II

106TH CONGRESS

2D SESSION S. 3045

To improve the quality, timeliness, and credibility of forensic science services

for criminal justice purposes.

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

SEPTEMBER 14, 2000

Mr. SESSIONS (for himself, Mr. CLELAND, Mr. THURMOND, Mr. MILLER, Mr.

DODD, Mr. FRIST, Mr. HATCH, Mr. LOTT, Mr. L. CHAFEE, Mr. MACK,

Mr. HELMS, Mr. SPECTER, Mr. SANTORUM, Mr. NICKLES, Mr. STEVENS,

Mr. DURBIN, Mr. COCHRAN, Mr. HUTCHINSON, Mr. WELLSTONE, Mr.

JEFFORDS, Mr. ABRAHAM, Mr. THOMAS, Mr. SHELBY, Mr. KYL, and Mr.

ASHCROFT) introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on the Judiciary

A BILL

To improve the quality, timeliness, and credibility of forensic

science services for criminal justice purposes.

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 ‘‘Paul Coverdell Na5 tional Forensic Sciences Improvement Act of 2000’’.
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1 SEC. 2. IMPROVING THE QUALITY, TIMELINESS, AND

2 CREDIBILITY OF FORENSIC SCIENCE SERV3 ICES FOR CRIMINAL JUSTICE PURPOSES.

4 (a) DESCRIPTION OF DRUG CONTROL AND SYSTEM

5 IMPROVEMENT GRANT PROGRAM.—Section 501(b) of title

6 I of the Omnibus Crime Control and Safe Streets Act of

7 1968 (42 U.S.C. 3751(b)) is amended—

8 (1) in paragraph (25), by striking ‘‘and’’ at the

9 end;

10 (2) in paragraph (26), by striking the period at

11 the end and inserting ‘‘; and’’; and

12 (3) by adding at the end the following:

13 ‘‘(27) improving the quality, timeliness, and credi14 bility of forensic science services for criminal justice pur15 poses.’’.

16 (b) STATE APPLICATIONS.—Section 503(a) of title I

17 of the Omnibus Crime Control and Safe Streets Act of

18 1968 (42 U.S.C. 3753(a)) is amended by adding at the

19 end the following:

20 ‘‘(13) If any part of the amount received from a grant

21 under this part is to be used to improve the quality, timeli22 ness, and credibility of forensic science services for crimi23 nal justice purposes, a certification that, as of the date

24 of enactment of this paragraph, the State has an

25 established—
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1 ‘‘(A) forensic science laboratory or forensic

2 science laboratory system, that—

3 ‘‘(i) employs 1 or more full-time

4 scientists—

5 ‘‘(I) whose principal duties are the ex6 amination of physical evidence for law en7 forcement agencies in criminal matters;

8 and

9 ‘‘(II) who provide testimony with re10 spect to such physical evidence to the

11 criminal justice system;

12 ‘‘(ii) employs generally accepted practices

13 and procedures, as established by appropriate

14 accrediting organizations; and

15 ‘‘(iii) is accredited by the Laboratory Ac16 creditation Board of the American Society of

17 Crime Laboratory Directors or the National As18 sociation of Medical Examiners, or will use a

19 portion of the grant amount to prepare and

20 apply for such accreditation by not later than 2

21 years after the date on which a grant is initially

22 awarded under this paragraph; or

23 ‘‘(B) medical examiner’s office (as defined by

24 the National Association of Medical Examiners)

25 that—
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1 ‘‘(i) employs generally accepted practices

2 and procedures, as established by appropriate

3 accrediting organizations; and

4 ‘‘(ii) is accredited by the Laboratory Ac5 creditation Board of the American Society of

6 Crime Laboratory Directors or the National As7 sociation of Medical Examiners, or will use a

8 portion of the grant amount to prepare and

9 apply for such accreditation by not later than 2

10 years after the date on which a grant is initially

11 awarded under this paragraph.’’.

12 (c) FORENSIC SCIENCES IMPROVEMENT GRANTS.—

13 (1) IN GENERAL.—Title I of the Omnibus

14 Crime Control and Safe Streets Act of 1968 (42

15 U.S.C. 3711 et seq.) is amended—

16 (A) by redesignating part Z as part AA

17 and redesignating section 2601 as section 2701;

18 and

19 (B) by inserting after part Y the following:

20 ‘‘PART Z—FORENSIC SCIENCES IMPROVEMENT

21 GRANTS

22 ‘‘SEC. 2601. GRANT AUTHORIZATION.

23 ‘‘The Attorney General shall award grants to States

24 in accordance with this part.
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1 ‘‘SEC. 2602. APPLICATIONS.

2 ‘‘To request a grant under this part, a State shall

3 submit to the Attorney General—

4 ‘‘(1) a certification that the State has developed

5 a consolidated State plan under a program described

6 in section 2604(a), and a specific description of the

7 manner in which the grant will be used to carry out

8 that plan;

9 ‘‘(2) a certification that any forensic science

10 laboratory system, medical examiner’s office, or

11 coroner’s office in the State that will receive any

12 portion of the grant amount uses generally accepted

13 laboratory practices and procedures, established by

14 accrediting organizations; and

15 ‘‘(3) a specific description of any new facility to

16 be constructed as part of the program described in

17 paragraph (1), and the estimated costs of that facil18 ity, and a certification that grant will not be used

19 to fund more than 40 percent of the total costs of

20 that facility.

21 ‘‘SEC. 2603. ALLOCATION.

