II 

110TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION S. 3143 

To assist law enforcement agencies in locating, arresting, and prosecuting 

fugitives from justice. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

JUNE 17, 2008 

Mr. DURBIN (for himself and Mrs. DOLE) introduced the following bill; which 

was read twice and referred to the Committee on the Judiciary 

A BILL 

To assist law enforcement agencies in locating, arresting, 

and prosecuting fugitives from justice. 

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 ‘‘Capture Arrest and 

5 Transport Charged Fugitives Act of 2008’’. 

6 SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 

7 Congress finds the following: 

8 (1) Nationwide, there are an estimated 

9 2,800,000 to 3,200,000 active Federal, State, and 


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1 local warrants for the arrest of persons charged with 

2 felony crimes. 

3 (2) State and local law enforcement authorities 

4 have insufficient resources to devote to searching for 

5 and apprehending fugitives. As a result, large num6 bers of fugitives evade arrest. State and local law 

7 enforcement authorities also lack resources for ex8 traditing fugitives who have been arrested in other 

9 States. As a result, such fugitives frequently escape 

10 prosecution. 

11 (3) Increasing the resources available for con12 ducting fugitive investigations and transporting fugi13 tives between States would increase the number of 

14 fugitives who are arrested and prosecuted. 

15 (4) The United States Marshals Service (re16 ferred to in this Act as the ‘‘USMS’’) plays an inte17 gral role in the apprehension of fugitives in the 

18 United States, and has a long history of providing 

19 assistance and expertise to other law enforcement 

20 agencies in support of fugitive investigations. 

21 (5)(A) Pursuant to the Presidential Threat 

22 Protection Act of 2000, the USMS created the Re23 gional Fugitive Task Force (referred to in this Act 

24 as the ‘‘RFTF’’) program. Through the RFTFs, the 

25 USMS combines the efforts and resources of FedVerDate Aug 31 2005 23:58 Jun 18, 2008 Jkt 069200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S3143.IS S3143

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1 eral, State, and local law enforcement authorities for 

2 the purpose of locating and apprehending fugitives. 

3 (B) Between 2002 and 2006, the USMS estab4 lished 6 RFTFs— 

5 (i) the New York/New Jersey RFTF, 

6 based in New York, NY; 

7 (ii) the Pacific Southwest RFTF, based in 

8 Los Angeles, CA; 

9 (iii) the Great Lakes RFTF, based in Chi10 cago, IL; 

11 (iv) the Southeast RFTF, based in At12 lanta, GA; 

13 (v) the Capital Area RFTF, based in 

14 Washington, DC; and 

15 (vi) the Gulf Coast RFTF, based in Bir16 mingham, AL. 

17 (6) More than 230 Federal, State, and local law 

18 enforcement agencies have partnered with the 6 

19 RFTFs, creating a ‘‘force multiplier’’ that signifi20 cantly expands the capacity of each agency to locate 

21 and apprehend fugitives. Since their inception, these 

22 6 RFTFs have arrested approximately 90,000 Fed23 eral and State felony fugitive arrests. However, the 

24 USMS has not received significant resources for de25 veloping additional RFTFs since 2006. 


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1 (7)(A) The USMS believes that the following 

2 geographic areas of the United States would benefit 

3 from the creation of an RFTF: 

4 (i) The Carolinas. 

5 (ii) The Caribbean. 

6 (iii) Texas. 

7 (iv) New England. 

8 (v) Florida. 

9 (vi) Northern California. 

10 (vii) The Heartland. 

11 (viii) Michigan and Ohio. 

12 (ix) Pacific Northwest. 

13 (x) Mountain. 

14 (xi) Mid-Atlantic. 

15 (xii) Southwest. 

16 (B) The establishment of RFTFs in each of 

17 these additional regions would enable the USMS to 

18 provide effective fugitive location and apprehension 

19 assistance to every state and territory in the United 

20 States. 

21 (8) The USMS utilizes the Justice Prisoner and 

22 Alien Transportation Service (referred to in this Act 

23 as the ‘‘JPATS’’) to transport Federal detainees 

24 and prisoners. It also makes JPATS available to a 

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1 ment agencies on a reimbursable, space-available 

2 basis for the purpose of transporting a fugitive from 

3 the place where the fugitive was arrested to the ju4 risdiction that issued the warrant for the fugitive’s 

5 arrest. Through JPATS, these agencies are able to 

6 reduce the cost of extradition significantly. 

