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[Congressional Bills 105th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 1893 Introduced in Senate (IS)]

105th CONGRESS
  2d Session
                                S. 1893

          To establish a law enforcement block grant program.

_______________________________________________________________________

                   IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

                             March 31, 1998

    Mr. DeWine (for himself, Mr. Hatch, Mr. Leahy, and Mr. Specter) 
introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the 
                       Committee on the Judiciary

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL

 
          To establish a law enforcement block grant program.

    Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the 
United States of America in Congress assembled,

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE; DEFINITIONS.

    (a) Short Title.--This Act may be cited as the ``Local Government 
Law Enforcement Block Grant Act of 1998''.
    (b) Definitions.--In this Act:
            (1) Director.--The term ``Director'' means the Director of 
        the Bureau of Justice Assistance of the Department of Justice.
            (2) Juvenile.--The term ``juvenile'' means an individual 
        who is 17 years of age or younger.
            (3) Law enforcement expenditures.--The term ``law 
        enforcement expenditures'' means the current operation 
        expenditures associated with police, prosecutorial, legal, and 
        judicial services, and corrections as reported to the Bureau of 
        the Census.
            (4) Part 1 violent crimes.--The term ``part 1 violent 
        crimes'' means murder and nonnegligent manslaughter, forcible 
        rape, robbery, and aggravated assault as reported to the 
        Federal Bureau of Investigation for purposes of the Uniform 
        Crime Reports.
            (5) Payment period.--The term ``payment period'' means each 
        1-year period beginning on October 1 of any year in which a 
        grant under this Act is awarded.
            (6) State.--The term ``State'' means any State of the 
        United States, the District of Columbia, the Commonwealth of 
        Puerto Rico, the Virgin Islands, American Samoa, Guam, and the 
        Northern Mariana Islands, except that American Samoa, Guam, and 
        the Northern Mariana Islands shall be considered as 1 State and 
        that, for purposes of section 5(a), 33 percent of the amounts 
        allocated shall be allocated to American Samoa, 50 percent to 
        Guam, and 17 percent to the Northern Mariana Islands.
            (7) Unit of local government.--The term ``unit of local 
        government'' means--
                    (A) a county, township, city, or political 
                subdivision of a county, township, or city, that is a 
                general purpose unit of local government, as determined 
                by the Secretary of Commerce for general statistical 
                purposes, including a parish sheriff in the State of 
                Louisiana;
                    (B) the District of Columbia and the recognized 
                governing body of an Indian tribe or Alaska Native 
                village that carries out substantial governmental 
                duties and powers; and
                    (C) the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, in addition to 
                being considered a State, for the purposes set forth in 
                section 2(a)(2).

SEC. 2. PAYMENTS TO LOCAL GOVERNMENTS.