22 ‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—Of the amount made available

23 to carry out this part in each fiscal year, each State that

24 meets the requirements of section 2602 shall receive an

25 amount that bears the same ratio to the total amount

26 made available to carry out this part for that fiscal year
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1 as the population of the State bears to the population of

2 all States.

3 ‘‘(b) STATE DEFINED.—In this section, the term

4 ‘State’ means each of the several States, the District of

5 Columbia, the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, the Virgin

6 Islands, American Samoa, Guam, and the Commonwealth

7 of the Northern Mariana Islands, except that—

8 ‘‘(1) for purposes of the allocation under this

9 section, American Samoa and the Commonwealth of

10 the Northern Mariana Islands shall be considered as

11 1 State; and

12 ‘‘(2) for purposes of paragraph (1), 67 percent

13 of the amount allocated shall be allocated to Amer14 ican Samoa, and 33 percent shall be allocated to the

15 Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands.

16 ‘‘SEC. 2604. USE OF GRANTS.

17 ‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—A State that receives a grant

18 under this part shall use the grant to carry out all or a

19 substantial part of a program intended to improve the

20 quality and timeliness of forensic science or medical exam21 iner services in the State.

22 ‘‘(b) PERMITTED CATEGORIES OF FUNDING.—Sub23 ject to subsections (c) and (d), a grant awarded under this

24 part—
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1 ‘‘(1) may only be used for program expenses re2 lating to facilities, personnel, computerization, equip3 ment, supplies, accreditation and certification, edu4 cation, and training; and

5 ‘‘(2) may not be used for any general law en6 forcement or nonforensic investigatory function.

7 ‘‘(c) FACILITIES COSTS.—A grant awarded under

8 this part may not be used to fund more than 40 percent

9 of the total costs of any new facility constructed as part

10 of a program described in subsection (a).

11 ‘‘(d) ADMINISTRATIVE COSTS.—Not more than 10

12 percent of the total amount of a grant awarded under this

13 part may be used for administrative expenses.

14 ‘‘SEC. 2605. ADMINISTRATIVE PROVISIONS.

15 ‘‘(a) REGULATIONS.—The Attorney General may pro16 mulgate such guidelines, regulations, and procedures as

17 may be necessary to carry out this part, including guide18 lines, regulations, and procedures relating to the submis19 sion and review of applications for grants under section

20 2602.

21 ‘‘(b) EXPENDITURE RECORDS.—

22 ‘‘(1) RECORDS.—Each State that receives a

23 grant under this part shall maintain such records as

24 the Attorney General may require to facilitate an ef-
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1 fective audit relating to the receipt of the grant, or

2 the use of the grant amount.

3 ‘‘(2) ACCESS.—The Attorney General and the

4 Comptroller General of the United States, or a des5 ignee thereof, shall have access, for the purpose of

6 audit and examination, to any book, document, or

7 record of a State that receives a grant under this

8 part, if, in the determination of the Attorney Gen9 eral, Comptroller General, or designee thereof, the

10 book, document, or record is related to the receipt

11 of the grant, or the use of the grant amount.

12 ‘‘SEC. 2606. REPORTS.

13 ‘‘(a) REPORTS TO ATTORNEY GENERAL.—For each

14 fiscal year for which a grant is awarded under this part,

15 each State that receives such a grant shall submit to the

16 Attorney General a report, at such time and in such man17 ner as the Attorney General may reasonably require,

18 which report shall include—

19 ‘‘(1) a summary and assessment of the program

20 carried out with the grant;

21 ‘‘(2) the average number of days between sub22 mission of a sample to a forensic science laboratory

23 or forensic science laboratory system in that State

24 and the delivery of test results to the requesting of25 fice or agency; and
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1 ‘‘(3) such other information as the Attorney

2 General may require.

3 ‘‘(b) REPORTS TO CONGRESS.—Not later than 90

4 days after the last day of each fiscal year for which 1 or

5 more grants are awarded under this part, the Attorney

6 General shall submit to the Speaker of the House of Rep7 resentatives and the President pro tempore of the Senate,

8 a report, which shall include—

9 ‘‘(1) the aggregate amount of grants awarded

10 under this part for that fiscal year; and

11 ‘‘(2) a summary of the information provided

12 under subsection (a).’’.

13 (2) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—

14 (A) IN GENERAL.—Section 1001(a) of title

15 I of the Omnibus Crime Control and Safe

16 Streets Act of 1968 (42 U.S.C. 3753(a)) is

17 amended by adding at the end the following:

18 ‘‘(24) There are authorized to be appropriated

19 to carry out part Z, to remain available until

20 expended—

21 ‘‘(A) $55,000,000 for fiscal year 2001;

22 ‘‘(B) $130,600,000 for fiscal year 2002;

23 ‘‘(C) $204,600,000 for fiscal year 2003;

24 ‘‘(D) $194,600,000 for fiscal year 2004;

25 ‘‘(E) $87,600,000 for fiscal year 2005; and
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1 ‘‘(F) $65,600,000 for fiscal year 2006.’’.

2 (B) BACKLOG ELIMINATION.—There is au3 thorized to be appropriated $30,000,000 for fis4 cal year 2001 for the elimination of DNA con5 victed offender database sample backlogs and

6 for other related purposes, as provided in the

7 Departments of Commerce, Justice, and State,

8 the Judiciary, and Related Agencies Appropria9 tions Act, 2001.

10 (3) TABLE OF CONTENTS.—Title I of the Om11 nibus Crime Control and Safe Streets Act of 1968

12 (42 U.S.C. 3711 et seq.) is amended by striking the

13 table of contents.

Æ