I 

111TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 2138 

To provide grants to establish veteran’s treatment courts. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

APRIL 28, 2009 

Mr. KENNEDY (for himself, Mr. SULLIVAN, Mr. HIGGINS, Ms. SCHAKOWSKY, 

Mr. MICHAUD, and Mr. BOREN) introduced the following bill; which was 

referred to the Committee on the Judiciary 

A BILL 

To provide grants to establish veteran’s treatment courts. 

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 ‘‘Services, Education, 

5 and Rehabilitation for Veterans Act’’ or the ‘‘SERV Act’’. 

6 SEC. 2. VETERAN’S TREATMENT COURTS. 

7 (a) DELEGATION.—The Director of the Office of Na8 tional Drug Control Policy (referred to in this Act as the 

9 ‘‘Director’’) shall delegate the authority to administer the 

10 program and other such activities necessary to carry out 

11 this Act to the Department of Justice. 

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1 (b) GRANTS.—The Attorney General may make 

2 grants to States, State courts, local courts, units of local 

3 government, and Indian tribal governments acting directly 

4 or through agreements with other public or private enti5 ties, for the purpose of developing, implementing, or en6 hancing veteran’s treatment courts or expanding oper7 ational drug courts to serve veterans. 

8 (c) ELIGIBILITY.—Grants under this Act shall be 

9 made to veteran’s treatment courts and drug courts serv10 ing veterans that effectively integrate substance abuse 

11 treatment, mental health treatment, mandatory drug test12 ing, sanctions and incentives, and transitional services, in 

13 a judicially supervised court setting with jurisdiction over 

14 nonviolent, substance-abusing offenders that have served 

15 in the United States military. 

16 SEC. 3. GRANT AUTHORITY. 

17 The Attorney General may make grants to States, 

18 State courts, local courts, units of local government, and 

19 Indian tribal governments, acting directly or through 

20 agreements with other public or private entities, for pro21 grams that involve— 

22 (1) continuing judicial supervision over offend23 ers with substance abuse or mental health problems 

24 who are not violent offenders and have served in the 

25 United States military; and 

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1 (2) the integrated administration of other sanc2 tions and services, which shall include— 

3 (A) mandatory periodic testing for the use 

4 of controlled substances or other addictive sub5 stances during any period of supervised release 

6 or probation for each participant; 

7 (B) substance abuse and mental health 

8 treatment (such as treatment for depression 

9 and post-traumatic stress disorder) for each 

10 participant; 

11 (C) diversion, probation, or other super12 vised release involving the possibility of prosecu13 tion, confinement, or incarceration based on 

14 noncompliance with program requirements or 

15 failure to show satisfactory progress; and 

16 (D) programmatic, offender management, 

17 and aftercare services such as relapse preven18 tion, health care, education, vocational training, 

19 job placement, housing placement, and child 

20 care or other family support services for each 

21 participant who requires such services. 

22 SEC. 4. APPLICATIONS. 

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

24 Act, a State, State court, local court, unit of local govern25 ment, or Indian tribal government shall submit an applicaWWOODS2 on PRODPC68 with BILLS

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1 tion to the Attorney General in such form and containing 

2 such information as the Attorney General may reasonably 

3 require. 

4 (b) APPLICATIONS.—In addition to any other require5 ments that may be specified by the Attorney General, an 

6 application for a grant under this Act shall— 

7 (1) include a long-term strategy and detailed 

8 implementation plan; 

9 (2) explain the applicant’s inability to fund the 

10 program adequately without Federal assistance; 

11 (3) certify that the Federal support provided 

12 will be used to supplement, and not supplant, State, 

13 Indian tribal, and local sources of funding that 

14 would otherwise be available; 

15 (4) identify related governmental or community 

16 initiatives which complement or will be coordinated 

17 with the proposal; 

18 (5) certify that there has been appropriate con19 sultation with all affected agencies, specifically the 

20 Department of Veterans Affairs and the Department 

21 of Health and Human Services, and that there will 

22 be appropriate coordination with all affected agen23 cies in the implementation of the program; 

24 (6) certify that participating offenders will be 

25 supervised by 1 or more designated judges with reWWOODS2 on PRODPC68 with BILLS

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1 sponsibility for the veteran’s treatment court pro2 gram; 

3 (7) specify plans for obtaining necessary sup4 port and continuing the proposed program following 

5 the conclusion of Federal support; and 

6 (8) describe the methodology that will be used 

7 in evaluating the program. 

8 (c) CERTIFICATIONS.—Each such application shall 

9 contain the certification that the program for which the 

10 grant is requested shall meet each of the requirements of 

11 this Act. 

12 SEC. 5. FEDERAL SHARE. 

13 The Federal share of a grant made under this Act 

14 may not exceed 75 percent of the total costs of the pro15 gram described in the application submitted under section 

16 4 for the fiscal year for which the program receives assist17 ance under this Act, unless the Attorney General waives, 

18 wholly or in part, the requirement of a matching contribu19 tion under this section. In-kind contributions may con20 stitute a portion of the non-Federal share of a grant. 

21 SEC. 6. REPORTS AND EVALUATIONS. 

22 (a) REPORT TO ATTORNEY GENERAL AND THE DI23 RECTOR.—For each fiscal year, each recipient of a grant 

24 under this Act during that fiscal year shall submit to the 

25 Attorney General, the Director, and the Secretary for VetWWOODS2 on PRODPC68 with BILLS

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1 erans Affairs a report regarding the effectiveness of activi2 ties carried out using that grant. Each report shall include 

3 an evaluation in such form and containing such informa4 tion as the Attorney General may reasonably require. The 

5 Attorney General shall specify the dates on which such 

6 reports shall be submitted. 

