Colorado 2024 John R. Justice (JRJ) Formula Grant Program

The Division of Criminal Justice (DCJ) is Colorado’s designated state agency for the administration of the John R. Justice (JRJ) Program. The goal of Colorado’s 2024 JRJ Program is to retain full-time prosecutors and public defenders through the use of financial incentives available under this grant. To assist in the selection and administrative decision-making processes, Colorado has a three-member JRJ Board composed of the Executive Director of the Colorado District Attorney’s Council, the State Public Defender, and the Director of the DCJ. 

Colorado will continue to fund in three-year cycles. The FY24 grant funds will be the start of a new cohort. The method of selecting beneficiaries the first year of a cycle is competitive. Colorado’s solicitation for applications includes a “Notice of Availability of Funds”, Application Guidelines and Instructions document, and a link to the secure on-line application software, Qualtrics. Applications are scored on, amount of student loan debt; salary; geographic location – cost of living adjustment; number of dependents and months of employment as an eligible attorney for the JRJ program. Applicants also provide a personal statement scored by the board and can have a small impact on the final score. To meet the requirement to give priority consideration to the “least ability to pay” the scoring rubric assigns points based on a scale that determines those that demonstrate the most need; this relies heavily on the applicants’ total amount of student loan debt.

All FY24 recipients will sign and return to DCJ the JRJ Three-Year Service Agreement form. FY24 beneficiaries will be awarded between $3,000 – $6,000 to be paid to their loan companies on their behalf. The number of beneficiaries selected for FY24 depends on the funds available and number of applicants. FY 21-23 recipients are currently in their second year of a three-year cycle so this will delay our solicitation process for a new cohort FY24 funds likely occurring calendar year 2025/2026. The current cohort will be eligible to apply for the new FY24 cohort but they will not have a presumptive advantage, since they have benefited from three-years of support.  

CO will submit all required JRJ documents and meet all the assurances and requirements of the JRJ Program. CO continues to benefit in the form of retention of skilled and experienced public defenders and district attorneys as they have the JRJ Program to serve as their incentive for continued public service.