I 

112TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 2026 

To provide grants to establish veteran’s treatment courts. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

MAY 26, 2011 

Mr. CICILLINE (for himself, Mr. KEATING, Mr. LANGEVIN, Mr. BOREN, Mr. 

LUJA ́N, Mr. COURTNEY, Mr. DEFAZIO, Ms. SLAUGHTER, Mr. HIGGINS, 

and Ms. JACKSON LEE of Texas) 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 applicaVerDate Mar 15 2010 04:39 Jun 02, 2011 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2026.IH H2026

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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 reVerDate Mar 15 2010 04:39 Jun 02, 2011 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2026.IH H2026

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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 VetVerDate Mar 15 2010 04:39 Jun 02, 2011 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2026.IH H2026

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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 or 

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

18 felony crime of violence involving the use or at19 tempted use of force against a person with the 

20 intent to cause death or serious bodily harm. 

21 SEC. 8. ADMINISTRATION. 

22 (a) CONSULTATION.—The Attorney General shall 

23 consult with the Secretary of Veterans Affairs, the Sec24 retary of Health and Human Services, and any other ap25 propriate officials in carrying out this Act. 


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1 (b) REGULATORY AUTHORITY.— 

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

3 issue regulations and guidelines necessary to carry 

4 out this Act. 

5 (2) PARTICIPATION LIMITS.—In addition to the 

6 general authority provided under paragraph (1), the 

7 Attorney General shall— 

8 (A) issue regulations and guidelines to en9 sure that programs authorized in this Act do 

10 not permit participation by violent offenders; 

11 and 

12 (B) immediately suspend funding for any 

13 grant under this part, pending compliance, if 

14 the Attorney General finds that violent offend15 ers are participating in any program funded 

16 under this part. 

17 (c) GEOGRAPHIC DISTRIBUTION.—The Attorney 

18 General shall ensure that, to the extent practicable, an eq19 uitable geographic distribution of grant awards is made 

20 under this Act. 

21 SEC. 9. TECHNICAL ASSISTANCE, TRAINING, AND EVALUA22 TION. 

23 (a) TECHNICAL ASSISTANCE AND TRAINING.—The 

24 Attorney General may provide technical assistance and 

25 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, 

9 shall— 

10 (1) conduct national, comprehensive training 

11 programs for State and local communities for the 

12 purpose of improving the professional skills of drug 

13 court practitioners and enhancing the ability of 

14 State and local communities to expand drug courts 

15 to reach all addicted citizens in need of their re16 sources; and 

17 (2) provide national, comprehensive Technical 

18 Assistance to adult, juvenile and family dependency 

19 drug courts including a combination of information 

20 gathering, needs assessment, cultural proficiency, 

21 analysis, problem solving, action planning, referral 

22 and follow-up. 

23 (b) ANCILLARY PROJECTS.—The National Drug 

24 Court Institute in Alexandria, Virginia, shall complete anVerDate Mar 15 2010 04:39 Jun 02, 2011 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00009 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2026.IH H2026

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1 cillary programs designed to facilitate the expansion and 

2 improvement of drug courts nationwide including— 

3 (1) a Judicial Task Force to develop a transi4 tion plan for new drug court judges; 

5 (2) a resource center to maintain and distribute 

6 drug court evaluations reviewed in the National 

7 Drug Court Institute Review, and to request new re8 search and evaluations for the drug court field; 

9 (3) publishing annually the National Drug 

10 Court Institute Review to provide research, analysis, 

11 and commentary of importance to the drug court 

12 field; and 

13 (4) searching drug court literature and identify, 

14 reprint, and disseminate important and relevant 

15 scholarship to the drug court field. 

16 (c) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—There 

17 are authorized to be appropriated to the Attorney General 

18 such sums as may be necessary to carry out this section. 

19 SEC. 11. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS. 

20 Except for section 10, there are authorized to be ap21 propriated to the Director such sums as may be necessary 

22 to carry out this Act. 

Æ 


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