7 (9) Expanding JPATS so that the USMS can 

8 make it available to all State and local law enforce9 ment agencies that participate in a RFTF would 

10 lower the cost of transporting fugitives for extra11 dition and lead to the prosecution of a greater num12 ber of fugitives. 

13 (10) Since 1967, the Federal Bureau of Inves14 tigation has operated the National Crime Informa15 tion Center (referred to in this Act as the ‘‘NCIC’’), 

16 which administers a nationwide database containing 

17 criminal history information from the Federal Gov18 ernment and the States, including outstanding ar19 rest warrants. The NCIC database allows a law en20 forcement officer who stops a person in one State to 

21 obtain information about a warrant for that person 

22 issued in another State. It contains approximately 

23 1,300,000 felony and misdemeanor warrants. It is 

24 missing over half of the country’s 2,800,000 to 


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1 3,200,000 felony warrants, including warrants for 

2 hundreds of thousands of violent crimes. 

3 (11) A State’s failure to enter a warrant into 

4 the NCIC database enables a fugitive to escape ar5 rest even when the fugitive is stopped by a law en6 forcement officer in another State, because such offi7 cer did not have accurate information about the war8 rant. Many such fugitives go on to commit addi9 tional crimes. In addition, they pose a danger to offi10 cers who encounter them but have no knowledge of 

11 their pending charges or record of fleeing law en12 forcement authorities. 

13 (12) Improving the completeness of the warrant 

14 records in the NCIC database would enable law en15 forcement officers to identify and arrest a larger 

16 number of fugitives and would improve the safety of 

17 these officers. 

18 SEC. 3. DEFINITIONS. 

19 As used in this Act, the following definitions shall 

20 apply: 

21 (1) ACTIVE WARRANT.—The term ‘‘active war22 rant’’ means a warrant that has not been cleared. 

23 (2) CLEAR A WARRANT.—The term ‘‘clear a 

24 warrant’’ means the execution of a warrant by arrest 

25 or a determination by a law enforcement agency that 


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1 a warrant has already been executed or that the sub2 ject of a warrant is incarcerated or deceased. 

3 (3) FELONY WARRANT.—The term ‘‘felony war4 rant’’ means a warrant for a crime that is punish5 able by a term of imprisonment exceeding 1 year, 

6 whether or not the jurisdiction that issued the war7 rant anticipates extradition. 

8 (4) SERIOUS MISDEMEANOR WARRANT.—The 

9 term ‘‘serious misdemeanor warrant’’ means a war10 rant for a crime that is punishable by a term of im11 prisonment for 1 year or less but that involves do12 mestic violence, as described in section 

13 921(a)(33)(A)(ii) of title 18, United States Code, or 

14 child pornography as defined in section 2256 of title 

15 18, United States Code, whether or not the jurisdic16 tion that issued the warrant anticipates extradition. 

17 (5) STATE.—The term ‘‘State’’ means any 

18 State of the United States, the District of Columbia, 

19 the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, the Virgin Is20 lands, American Samoa, Guam, the Northern Mar21 iana Islands, and any Indian Tribe that performs 

22 law enforcement functions, as determined by the 

23 Secretary of the Interior. 

24 (6) UNIT OF LOCAL GOVERNMENT.—The term 

25 ‘‘unit of local government’’ means— 


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1 (A) any city, county, township, borough, 

2 parish, village, or other general purpose polit3 ical subdivision of a State; or 

4 (B) any law enforcement district or judicial 

5 enforcement district that is established under 

6 applicable State law and has the authority to, 

7 in a manner independent of other State entities, 

8 establish a budget and impose taxes. 

9 TITLE I—EXPANSION OF THE 

10 UNITED STATES MARSHAL 

11 SERVICE FUGITIVE APPRE12 HENSION PROGRAM 

13 SEC. 101. AUTHORIZATION OF FUNDING FOR ADDITIONAL 

14 UNITED STATES MARSHAL SERVICE RE15 GIONAL FUGITIVE TASK FORCES. 

16 Section 6(b) of the Presidential Threat Protection 

17 Act of 2000 (28 U.S.C. 566 note; Public Law 106–544) 

18 is amended by striking ‘‘and $10,000,000 for each of fiscal 

19 years 2008 through 2012’’ and inserting ‘‘$10,000,000 for 

20 fiscal year 2008, and $50,000,000 for each of fiscal years 

21 2009 through 2012 and $25,000,000 for each of fiscal 

22 years 2013 through 2015 for— 

23 ‘‘(1) hiring senior-level criminal investigator 

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1 crease the staffing of the 6 existing Regional Fugi2 tive Task Forces; 

