II 

113TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. 975 

To provide for the inclusion of court-appointed guardianship improvement 

and oversight activities under the Elder Justice Act of 2009. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

MAY 16, 2013 

Ms. KLOBUCHAR (for herself and Mr. CORNYN) introduced the following bill; 

which was read twice and referred to the Committee on the Judiciary 

A BILL 

To provide for the inclusion of court-appointed guardianship 

improvement and oversight activities under the Elder 

Justice Act of 2009. 

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 ‘‘Court-Appointed 

5 Guardian Accountability and Senior Protection Act’’. 

6 SEC. 2. COURT-APPOINTED GUARDIANSHIP OVERSIGHT AC7 TIVITIES UNDER THE ELDER JUSTICE ACT OF 

8 2009. 

9 Section 2042(c) of the Social Security Act (42 U.S.C. 

10 1397m–1(c)) is amended— 


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1 (1) in paragraph (1), by inserting ‘‘(and, in the 

2 case of demonstration programs described in para3 graph (2)(E), to the highest courts of States)’’ after 

4 ‘‘States’’; 

5 (2) in paragraph (2)— 

6 (A) in the matter preceding subparagraph 

7 (A), by inserting ‘‘(and the highest courts of 

8 States, in the case of demonstration programs 

9 described in subparagraph (E))’’ after ‘‘local 

10 units of government’’; 

11 (B) in subparagraph (D), by striking ‘‘or’’ 

12 after the semicolon; 

13 (C) by redesignating subparagraph (E) as 

14 subparagraph (F); and 

15 (D) by inserting after subparagraph (E), 

16 the following new subparagraph: 

17 ‘‘(E) subject to paragraph (3), programs 

18 to assess the fairness, effectiveness, timeliness, 

19 safety, integrity, and accessibility of adult 

20 guardianship and conservatorship proceedings, 

21 including the appointment and the monitoring 

22 of the performance of court-appointed guard23 ians and conservators, and to implement 

24 changes deemed necessary as a result of the as25 sessments such as mandating background 


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1 checks for all potential guardians and conserva2 tors, and implementing systems to enable the 

3 annual accountings and other required con4 servatorship and guardianship filings to be com5 pleted, filed, and reviewed electronically in order 

6 to simplify the filing process for conservators 

7 and guardians and better enable courts to iden8 tify discrepancies and detect fraud and the ex9 ploitation of protected persons; or’’; 

10 (3) by redesignating paragraphs (3), (4), and 

11 (5) as paragraphs (4), (5), and (6), respectively; 

12 (4) by inserting after paragraph (2), the fol13 lowing new paragraph: 

14 ‘‘(3) REQUIREMENTS FOR COURT-APPOINTED

15 GUARDIANSHIP OVERSIGHT DEMONSTRATION PRO16 GRAMS.— 

17 ‘‘(A) AWARD OF GRANTS.—The Secretary 

18 shall award grants to the highest courts of 

19 States for demonstration programs described in 

20 paragraph (2)(E) based on the recommenda21 tions of the Attorney General and the State 

22 Justice Institute. 

23 ‘‘(B) COLLABORATION.—The highest court 

24 of a State awarded a grant to conduct a dem25 onstration program described in paragraph 


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1 (2)(E) shall collaborate with the State Unit on 

2 Aging for the State and the Adult Protective 

3 Services agency for the State in conducting the 

4 demonstration program.’’; 

5 (5) in paragraph (4) (as redesignated by para6 graph (3) of this section), by inserting ‘‘(and, in the 

7 case of demonstration programs described in para8 graph (2)(E), the highest court of a State)’’ after ‘‘a 

9 State’’; and 

10 (6) in paragraph (5) (as so redesignated), by 

11 inserting ‘‘(or, in the case of demonstration pro12 grams described in paragraph (2)(E), the highest 

13 court of a State)’’ after ‘‘State’’ each place it ap14 pears. 

Æ 


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