II

106TH CONGRESS

1ST SESSION S. 1196

To improve the quality, timeliness, and credibility of forensic science services

for criminal justice purposes.

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

JUNE 9, 1999

Mr. COVERDELL introduced the following bill; which was read twice and

referred to the Committee on the Judiciary

A BILL

To improve the quality, timeliness, and credibility of forensic

science services for criminal justice purposes.

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled,

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘National Forensic

5 Sciences Improvement Act of 1999’’.

6 SEC. 2. IMPROVING THE QUALITY, TIMELINESS, AND

7 CREDIBILITY OF FORENSIC SCIENCE SERV8 ICES FOR CRIMINAL JUSTICE PURPOSES.

9 (a) DESCRIPTION OF DRUG CONTROL AND SYSTEM

10 IMPROVEMENT GRANT PROGRAM.—Section 501(b) of title
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1 I of the Omnibus Crime Control and Safe Streets Act of

2 1968 (42 U.S.C. 375(b)) is amended—

3 (1) in paragraph (25), by striking ‘‘and’’ at the

4 end;

5 (2) in paragraph (26), by striking the period at

6 the end and inserting ‘‘; and’’; and

7 (3) by adding at the end, the following:

8 ‘‘(27) improving the quality, timeliness, and

9 credibility of forensic science services for criminal

10 justice purposes.’’.

11 (b) STATE APPLICATIONS.—Section 503(a) of title I

12 of the Omnibus Crime Control and Safe Streets Act of

13 1968 (42 U.S.C. 3753(a)) is amended by adding at the

14 end of the following:

15 ‘‘(13) If any part of the amount received from

16 a grant under this part is to be used to improve the

17 quality, timeliness, and credibility of forensic science

18 services for criminal justice purposes, a certification

19 that, as of the date of enactment of this paragraph,

20 the State has an established—

21 ‘‘(A) forensic science laboratory or forensic

22 science laboratory system, that—

23 ‘‘(i) employs 1 or more full-time

24 scientists—
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1 ‘‘(I) whose principle duties are

2 the examination of physical evidence

3 for law enforcement agencies in crimi4 nal matters; and

5 ‘‘(II) who provide testimony with

6 respect to such physical evidence to

7 the criminal justice system;

8 ‘‘(ii) employs generally accepted prac9 tices and procedures, as established by ap10 propriate accrediting organizations; and

11 ‘‘(iii) is accredited by the Laboratory

12 Accreditation Board of the American Soci13 ety of Crime Laboratory Directors or the

14 National Association of Medical Exam15 iners, or will use a portion of the grant

16 amount to prepare and apply for such ac17 creditation by not later than 2 years after

18 the date on which a grant is initially

19 awarded under this paragraph; or

20 ‘‘(B) medical examiner’s office (as defined

21 by the National Association of Medical Exam22 iners) that—

23 ‘‘(i) employs generally accepted prac24 tices and procedures, as established by ap25 propriate accrediting organizations; and
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1 ‘‘(ii) is accredited by the Laboratory

2 Accreditation Board of the American Soci3 ety of Crime Laboratory Directors or the

4 National Association of Medical Exam5 iners, or will use a portion of the grant

6 amount to prepare and apply for such ac7 creditation by not later than 2 years after

8 the date on which a grant is initially

9 awarded under this paragraph.’’.

10 (c) FORENSIC SCIENCES IMPROVEMENT GRANTS.—

11 (1) IN GENERAL.—Title I of the Omnibus

12 Crime Control and Safe Streets Act of 1968 (42

13 U.S.C. 3711 et seq.) is amended—

14 (A) by redesignating part Z as part AA

15 and redesignating section 2601 as section 2701;

16 and

17 (B) by inserting after part Y the following:

18 ‘‘PART Z—FORENSIC SCIENCES IMPROVEMENT

19 GRANTS

20 ‘‘SEC. 2601. GRANT AUTHORIZATION.

21 ‘‘The Attorney General shall award grants to States

22 in accordance with this part.

23 ‘‘SEC. 2602. APPLICATIONS.

24 ‘‘To request a grant under this part, a State shall

25 submit to the Attorney General—
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1 ‘‘(1) a certification that the State has developed

2 a consolidated State plan under a program described

3 in section 2604(a), and a specific description of the

4 manner in which the grant will be used to carry out

5 that plan;

6 ‘‘(2) a certification that any forensic science

7 laboratory system, medical examiner’s office, or

8 coroner’s office in the State that will receive any

9 portion of the grant amount uses generally accepted

10 laboratory practices and procedures, established by

11 accrediting organizations; and

12 ‘‘(3) a specific description of any new facility to

13 be constructed as part of the program described in

14 paragraph (1), and the estimated costs of that facil15 ity, and a certification that grant will not be used

16 to fund more than 40 percent of the total costs of

17 that facility.

18 ‘‘SEC. 2603. ALLOCATION.