3 ‘‘(2) establishing new Regional Fugitive Task 

4 Forces in the areas of the country not currently 

5 served by existing Regional Fugitive Task Forces; 

6 ‘‘(3) hiring senior-level criminal investigator 

7 deputy marshals and administrative analysts to staff 

8 each new Regional Fugitive Task Force established 

9 under this section; 

10 ‘‘(4) hiring senior-level criminal investigator 

11 deputy marshals to increase the staffing of the 

12 United States Marshals Service Technical Oper13 ations Group, which provides electronic and air sur14 veillance in support of fugitive investigations; 

15 ‘‘(5) providing training facilities and enhancing 

16 training opportunities for Federal, State, and local 

17 task force officers from agencies that participate in 

18 the Regional Fugitive Task Forces; and 

19 ‘‘(6) other activities related to those described 

20 in paragraphs (1) through (5). 

21 Any funds made available under this subsection shall re22 main available until expended.’’. 


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1 SEC. 102. AUTHORIZATION OF FUNDING FOR FUGITIVE EX2 TRADITIONS. 

3 (a) AUTHORIZATION.—The Attorney General shall 

4 assist States and units of local government that partici5 pate in a Regional Fugitive Task Force by securing trans6 portation services for the extradition of fugitives via the 

7 United States Marshal Service Justice Prisoner and Alien 

8 Transportation Service. 

9 (b) FUNDING.—There are authorized to be appro10 priated to carry out this section $2,000,000 for each of 

11 fiscal years 2009 through 2015. Any funds made available 

12 under this section shall remain available until expended. 

13 TITLE II—EXTRADITION ASSIST14 ANCE AND TRANSMITTAL OF 

15 WARRANTS TO THE NCIC 

16 SEC. 201. EXTRADITION ASSISTANCE TO STATES. 

17 (a) GRANT ASSISTANCE.— 

18 (1) AUTHORIZATION OF GRANT ASSISTANCE.— 

19 (A) IN GENERAL.—The Attorney General 

20 shall, subject to subsection (b)(2), make grants 

21 to States for periods of 1 year per grant which 

22 shall be used by the States and units of local 

23 government to extradite a person from another 

24 State for prosecution. 

25 (B) SET ASIDE.—Up to 5 percent of the 

26 grant funding available under this section may 


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1 be reserved for Indian tribal governments, in2 cluding tribal judicial systems. 

3 (2) MATCHING FUNDS.—The Federal share of a 

4 grant received under this section may not exceed 80 

5 percent of the costs of a program or proposal funded 

6 under this title unless the Attorney General waives, 

7 wholly or in part, the requirements of this paragraph 

8 in the event of extraordinary circumstances. 

9 (3) CONDITIONS.— 

10 (A) FIRST PERIOD.—During the 2-year pe11 riod beginning 3 years after the date of enact12 ment of this Act— 

13 (i) a State shall not be eligible to re14 ceive a grant under this section if it pro15 vides less than 50 percent of the records 

16 required to be provided under this section, 

17 as determined for the State by the Attor18 ney General under subsection (d), or fails 

19 to provide an estimate of the total number 

20 of active felony and serious misdemeanor 

21 warrants issued by the State and units of 

22 local government within the State, as re23 quired by subsection (b); and 

24 (ii) a State shall not provide any por25 tion of a grant received under this section 


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1 to a unit of local government that provides 

2 to the NCIC less than 50 percent of the 

3 total number of serious misdemeanor and 

4 felony warrants that it has issued, as de5 termined by the State and consistent with 

6 the method determined by the Attorney 

7 General in subsection (d). 

8 (B) SECOND PERIOD.—During the 2-year 

9 period beginning 5 years after the date of en10 actment of this Act— 

11 (i) a State shall not be eligible to re12 ceive a grant under this section if it pro13 vides less than 70 percent of the records 

14 required to be provided under this section, 

15 as determined for the State by the Attor16 ney General under subsection (d), or fails 

17 to provide an estimate of the total number 

18 of active felony and serious misdemeanor 

19 warrants issued by the State and units of 

20 local government within the State, as re21 quired by subsection (b); and 

22 (ii) a State shall not provide any por23 tion of a grant received under this section 

