I 

111TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 2095 

To authorize grants for programs that provide support services to exonerees. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

APRIL 23, 2009 

Mr. PAYNE (for himself, Mr. COHEN, Mr. DAVIS of Illinois, Ms. LEE of California, Mr. BISHOP of Georgia, Ms. CLARKE, Mr. RUSH, and Mrs. 

CHRISTENSEN) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the 

Committee on the Judiciary 

A BILL 

To authorize grants for programs that provide support 

services to exonerees. 

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 ‘‘Restitution for the Ex5 onerated Act of 2009’’. 

6 SEC. 2. GRANT PROGRAM AUTHORIZED. 

7 (a) EXONEREE SERVICES GRANTS AUTHORIZED.— 

8 The Attorney General may award grants to eligible organi9 zations to carry out programs that provide support serv10 ices to exonerees. 


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1 (b) GRANT PERIOD; RENEWABILITY.—A grant 

2 awarded under this section shall be for a period of one 

3 year, and may be renewed for subsequent one-year periods 

4 as the Attorney General determines to be appropriate. 

5 (c) SUPPLEMENTAL FUNDS.—The Attorney General 

6 may provide to an eligible organization awarded funds 

7 under a grant under subsection (a) for a period described 

8 in subsection (b), additional funds under such grant dur9 ing such period if the Attorney General determines that 

10 the organization has need for such additional funds, such 

11 as in the case that the number of exonerees entering the 

12 population served by such organization is greater than 

13 such number expected by the organization. 

14 SEC. 3. GRANT USES. 

15 (a) ACTIVITIES.—A grant awarded under this Act to 

16 an eligible organization shall be used only— 

17 (1) to carry out a program that provides and 

18 coordinates the delivery of support services for 

19 exonerees, including— 

20 (A) employment training; 

21 (B) vocational training; 

22 (C) education; 

23 (D) health care services; 

24 (E) mental health services; 

25 (F) housing assistance; 


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1 (G) substance abuse training; 

2 (H) legal assistance; 

3 (I) children and family support; and 

4 (J) other appropriate services, as deter5 mined by the Attorney General; and 

6 (2) for administrative expenses necessary to 

7 carry out the program described in paragraph (1), 

8 including staff salaries and training. 

9 (b) LIMITATIONS.—A grant awarded under this Act 

10 may not be used to provide support services— 

11 (1) to an exoneree who has not demonstrated fi12 nancial need for such services; or 

13 (2) for a period of more than 24 months for 

14 any exoneree. 

15 SEC. 4. APPLICATIONS. 

16 (a) IN GENERAL.—To request a grant under this 

17 Act, an eligible organization shall submit to the Attorney 

18 General an application at such time, in such manner, and 

19 containing such information as the Attorney General may 

20 require. Such application shall— 

21 (1) describe the program to be funded by the 

22 grant, and the need for such program; 

23 (2) describe a long-term strategy and detailed 

24 implementation for such program; 


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1 (3) identify the governmental and community 

2 agencies with which the program will collaborate, 

3 and that the program will utilize to enhance 

4 exoneree services; and 

5 (4) describe the methodology and outcome 

6 measures that will be used to evaluate the effective7 ness of such program. 

8 (b) APPLICATION DEADLINES.—The Attorney Gen9 eral shall solicit and review applications for grants under 

10 this Act at least once during each 6-month period. 

11 (c) PRIORITY BASED ON NEED.—In awarding grants 

12 under this Act, the Attorney General shall give priority 

13 to eligible organizations that serve geographic regions that 

14 have the greatest need for exoneree support services, as 

15 determined by the Attorney General. 

16 SEC. 5. REPORTS. 

17 For each year in which an eligible organization re18 ceives a grant under this Act, the eligible organization 

19 shall submit a report to the Attorney General that de20 scribes the program carried out by the organization with 

21 such grant, and evaluates the effectiveness of such pro22 gram during such year. 

23 SEC. 6. DEFINITIONS. 

24 In this Act: 


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1 (1) ELIGIBLE ORGANIZATION.—The term ‘‘eligi2 ble organization’’ means any nonprofit organization 

3 that— 

4 (A) has experience and expertise in coordi5 nating and delivering support services specific 

6 to the needs of exonerees; or 

7 (B) demonstrates the capacity to effec8 tively coordinate and deliver such support serv9 ices, as determined by the Attorney General. 

10 (2) EXONEREE.—The term ‘‘exoneree’’ means 

11 an individual who— 

12 (A) has been convicted by a Federal or 

13 State court of an offense that is punishable by 

14 a term of imprisonment that is equal to or 

15 greater than one year; 

16 (B) has served a term of imprisonment of 

17 at least 6 months in a Federal or State prison 

18 or other correctional facility as a result of such 

19 conviction; and 

20 (C) has been determined to be factually in21 nocent of such offense. 

22 (3) FACTUALLY INNOCENT.—The term ‘‘factu23 ally innocent’’ means, with respect to an individual 

24 who has been convicted of an offense described in 


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1 paragraph (2)(A), one or more of the following has 

2 occurred: 

3 (A) A court has issued a factual finding of 

4 innocence. 

5 (B) The Governor of the State in which 

6 the individual was convicted or the President, 

7 as applicable, has issued a pardon based on the 

8 facts of the offense for which the individual was 

9 convicted. 

10 (C) A court has vacated or reversed the 

11 conviction based on legal insufficiency of the 

12 evidence or other factual finding of actual inno13 cence, and the Federal, State, or local govern14 ment has dismissed the accusatory instrument. 

15 SEC. 7. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS. 

16 There is authorized to be appropriated to carry out 

17 this Act $2,000,000 for each of the fiscal years 2010 

18 through 2014. Amounts authorized under this section 

19 shall remain available until expended. 

Æ 


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