    (a) Payment and Use.--
            (1) Payment.--The Director shall pay to each unit of local 
        government that qualifies for a payment under this Act an 
        amount equal to the sum of any amounts allocated to such unit 
        under this Act for each payment period. The Director shall pay 
        such amount from amounts appropriated to carry out this Act.
            (2) Use.--Amounts paid to a unit of local government under 
        this section shall be used by the unit for reducing crime and 
        improving public safety, including but not limited to, 1 or 
        more of the following purposes:
                    (A)(i) Hiring, training, and employing on a 
                continuing basis new, additional law enforcement 
                officers and necessary support personnel.
                    (ii) Paying overtime to presently employed law 
                enforcement officers and necessary support personnel 
                for the purpose of increasing the number of hours 
                worked by such personnel.
                    (iii) Procuring equipment, technology, and other 
                material directly related to basic law enforcement 
                functions.
                    (B) Enhancing security measures--
                            (i) in and around schools; and
                            (ii) in and around any other facility or 
                        location that is considered by the unit of 
                        local government to have a special risk for 
                        incidents of crime.
                    (C) Establishing crime prevention programs that 
                may, though not exclusively, involve law enforcement 
                officials and that are intended to discourage, disrupt, 
                or interfere with the commission of criminal activity, 
                including neighborhood watch and citizen patrol 
                programs, sexual assault and domestic violence 
                programs, and programs intended to prevent juvenile 
                crime.
                    (D) Establishing or supporting drug courts.
                    (E) Establishing early intervention and prevention 
                programs for juveniles to reduce or eliminate crime.
                    (F) Enhancing the adjudication process of cases 
                involving violent offenders, including the adjudication 
                process of cases involving violent juvenile offenders.
                    (G) Enhancing programs under subpart 1 of part E of 
                the Omnibus Crime Control and Safe Streets Act of 1968.
                    (H) Establishing cooperative task forces between 
                adjoining units of local government to work 
                cooperatively to prevent and combat criminal activity, 
                particularly criminal activity that is exacerbated by 
                drug or gang-related involvement.
                    (I) Establishing a multijurisdictional task force, 
                particularly in rural areas, composed of law 
                enforcement officials representing units of local 
                government, that works with Federal law enforcement 
                officials to prevent and control crime.
                    (J) Establishing or supporting programs designed to 
                collect, record, retain, and disseminate information 
                useful in the identification, prosecution, and 
                sentencing of offenders, such as criminal history 
                information, fingerprints, DNA tests, and ballistics 
                tests.
            (3) Definitions.--In this subsection--
                    (A) the term ``violent offender'' means a person 
                charged with committing a part I violent crime; and
                    (B) the term ``drug courts'' means a program that 
                involves--
                            (i) continuing judicial supervision over 
                        offenders with substance abuse problems who are 
                        not violent offenders; and
                            (ii) the integrated administration of other 
                        sanctions and services, which shall include--
                                    (I) mandatory periodic testing for 
                                the use of controlled substances or 
                                other addictive substances during any 
                                period of supervised release or 
                                probation for each participant;
                                    (II) substance abuse treatment for 
                                each participant;
                                    (III) probation, or other 
                                supervised release involving the 
                                possibility of prosecution, 
                                confinement, or incarceration based on 
                                noncompliance with program requirements 
                                or failure to show satisfactory 
                                progress; and
                                    (IV) programmatic, offender 
                                management, and aftercare services such 
                                as relapse prevention, vocational job 
                                training, job placement, and housing 
                                placement.
    (b) Prohibited Uses.--Notwithstanding any other provision of this 
Act, a unit of local government may not expend any of the funds 
provided under this Act to purchase, lease, rent, or otherwise 
acquire--
            (1) tanks or armored personnel carriers;
            (2) fixed wing aircraft;
            (3) limousines;
            (4) real estate;
            (5) yachts;
            (6) consultants; or
            (7) vehicles not primarily used for law enforcement;
unless the Attorney General certifies that extraordinary and exigent 
circumstances exist that make the use of funds for such purposes 
essential to the maintenance of public safety and good order in such 
unit of local government. With regard to paragraph (2), such 
circumstances shall be deemed to exist with respect to a unit of local 
government in a rural State, as defined in section 1501 of the Omnibus 
Crime Control and Safe Streets Act of 1968 (42 U.S.C. 3796bb), upon 
certification by the chief law enforcement officer of the unit of local 
government that the unit of local government is experiencing an 
increase in production or cultivation of a controlled substance or 
listed chemical (as defined in section 102 of the Controlled Substances 
Act), and that the fixed wing aircraft will be used in the detection, 
disruption, or abatement of such production or cultivation.
    (c) Timing of Payments.--The Director shall pay each unit of local 
government that has submitted an application under this Act not later 
than the later of--
            (1) 90 days after the date that the amount is available; or
            (2) the first day of the payment period if the unit of 
        local government has provided the Director with the assurances 
        required by section 4(c).
    (d) Adjustments.--
            (1) In general.--Subject to paragraph (2), the Director 
        shall adjust a payment under this Act to a unit of local 
        government to the extent that a prior payment to the unit of 
        local government was more or less than the amount required to 
        be paid.
            (2) Considerations.--The Director may increase or decrease 
        under this subsection a payment to a unit of local government 
        only if the Director determines the need for the increase or 
        decrease, or if the unit requests the increase or decrease, not 
        later than 1 year after the end of the payment period for which 
        a payment was made.
    (e) Reservation for Adjustment.--The Director may reserve a 
percentage of not more than 2 percent of the amount under this section 
for a payment period for all units of local government in a State if 
the Director considers the reserve is necessary to ensure the 
availability of sufficient amounts to pay adjustments after the final 
allocation of amounts among the units of local government in the State.
    (f) Repayment of Unexpended Amounts.--
            (1) Repayment required.--A unit of local government shall 
        repay to the Director, by not later than 27 months after 
        receipt of funds from the Director, any amount that is--
                    (A) paid to the unit from amounts appropriated 
                under the authority of this section; and
                    (B) not expended by the unit within 2 years after 
                receipt of such funds from the Director.
            (2) Penalty for failure to repay.--If the amount required 
        to be repaid is not repaid, the Director shall reduce payment 
        in future payment periods accordingly.
            (3) Deposit of amounts repaid.--Amounts received by the 
        Director as repayments under this subsection shall be deposited 
        in a designated fund for future payments to units of local 
        government. Any amounts remaining in such designated fund after 
        5 years following the date of enactment of this Act shall be 
        applied to the Federal deficit or, if there is no Federal 
        deficit, to reducing the Federal debt.
    (g) Nonsupplanting Requirement.--Funds made available under this 
Act to units of local government shall not be used to supplant State or 
local funds, but shall be used to increase the amount of funds that 
would, in the absence of funds made available under this Act, be made 
available from State or local sources.
    (h) Matching Funds.--The Federal share of a grant received under 
this Act may not exceed 90 percent of the costs of a program or 
proposal funded under this Act. No funds provided under this Act may be 
used as matching funds for any other Federal grant program.