24 to a unit of local government that provides 

25 to the NCIC less than 70 percent of the 


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1 total number of serious misdemeanor and 

2 felony warrants that it has issued, as de3 termined by the State and consistent with 

4 the method determined by the Attorney 

5 General in subsection (d). 

6 (C) THIRD PERIOD.—After the expiration 

7 of the period referred to in subparagraph (B)— 

8 (i) a State shall not be eligible to re9 ceive a grant under this section if it pro10 vides less than 90 percent of the records 

11 required to be provided under this section, 

12 as determined for the State by the Attor13 ney General under subsection (d), or fails 

14 to provide an estimate of the total number 

15 of active felony and serious misdemeanor 

16 warrants issued by the State and units of 

17 local government within the State, as re18 quired by subsection (b); and 

19 (ii) a State shall not provide any por20 tion of a grant received under this section 

21 to a unit of local government that provides 

22 to the NCIC less than 90 percent of the 

23 total number of serious misdemeanor and 

24 felony warrants that it has issued, as de25 termined by the State and consistent with 


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1 the method determined by the Attorney 

2 General in subsection (d). 

3 (D) MINIMUM REQUIREMENT.—A unit of 

4 local government may not be eligible to receive 

5 a portion of a grant received by the State under 

6 this section unless, during the 1 year period 

7 covered by the grant, the unit of local govern8 ment has already extradited a number of per9 sons from other States for prosecution that is 

10 equal to or greater than the average of the 

11 number of persons extradited during the 3 year 

12 period immediately preceding the date of enact13 ment of this Act. 

14 (E) OVERSIGHT.—As a condition of receiv15 ing a grant under this section, a State shall— 

16 (i) specify the project or projects for 

17 which grant amounts will be used; 

18 (ii) use such amounts only as speci19 fied; and 

20 (iii) maintain and report such data, 

21 records and information (programmatic 

22 and financial) as the Attorney General 

23 may require. 

24 (F) AUDIT.—The Attorney General or the 

25 Inspector General of the Department of Justice 


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1 may conduct an audit of a State or unit of local 

2 government to ensure compliance with the pro3 visions of this subsection concerning the condi4 tions for receiving grant money and subsection 

5 (b)(1) concerning the use of the Attorney Gen6 eral’s methodology to estimate the number of 

7 warrants. A State or unit of local government 

8 that violates this subsection shall be liable to 

9 the Attorney General for the full amount of the 

10 grant received under this section or any portion 

11 of the grant found to be appropriate given the 

12 findings of the audit or the nature of the viola13 tion. 

14 (4) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.— 

15 There are authorized to be appropriated to carry out 

16 this section $50,000,000 for each of fiscal years 

17 2009 through 2015. 

18 (b) STATE ESTIMATES.— 

19 (1) IN GENERAL.—To assist the Attorney Gen20 eral in making a determination under subsection (a) 

21 concerning eligibility to receive a grant and section 

22 202(d)(2) concerning the allocation of grants, and 

23 not later than 180 days after the date of the enact24 ment of this Act and annually thereafter on a date 

25 designated by the Attorney General, each State shall 


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1 provide the Attorney General with a reasonable esti2 mate, as calculated by a method determined by the 

3 Attorney General, of the total number of active fel4 ony and serious misdemeanor warrants issued by the 

5 State and by local jurisdictions within the State, re6 gardless of the age of the warrants. 

7 (2) FAILURE TO PROVIDE.—A State that fails 

8 to provide an estimate described in paragraph (1) by 

9 the date required under such paragraph shall be in10 eligible to receive any funds under subsection (a), 

11 until such date as it provides such estimate to the 

12 Attorney General. 

13 (c) TRANSMITTAL OF WARRANTS TO THE NCIC.— 

14 (1) AVAILABILITY.—Each State shall make 

15 electronically available to the NCIC all serious mis16 demeanor and felony warrants issued by the State 

17 and by local jurisdictions within the State. 

18 (2) STATE UPDATE.—Each State, on being 

19 made aware that an active serious misdemeanor or 

20 felony warrant has been cleared, shall, as soon as 

21 practicable, provide an update to the NCIC con22 sistent with the NCIC’s rules and policies. 

23 (3) NCIC UPDATE.—Upon receiving an update 

24 under paragraph (2), the NCIC shall ensure that the 


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1 records in the NCIC database are updated within 15 

2 days of receipt. 