19 ‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—Of the amount made available

20 to carry out this part in each fiscal year, each State that

21 meets the requirements of section 2602 shall receive an

22 amount that bears the same ratio to the total amount

23 made available to carry out this part for that fiscal year

24 as the population of the State bears to the population of

25 all States.
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1 ‘‘(b) STATE DEFINED.—In this section, the term

2 ‘State’ means each of the several States, the District of

3 Columbia, the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, the Virgin

4 Islands, American Samoa, Guam, and the Commonwealth

5 of the Northern Mariana Islands, except that—

6 ‘‘(1) for purposes of the allocation under this

7 section, American Samoa and the Commonwealth of

8 the Northern Mariana Islands shall be considered as

9 1 State; and

10 ‘‘(2) for purposes of paragraph (1), 67 percent

11 of the amount allocated shall be allocated to Amer12 ican Samoa, and 33 percent shall be allocated to the

13 Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands.

14 ‘‘SEC. 2604. USE OF GRANTS.

15 ‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—A State that receives a grant

16 under this part shall use the grant to carry out all or a

17 substantial part of a program intended to improve the

18 quality and timeliness of forensic science or medical exam19 iner services in the State.

20 ‘‘(b) PERMITTED CATEGORIES OF FUNDING.—Sub21 ject to subsections (c) and (d), a grant awarded under this

22 part—

23 ‘‘(1) may only be used for program expenses re24 lating to facilities, personnel, computerization, equip-
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1 ment, supplies, accreditation and certification, edu2 cation, and training; and

3 ‘‘(2) may not be used for any general law en4 forcement or nonforensic investigatory function.

5 ‘‘(c) FACILITIES COSTS.—A grant awarded under

6 this part may not be used to fund more than 40 percent

7 of the total costs of any new facility constructed as part

8 of a program described in subsection (a).

9 ‘‘(d) ADMINISTRATIVE COSTS.—Not more than 10

10 percent of the total amount of a grant awarded under this

11 part may be used for administrative expenses.

12 ‘‘SEC. 2605. ADMINISTRATIVE PROVISIONS.

13 ‘‘(a) REGULATIONS.—The Attorney General may pro14 mulgate such guidelines, regulations, and procedures as

15 may be necessary to carry out this part, including guide16 lines, regulations, and procedures relating to the submis17 sion and review of applications for grants under section

18 2602.

19 ‘‘(b) EXPENDITURE RECORDS.—

20 ‘‘(1) RECORDS.—Each State that receives a

21 grant under this part shall maintain such records as

22 the Attorney General may require to facilitate an ef23 fective audit relating to the receipt of the grant, or

24 the use of the grant amount.
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1 ‘‘(2) ACCESS.—The Attorney General and the

2 Comptroller General of the United States, or a des3 ignee thereof, shall have access, for the purpose of

4 audit and examination, to any book, document, or

5 record of a State that receives a grant under this

6 part, if, in the determination of the Attorney Gen7 eral, Comptroller General, or designee thereof, the

8 book, document, or record is related to the receipt

9 of the grant, or the use of the grant amount.

10 ‘‘SEC. 2606. REPORTS.

11 ‘‘(a) REPORTS TO ATTORNEY GENERAL.—For each

12 fiscal year for which a grant is awarded under this part,

13 each State that receives such a grant shall submit to the

14 Attorney General a report, at such time and in such man15 ner as the Attorney General may reasonably require,

16 which report shall include—

17 ‘‘(1) a summary and assessment of the program

18 carried out with the grant; and

19 ‘‘(2) such other information as the Attorney

20 General may require.

21 ‘‘(b) REPORTS TO CONGRESS.—Not later than 90

22 days after the last day of each fiscal year for which 1 or

23 more grants are awarded under this part, the Attorney

24 General shall submit to the Speaker of the House of Rep-
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1 resentatives and the President pro tempore of the Senate,

2 a report, which shall include—

3 ‘‘(1) the aggregate amount of grants awarded

4 under this part for that fiscal year; and

5 ‘‘(2) a summary of the information provided

6 under subsection (a).’’.

7 (2) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—

8 Section 1001(a) of title I of the Omnibus Crime

9 Control and Safe Streets Act of 1968 (42 U.S.C.

10 3753(a)) is amended by adding at the end the fol11 lowing:

12 ‘‘(24) There are authorized to be appropriated

13 to carry out part Z, to remain available until

14 expended—

15 ‘‘(A) $215,600,000 for fiscal year 2000;

16 ‘‘(B) $204,600,000 for fiscal year 2001;

17 ‘‘(C) $194,600,000 for fiscal year 2002;

18 ‘‘(D) $87,600,000 for fiscal year 2003;

19 and

20 ‘‘(E) $65,600,000 for fiscal year 2004.’’.

21 (3) TABLE OF CONTENTS.—Title I of the Om22 nibus Crime Control and Safe Streets Act of 1968

23 (42 U.S.C. 3711 et seq.) is amended by striking the

24 table of contents.

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