SEC. 3. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.

    (a) Authorization of Appropriations.--There are authorized to be 
appropriated to carry out this Act $750,000,000 for each of fiscal 
years 1998 through 2003.
    (b) Oversight Accountability and Administration.--Not more than 3 
percent of the amount authorized to be appropriated under subsection 
(a) for each of the fiscal years 1998 through 2003 shall be available 
to the Attorney General for studying the overall effectiveness and 
efficiency of the provisions of this Act, and assuring compliance with 
the provisions of this Act and for administrative costs to carry out 
the purposes of this Act. From the amount described in the preceding 
sentence, the Bureau of Justice Assistance shall receive such sums as 
may be necessary for the actual costs of administration and monitoring. 
The Attorney General shall establish and execute an oversight plan for 
monitoring the activities of grant recipients. Such sums are to remain 
available until expended.
    (c) Funding Source.--Appropriations for activities authorized in 
this Act may be made from the Violent Crime Reduction Trust Fund.
    (d) Technology Assistance.--Of the amount appropriated under 
subsection (a) for each of fiscal years 1998 through 2003, the Attorney 
General shall reserve--
            (1) 3 percent for use by the Bureau of Justice Assistance, 
        in coordination with the Bureau of Justice Statistics, for the 
        State Identification Systems (SIS) Grant Program for 
        information and identification technology, including the 
        Integrated Automated Fingerprint Identification System (IAFIS), 
        DNA, and ballistics systems; and
            (2) 3 percent for use by the National Institute of Justice 
        in assisting units of local government to identify, select, 
        develop, modernize, and purchase new technologies for use by 
        law enforcement.
    (e) Availability.--The amounts appropriated under subsection (a) 
shall remain available until expended.

SEC. 4. QUALIFICATION FOR PAYMENT.