3 (d) DETERMINATION OF TRANSMITTAL PERFORM4 ANCE.—The Attorney General, for the purposes set forth 

5 in this section and section 202, shall determine the per6 centage of the total number of serious misdemeanor and 

7 felony warrants provided by a State to the NCIC and the 

8 method to be used by the States for determining the per9 centage of the total number of such warrants provided by 

10 a unit of local government to the NCIC. 

11 (e) ATTORNEY GENERAL REPORT.— 

12 (1) IN GENERAL.—Not later than January 31 

13 of each year, the Attorney General shall submit to 

14 the Committee on the Judiciary of the Senate and 

15 the Committee on the Judiciary of the House of 

16 Representatives a report— 

17 (A) containing the estimates submitted by 

18 the States under subsection (b); 

19 (B) describing the progress of States in 

20 making warrants electronically available to the 

21 NCIC pursuant to the requirements of sub22 section (c); and 

23 (C) describing the practices of the States 

24 regarding the collection, maintenance, automa25 tion, and transmittal of serious misdemeanor 


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1 and felony warrants to the NCIC, that the At2 torney General considers to be best practices. 

3 (2) BEST PRACTICES.—Not later than January 

4 31 of each year, the Attorney General shall also pro5 vide the information regarding best practices, re6 ferred to in paragraph (1)(C), to each State submit7 ting information to the NCIC. 

8 SEC. 202. IMPLEMENTATION ASSISTANCE TO STATES. 

9 (a) AUTHORIZATION OF GRANT ASSISTANCE.— 

10 (1) IN GENERAL.—The Attorney General shall 

11 make grants to States in a manner consistent with 

12 the National Criminal History Improvement Pro13 gram, which shall be used by the States to establish 

14 or upgrade information and identification tech15 nologies for serious misdemeanor and felony war16 rants, including technologies used by local govern17 ments and State and local courts. 

18 (2) SET ASIDE.—Up to 5 percent of the grant 

19 funding available under this section may be reserved 

20 for Indian tribal governments, including tribal judi21 cial systems. 

22 (b) USE OF GRANT AMOUNTS.—Grants awarded to 

23 States or Indian tribes under this section may only be 

24 used to— 


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1 (1) carry out, as necessary, assessments of the 

2 capabilities of the courts and law enforcement agen3 cies of a State to automate and transmit serious 

4 misdemeanor and felony warrants to the NCIC; 

5 (2) implement policies, systems, and procedures 

6 for the automation and transmission of serious mis7 demeanor and felony warrants to the NCIC; 

8 (3) create electronic systems which provide ac9 curate and up-to-date information on serious mis10 demeanor and felony warrants to the NCIC; 

11 (4) supply accurate and timely information to 

12 the NCIC concerning serious misdemeanor and fel13 ony warrants; and 

14 (5) collect and analyze data needed to dem15 onstrate levels of State compliance with this Act. 

16 (c) CONDITION.— 

17 (1) IN GENERAL.—As a condition of receiving a 

18 grant under this section, a State shall specify the 

19 projects for which grant amounts will be used, and 

20 shall use such amounts only as specified. 

21 (2) VIOLATION.—A State that violates this sub22 section shall be liable to the Attorney General for 

23 the full amount of the grant received under this sec24 tion. 

25 (d) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.— 


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1 (1) IN GENERAL.—There are authorized to be 

2 appropriated to carry out this section $10,000,000 

3 for each of fiscal years 2009 through 2013. 

4 (2) ALLOCATIONS.— 

5 (A) IN GENERAL.—For fiscal years 2009 

6 and 2010, the Attorney General shall endeavor 

7 to allocate at least 50 percent of the authorized 

8 appropriations to those States providing to the 

9 NCIC more than 50 percent of their total seri10 ous misdemeanor and felony warrants, as deter11 mined for each State by the Attorney General 

12 under section 201(d). For fiscal years 2011, 

13 2012, and 2013, the Attorney General shall en14 deavor to allocate at least 50 percent of the au15 thorized appropriations to those States pro16 viding to the NCIC more than 70 percent of 

17 their total serious misdemeanor and felony war18 rants, as determined for each State by the At19 torney General under section 201(d). 

20 (B) ADJUSTMENTS.—The allocations in 

21 this paragraph shall be subject to the discretion 

22 of the Attorney General, who shall have the au23 thority to make adjustments to the distribution 

24 of the authorized appropriations as necessary to 


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1 maximize incentives for State compliance with 

2 section 201(c). 

Æ 


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