7 (b) REPORT TO CONGRESS.—The Director, in con8 sultation with the Attorney General, shall submit a yearly 

9 report on the effectiveness on the activities carried out 

10 under this Act to the House and Senate Committees on 

11 the Judiciary and the House and Senate Committees on 

12 Veterans Affairs. 

13 SEC. 7. DEFINITIONS. 

14 In this Act: 

15 (1) VETERAN.—The term ‘‘veteran’’ means a 

16 person who served in the active military, naval, or 

17 air service, and who was discharged or released 

18 therefrom under conditions other than dishonorable. 

19 (2) VETERAN’S TREATMENT COURT.—The term 

20 ‘‘veteran’s treatment court’’ means a program spe21 cifically for veterans that meets the drug court cri22 teria established by the Violent Crime Control and 

23 Law Enforcement Act of 1994 (Public Law 103– 

24 322). 

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1 (3) VIOLENT OFFENDER.—The term ‘‘violent 

2 offender’’ means a person who— 

3 (A) is charged with or convicted of an of4 fense, during the course of which offense or 

5 conduct— 

6 (i) the person carried, possessed, or 

7 used a firearm or dangerous weapon; 

8 (ii) there occurred the death of or se9 rious bodily injury to any person; or 

10 (iii) there occurred the use of force 

11 against the person of another, without re12 gard to whether any of the circumstances 

13 described in clause (i) or (ii) is an element 

14 of the offense or conduct of which or for 

15 which the person is charged or convicted. 

16 (B) has 1 or more prior convictions for a 

17 felony crime of violence involving the use or at18 tempted use of force against a person with the 

19 intent to cause death or serious bodily harm. 

20 SEC. 8. ADMINISTRATION. 

21 (a) CONSULTATION.—The Attorney General shall 

22 consult with the Secretary of Veterans Affairs, the Sec23 retary of Health and Human Services, and any other ap24 propriate officials in carrying out this Act. 

25 (b) REGULATORY AUTHORITY.— 

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1 (1) IN GENERAL.—The Attorney General may 

2 issue regulations and guidelines necessary to carry 

3 out this Act. 

4 (2) PARTICIPATION LIMITS.—In additional to 

5 the general authority provided under paragraph (1), 

6 the Attorney General shall— 

7 (A) issue regulations and guidelines to en8 sure that programs authorized in this Act do 

9 not permit participation by violent offenders; 

10 and 

11 (B) immediately suspend funding for any 

12 grant under this part, pending compliance, if 

13 the Attorney General finds that violent offend14 ers are participating in any program funded 

15 under this part. 

16 (c) GEOGRAPHIC DISTRIBUTION.—The Attorney 

17 General shall ensure that, to the extent practicable, an eq18 uitable geographic distribution of grant awards is made 

19 under this Act. 

20 SEC. 9. TECHNICAL ASSISTANCE, TRAINING, AND EVALUA21 TION. 

22 (a) TECHNICAL ASSISTANCE AND TRAINING.—The 

23 Attorney General may provide technical assistance and 

24 training in furtherance of the purposes of this Act. 

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1 (b) EVALUATIONS.—The Attorney General may pro2 vide for evaluations in furtherance of the purposes of this 

3 Act. 

4 SEC. 10. FUNDING FOR THE NATIONAL DRUG COURT INSTI5 TUTE. 

6 (a) COMPREHENSIVE, NATIONAL TRAINING AND

7 TECHNICAL ASSISTANCE FOR DRUG COURTS.—The Na8 tional Drug Court Institute in Alexandria, Virginia shall— 

9 (1) conduct national, comprehensive training 

10 programs for State and local communities for the 

11 purpose of improving the professional skills of drug 

12 court practitioners and enhancing the ability of 

13 State and local communities to expand drug courts 

14 to reach all addicted citizens in need of their re15 sources; and 

16 (2) provide national, comprehensive Technical 

17 Assistance to adult, juvenile and family dependency 

18 drug courts including a combination of information 

19 gathering, needs assessment, cultural proficiency, 

20 analysis, problem solving, action planning, referral 

21 and follow-up. 

22 (b) ANCILLARY PROJECTS.—The National Drug 

23 Court Institute in Alexandria, Virginia shall complete an24 cillary programs designed to facilitate the expansion and 

25 improvement of drug courts nationwide including— 

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1 (1) a Judicial Task Force to develop a transi2 tion plan for new drug court judges; 

3 (2) a resource center to maintain and distribute 

4 drug court evaluations reviewed in the National 

5 Drug Court Institute Review, and to request new re6 search and evaluations for the drug court field; 

7 (3) publishing annually the National Drug 

8 Court Institute Review to provide research, analysis, 

9 and commentary of importance to the drug court 

10 field; and 

11 (4) searching drug court literature and identify, 

12 reprint, and disseminate important and relevant 

13 scholarship to the drug court field. 

14 (c) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—There 

15 are authorized to be appropriated to the Attorney General 

16 to carry out this section $10,000,000 for each of the fiscal 

17 years 2010 through 2015 to remain available until ex18 pended. 

19 SEC. 11. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS. 

20 Except for section 10, there are authorized to be ap21 propriated to the Director to carry out this Act 

22 $25,000,000 for each of fiscal years 2010 to 2015. 

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