    (a) In General.--The Director shall issue regulations establishing 
procedures under which a unit of local government is required to 
provide notice to the Director regarding the proposed use of funds made 
available under this Act.
    (b) Program Review.--The Director shall establish a process for the 
ongoing evaluation of projects developed with funds made available 
under this Act.
    (c) General Requirements for Qualification.--A unit of local 
government qualifies for a payment under this Act for a payment period 
only if the unit of local government submits an application to the 
Director and establishes, to the satisfaction of the Director, that--
            (1) the unit of local government has established a local 
        advisory board that--
                    (A) includes, but is not limited to, a 
                representative from--
                            (i) the local police department or local 
                        sheriff's department;
                            (ii) the local prosecutor's office;
                            (iii) the local court system;
                            (iv) the local public school system; and
                            (v) a local nonprofit, educational, 
                        religious, or community group active in crime 
                        prevention or drug use prevention or treatment;
                    (B) has reviewed the application; and
                    (C) is designated to make nonbinding 
                recommendations to the unit of local government for the 
                use of funds received under this Act;
            (2) the chief executive officer of the State has had not 
        less than 20 days to review and comment on the application 
        prior to submission to the Director;
            (3)(A) the unit of local government will establish a trust 
        fund in which the government will deposit all payments received 
        under this Act; and
            (B) the unit of local government will use amounts in the 
        trust fund (including interest) during a period not to exceed 2 
        years from the date the first grant payment is made to the unit 
        of local government;
            (4) the unit of local government will expend the payments 
        received in accordance with the laws and procedures that are 
        applicable to the expenditure of revenues of the unit of local 
        government;
            (5) the unit of local government will use accounting, 
        audit, and fiscal procedures that conform to guidelines, which 
        shall be prescribed by the Director after consultation with the 
        Comptroller General of the United States and as applicable, 
        amounts received under this Act shall be audited in compliance 
        with the Single Audit Act of 1984;
            (6) after reasonable notice from the Director or the 
        Comptroller General of the United States to the unit of local 
        government, the unit of local government will make available to 
        the Director and the Comptroller General of the United States, 
        with the right to inspect, records that the Director reasonably 
        requires to review compliance with this Act or that the 
        Comptroller General of the United States reasonably requires to 
        review compliance and operation;
            (7) a designated official of the unit of local government 
        shall make reports the Director reasonably requires, in 
        addition to the annual reports required under this Act;
            (8) the unit of local government will spend the funds made 
        available under this Act only for the purposes set forth in 
        section 2(a)(2);
            (9) the unit of local government will achieve a net gain in 
        the number of law enforcement officers who perform 
        nonadministrative public safety service if such unit uses funds 
        received under this Act to increase the number of law 
        enforcement officers as described under section 2(a)(2)(A);
            (10) the unit of local government--
                    (A) has an adequate process to assess the impact of 
                any enhancement of a school security measure that is 
                undertaken under section 2(a)(2)(B), or any crime 
                prevention programs that are established under 
                subparagraphs (C) and (E) of section 2(a)(2), on the 
                incidence of crime in the geographic area where the 
                enhancement is undertaken or the program is 
                established;
                    (B) will conduct such an assessment with respect to 
                each such enhancement or program; and
                    (C) will submit an annual written assessment report 
                to the Director; and
            (11) the unit of local government has established 
        procedures to give members of the Armed Forces who, on or after 
        October 1, 1990, were or are selected for involuntary 
        separation (as described in section 1141 of title 10, United 
        States Code), approved for separation under section 1174a or 
        1175 of such title, or retired pursuant to the authority 
        provided under section 4403 of the Defense Conversion, 
        Reinvestment, and Transition Assistance Act of 1992 (division D 
        of Public Law 102-484; 10 U.S.C. 1293 note), a suitable 
        preference in the employment of persons as additional law 
        enforcement officers or support personnel using funds made 
        available under this Act. The nature and extent of such 
        employment preference shall be jointly established by the 
        Attorney General and the Secretary of Defense. To the extent 
        practicable, the Director shall endeavor to inform members who 
        were separated between October 1, 1990, and the date of 
        enactment of this Act of their eligibility for the employment 
        preference.
    (d) Sanctions for Noncompliance.--
            (1) In general.--If the Director determines that a unit of 
        local government has not complied substantially with the 
        requirements or regulations prescribed under subsections (a) 
        and (c), the Director shall notify the unit of local government 
        that if the unit of local government does not take corrective 
        action within 60 days of such notice, the Director will 
        withhold additional payments to the unit of local government 
        for the current and future payment periods until the Director 
        is satisfied that the unit of local government--
                    (A) has taken the appropriate corrective action; 
                and
                    (B) will comply with the requirements and 
                regulations prescribed under subsections (a) and (c).
            (2) Notice.--Before giving notice under paragraph (1), the 
        Director shall give the chief executive officer of the unit of 
        local government reasonable notice and an opportunity for 
        comment.
    (e) Maintenance of Effort Requirement.--A unit of local government 
qualifies for a payment under this Act for a payment period only if the 
unit's expenditures on law enforcement services (as reported by the 
Bureau of the Census) for the fiscal year preceding the fiscal year in 
which the payment period occurs were not less than 90 percent of the 
unit's expenditures on such services for the second fiscal year 
preceding the fiscal year in which the payment period occurs.

SEC. 5. ALLOCATION AND DISTRIBUTION OF FUNDS.

