Riley Burnell Criminal Justice Memorial Scholarship

The Riley Burnell Criminal Justice Memorial Scholarship Fund honors the memory of Riley Burnell by awarding a college scholarship to a student from Koochiching County who is interested in pursuing a career in criminal justice.

Riley Burnell was born in 1988 in International Falls. Even as a boy, he wanted to be a police officer. He graduated from Rainy River Community College, Bemidji State University and Alexandria Technical College. He worked part-time for the Koochiching County Sheriff’s Office and the International Falls Police Department.

In 2012, Riley and his wife were taking a day trip to Duluth when a distracted driver crossed the center line and hit their car head-on, killing them both. Riley had only worked at both police agencies for about a year and one-half, but he made such an impact that both departments retired his badge number.

Eligibility

• Must be a resident of Koochiching County – high schools in area include: Indus High School, Falls High School, Littlefork-Big Falls High School, Northome Secondary High School, Adult Learning Center ISD 361
• Demonstrate Financial Need
• GPa: 3.0 or higher
• Field of Study: Law Enforcement, Criminal Justice, Conservation Officer, Border Patrol, all justice-related
• Demonstrate citizenship and community involvement

Scholarship Grant Range

$2,500 for one year

Application timeline

• This scholarship is part of the Universal Application: December 1 – February 15
• ONE Universal Application: Create a profile in the scholarship portal. Fill out the first page of the universal application to filter through all of the scholarships you qualify for.

Award Details

• This scholarship may be used for expenses of post-secondary education at any accredited college, university or technical/ vocational school
• Award Payments will be mailed directly to the school/ university
• Fall Payments are mailed July 15-30
• Spring Payments are mailed December 15-30
• Transferring Schools: Please contact DSACF if you plan on transferring schools. Transferring schools does not automatically transfer your scholarship. If a transfer occurs after scholarship money has been disbursed it may take up to 90 days to reprocess the scholarship payment.