program. The JRJ Grant Program goals are to help Iowa attract and retain talented attorneys in public interest law. 

The Governor’s Office of Drug Control Policy (ODCP) assumed the administration of Iowa’s JRJ Grant Program beginning with the 2018 award. Prior to the inception of the JRJ Grant Program, a total of 131 state public defenders, 11 assistant federal defenders, 1 federal defender, and 384 state prosecutors were employed in Iowa.  As of 2023, a total of 147state public defenders, 13 assistant federal defenders, 1 federal defender, and 404 state prosecutors were employed in Iowa. Through 2021, the JRJ Grant Program has assisted 61 public servants in the State of Iowa.

ODCP has the capacity and structure in place to administer the services and activities authorized by the JRJ Grant Program consistent with ODCP’s well-established programming procedures. ODCP has partnered with the Iowa County Attorneys Association and the office of the State Public Defender to target communication regarding the availability of the JRJ Grant Program. ODCP is the SAA for Department of Justice grants in Iowa, and has the expertise and capacity to ensure the administration of the JRJ Grant Program is efficient and effective.