    (a) State Set-Aside.--
            (1) In general.--Of the total amounts appropriated for this 
        Act for each payment period, the Director shall allocate for 
        units of local government in each State an amount that bears 
        the same ratio to such total as the average annual number of 
        part 1 violent crimes reported by such State to the Federal 
        Bureau of Investigation for the 3 most recent calendar years 
        for which such data is available, bears to the number of part 1 
        violent crimes reported by all States to the Federal Bureau of 
        Investigation for such years.
            (2) Minimum requirement.--Each State shall receive not less 
        than 0.5 percent of the total amounts appropriated under 
        section 3 under this subsection for each payment period.
            (3) Proportional reduction.--If amounts available to carry 
        out paragraph (2) for any payment period are insufficient to 
        pay in full the total payment that any State is otherwise 
        eligible to receive under paragraph (1) for such period, then 
        the Director shall reduce payments under paragraph (1) for such 
        payment period to the extent of such insufficiency. Reductions 
        under the preceding sentence shall be allocated among the 
        States (other than States whose payment is determined under 
        paragraph (2)) in the same proportions as amounts would be 
        allocated under paragraph (1) without regard to paragraph (2).
    (b) Local Distribution.--
            (1) In general.--From the amount reserved for each State 
        under subsection (a), the Director shall allocate among units 
        of local government an amount that bears the same ratio to the 
        aggregate amount of such funds as
                    (A) the product of--
                            (i) two-thirds; multiplied by
                            (ii) the ratio of the average annual number 
                        of part 1 violent crimes in such unit of local 
                        government for the 3 most recent calendar years 
                        for which such data is available, to the sum of 
                        such violent crime in all units of local 
                        government in the State; and
                    (B) the product of--
                            (i) one-third; multiplied by
                            (ii) the ratio of the law enforcement 
                        expenditure, for such unit of local government 
                        for the most recent year for which such data 
                        are available, to such expenditures for all 
                        units of local government in the State.
            (2) Expenditures.--The allocation any unit of local 
        government shall receive under paragraph (1) for a payment 
        period shall not exceed 100 percent of law enforcement 
        expenditures of the unit for such payment period.
            (3) Reallocation.--The amount of any unit of local 
        government's allocation that is not available to such unit by 
        operation of paragraph (2) shall be available to other units of 
        local government that are not affected by such operation in 
        accordance with this subsection.
            (4) Local governments with allocations of less than 
        $10,000.--If under paragraph (1) a unit of local government is 
        allotted less than $10,000 for the payment period, the amount 
        allotted shall be transferred to the chief executive officer of 
        the State who shall distribute such funds among State police 
        departments that provide law enforcement services to units of 
        local government and units of local government whose allotment 
        is less than such amount in a manner that reduces crime and 
        improves public safety.
            (5) Special rule.--If a unit of local government in the 
        State has been annexed since the date of the collection of the 
        data used by the Director in making allocations pursuant to 
        this section, the Director shall pay the amount that would have 
        been allocated to such unit of local government to the unit of 
        local government that annexed it.
    (c) Grants to Indian Tribes.--Notwithstanding subsections (a) and 
(b), of the amount appropriated under section 3(a) in each of fiscal 
years 1998 through 2003, the Attorney General shall reserve 0.3 percent 
for grants to Indian tribal governments performing law enforcement 
functions, to be used for the purposes described in section 2. To be 
eligible to receive a grant with amounts set aside under this 
subsection, an Indian tribal government shall submit to the Attorney 
General an application in such form and containing such information as 
the Attorney General may by regulation require.
    (d) Unavailability and Inaccuracy of Information.--
            (1) Data for states.--For purposes of this section, if data 
        regarding part 1 violent crimes in any State for the 3 most 
        recent calendar years is unavailable, insufficient, or 
        substantially inaccurate, the Director shall utilize the best 
        available comparable data regarding the number of violent 
        crimes for such years for such State for the purposes of 
        allocation of any funds under this Act.
            (2) Possible inaccuracy of data for units of local 
        government.--In addition to the provisions of paragraph (1), if 
        the Director believes that the reported rate of part 1 violent 
        crimes or legal expenditure information for a unit of local 
        government is insufficient or inaccurate, the Director shall--
                    (A) investigate the methodology used by such unit 
                to determine the accuracy of the submitted data; and
                    (B) when necessary, use the best available 
                comparable data regarding the number of violent crimes 
                or legal expenditure information for such years for 
                such unit of local government.

SEC. 6. UTILIZATION OF PRIVATE SECTOR.

    Funds or a portion of funds allocated under this Act may be 
utilized to contract with private, nonprofit entities or community-
based organizations to carry out the purposes specified under section 
2(a)(2).

SEC. 7. PUBLIC PARTICIPATION.

    (a) In General.--A unit of local government expending payments 
under this Act shall hold not less than 1 public hearing on the 
proposed use of the payment from the Director in relation to its entire 
budget.
    (b) Views.--At the hearing, persons shall be given an opportunity 
to provide written and oral views to the unit of local government 
authority responsible for enacting the budget.
    (c) Time and Place.--The unit of local government shall hold the 
hearing at a time and place that allows and encourages public 
attendance and participation.

SEC. 8. ADMINISTRATIVE PROVISIONS.

    The administrative provisions of part H of the Omnibus Crime 
Control and Safe Streets Act of 1968 (42 U.S.C. 3782 et seq.), shall 
apply to this Act and for purposes of this section any reference in 
such provisions to title I of the Omnibus Crime Control and Safe 
Streets Act of 1968 (42 U.S.C. 3711 et seq.) shall be deemed to be a 
reference to this Act.
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