I

103D CONGRESS

1ST SESSION H. R. 840

To establish a national program to reduce the incidence of stalking.

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

FEBRUARY 4, 1993

Mr. KENNEDY (for himself, Mr. MEEHAN, Mr. NEAL of Massachusetts, and

Mr. ROYCE) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on the Judiciary

A BILL

To establish a national program to reduce the incidence

of stalking.

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 Stalker Re5 duction Act of 1993’’.

6 SEC. 2. FINDINGS.

7 The Congress finds that—

8 (1) stalking, which is the willful, malicious, and

9 repeated following or harassing by an individual who

10 makes a threat with the intent to place another indi-
2

•HR 840 IH

1 vidual in imminent fear of death or serious bodily in2 jury, often is part of a pattern of behavior within

3 the scope of domestic violence;

4 (2) there is insufficient data available to deter5 mine the extent and number of incidents of stalking;

6 (3) nearly 30 percent of all female murders are

7 attributed to domestic violence;

8 (4) State criminal statutes often do not apply

9 to stalking, and more than 50 percent of the States

10 have failed to enact legislation that includes stalk11 ing; and

12 (5) the prolonged suffering of victims from

13 stalking has been frequently reported by the media,

14 and victims, their families, and friends.

15 SEC. 3. ENACTMENT OF STATE ANTI-STALKING LEGISLA16 TION.

17 (a) PROGRAMS REGARDING STALKING.—Section

18 501(b) of title I of the Omnibus Crime Control and Safe

19 Streets Act of 1968 is amended—

20 (1) by striking the period at the end of para21 graph (21) and adding ‘‘; and’’; and

22 (2) by adding at the end the following:

23 ‘‘(22) programs that increase awareness, re24 porting, and prevention of stalking.’’.
3

•HR 840 IH

1 (b) FORMULA GRANT REDUCTION FOR NONCOMPLI2 ANCE.—Section 506 of title I of the Omnibus Crime Con3 trol and Safe Streets Act of 1968 is amended by adding

4 at the end the following:

5 ‘‘(g) In order not to reduce the funds available under

6 this subpart by 25 percent (for redistribution to other par7 ticipating States), a State shall, on the first day of each

8 fiscal year succeeding the first fiscal year beginning after

9 September 30, 1994, meet the following requirements:

10 ‘‘(1) Have in effect throughout the State in

11 such fiscal year a law which—

12 ‘‘(A) makes it unlawful for an individual to

13 willfully, maliciously, and repeatedly follow or

14 harass another individual while making a threat

15 with the intent to place such individual in immi16 nent fear of death or serious bodily injury;

17 ‘‘(B) provides a minimum penalty of—

18 ‘‘(i) in the case of a first offense, a

19 fine of not less than $1,000 or imprison20 ment for not more than 5 years, or both;

21 ‘‘(ii) in the case of violation of a tem22 porary or permanent vacate, restraining, or

23 no-contact order or judgment issued under

24 State law, imprisonment for not less than

25 one year, but not more than 5 years;
4

•HR 840 IH

1 ‘‘(iii) in any other case, imprisonment

2 for not less than 2 years, but not more

3 than 10 years.

4 ‘‘(2) Require that the State, in consultation

5 with State or local domestic violence coalitions, de6 velop training programs for law enforcement, judi7 cial, and court personnel.

8 ‘‘(3) Require each public agency in the State

9 which employs law enforcement officers or judicial

10 personnel to report information regarding domestic

11 violence offenses to a designated statewide central

12 registry in the State.

13 ‘‘(4) Require judicial personnel to search and

14 examine the central registry of statewide domestic

15 violence records when petitioned for a civil restrain16 ing order.

17 ‘‘(5) Require judicial personnel to report infor18 mation regarding a defendant to law enforcement

19 personnel when an outstanding warrant exists.’’.

20 SEC. 4. STATE DATA BASES.

21 (a) ALLOCATION RESERVATION.—Subject to sub22 section (d), each State which receives funds under section

23 506 of the Omnibus Crime Control and Safe Streets Act

24 of 1968 in a fiscal year shall allocate not less than 5 per-
5

•HR 840 IH

1 cent of such funds for the development of records regard2 ing stalking and other forms of domestic violence.

3 (b) DEVELOPMENT OF RECORDS.—The development

4 of records referred to in subsection (a) shall include—

5 (1) the development or expansion of maintain6 ing records regarding the dispositions of all com7 plaints and arrests for stalking and other forms of

8 domestic violence;

9 (2) the full automation of such records; and

10 (3) the frequency and quality of reports sent to

11 the Bureau of Justice Statistics.

12 (c) The Director, in consultation with the Director

13 of the Bureau of Justice Statistics, shall establish guide14 lines for the fulfillment of the requirements specified in

15 subsections (a) and (b) of this section.

16 (d) In accordance with such guidelines as the Direc17 tor shall issue and at the request of a State, the Director

18 may—

19 (1) waive compliance with subsection (a) by

20 such State; or

21 (2) authorize such State to reduce the mini22 mum amount such State is required to allocate

23 under subsection (a);

24 if the Director finds that the quality of the States’ records

25 regarding stalking and domestic violence complaints and
6

•HR 840 IH

1 arrests does not warrant expending the amount allocated

2 under subsection (a).

3 SEC. 5. NATIONAL INFORMATION.

4 (a) DEFINITIONS.—Not later than 6 months after the

5 date of the enactment of this Act, the Bureau of Justice

6 Statistics shall define terms that relate to stalking and

7 make such definitions available to individuals and groups

8 that request such information.

9 (b) COLLECTION OF DATA.—Not later than 2 years

10 after the date of the enactment of this Act, the Bureau

11 of Justice Statistics, in coordination with the Federal Bu12 reau of Investigation and the States, shall compile a na13 tional data base regarding stalking civil protective orders

14 and other forms of domestic violence.

15 SEC. 6. REPORTING.

16 The Director of the Bureau of Justice Assistance

17 shall submit to the Congress an annual report, beginning

18 one year after the date of the enactment of this Act, that

19 evaluates the effectiveness of State anti-stalking efforts

20 and legislation.

Æ