Application Requirements

• All completed applications must be returned to the Suffolk Sheriff's Office by April 14, 2017, No Later Than 5 p.m.
• Applications must be complete or the student will not be considered for scholarships.
• Only students living in the City of Suffolk and attend a Virginia college or university will be considered.
• Students must major in criminal justice or law enforcement. (Those majoring in law will not be considered a criminal justice major).

Scholarship Process

When the completed applications are returned to the Suffolk Sheriff's Office, Sheriff Harris would like to meet with each student applicant for the purpose of discussing any questions concerning the application policies.

After scholarship applications are received, Sheriff Harris will attach a letter of recommendation to each application and return them to the Virginia Sheriff's Institute for final judging. Winners will be announced at the end of May and all scholarship checks will be mailed to the Sheriff's Office for distribution.

Scholarship checks will be made payable to the educational institute on the application. All applicants will receive a letter from the Virginia Sheriff's Institute as to the status of their request for scholarship funds.

Limitations

The scholarships are available only to the students in the jurisdiction where Sheriffs participate in the scholarship fund-raising efforts. Therefore, students in the City of Suffolk are eligible to receive these funds. The Suffolk Sheriff's Office participation in the Virginia Sheriff's Institute Scholarship Program which has awarded 65 scholarships totaling $49,300 to local students majoring in Criminal Justice or Law Enforcement

This program is limited to students attending Virginia Colleges and Universities. All applications must be submitted to the Suffolk Sheriff's Office.

Funding

The Scholarship funds provided for this program are made available through the Virginia Sheriff's Institute and the citizen/business individual memberships in the Virginia Sheriff's Institute. Each year Sheriff Harris permits one mailing from the Virginia Sheriff's Institute to local citizens and businesses asking them to join the association.

A portion of all funds collected from Suffolk is returned in the form of scholarship awards to students majoring in law enforcement or criminal justice.