I 

115TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION H. R. 5650 

To direct the Attorney General to make grants to States that have in place 

laws that expand the protections offered to victims of sex offenses who 

are not in a familiar or dating relationship with the perpetrators of 

such offenses. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

APRIL 27, 2018 

Mr. SMITH of New Jersey (for himself and Ms. VELA ́ZQUEZ) introduced the 

following bill; which was referred to the Committee on the Judiciary 

A BILL 

To direct the Attorney General to make grants to States 

that have in place laws that expand the protections offered to victims of sex offenses who are not in a familiar 

or dating relationship with the perpetrators of such offenses. 

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 ‘‘Nicole’s Law Act of 

5 2018’’. 


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1 SEC. 2. DEFINITION. 

2 The term ‘‘covered formula grant’’ means a grant 

3 under— 

4 (1) part T of title I of the Omnibus Crime Con5 trol and Safe Streets Act of 1968 (34 U.S.C. 10441 

6 et seq.) (commonly referred to as the ‘‘STOP Vio7 lence Against Women Formula Grant Program’’); or 

8 (2) section 41601 of the Violence Against 

9 Women Act of 1994 (34 U.S.C. 12511) (commonly 

10 referred to as ‘‘Sexual Assault Services Program’’). 

11 SEC. 3. INCREASED FUNDING FOR FORMULA GRANTS AU12 THORIZED. 

13 The Attorney General shall increase the amount pro14 vided to a State under the covered formula grants in ac15 cordance with this Act if the State has in place laws and 

16 policies that ensure that, with respect to criminal cases 

17 involving sex offenses (as defined by the State), protec18 tions similar to those offered to a victim of domestic vio19 lence are extended to a victim of a sex offense who is not 

20 in a familial or dating relationship with the perpetrator 

21 of such offense, including laws and policies that— 

22 (1) expressly authorize judges and courts to 

23 issue, as a condition of bail, parole, probation, or 

24 other supervised release, protection orders that pro25 hibit a defendant charged with a sex offense from 


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1 having any contact with the victim or with the vic2 tim’s friends, co-workers, or relatives; 

3 (2) permit judges and courts, after finding a 

4 defendant guilty of a sex offense, to order a continu5 ation of a protection order described in paragraph 

6 (1), or to otherwise restrict a defendant’s contact 

7 with the victim, as a condition of bail, parole, proba8 tion, or other supervised release; and 

9 (3) provide judges and courts with the author10 ity to grant or extend a protection order until fur11 ther order of a judge or court, as an alternative to 

12 issuing protection orders that expire on a specific 

13 date or upon termination of a sentence or period of 

14 bail, parole, probation, or other supervised release. 

15 SEC. 4. APPLICATION. 

16 A State seeking an increase under this Act in the 

17 amount provided to the State under the covered formula 

18 grants shall include in the application of the State for each 

19 covered formula grant such information as the Attorney 

20 General may reasonably require, including information 

21 about a law or policy described in section 2. 

22 SEC. 5. GRANT INCREASE. 

23 The amount of the increase provided under this Act 

24 to a State under the covered formula grants shall be equal 

25 to not more than 10 percent of the average of the total 


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1 amount of funding provided to the State under the covered 

2 formula grants under the 3 most recent awards to the 

3 State. 

4 SEC. 6. PERIOD OF INCREASE. 

5 (a) IN GENERAL.—The Attorney General shall pro6 vide an increase under this Act in the amount provided 

7 to a State under the covered formula grants for a 2-year 

8 period. 

9 (b) LIMIT.—The Attorney General may not provide 

10 an increase under this Act in the amount provided to a 

11 State under the covered formula grants more than 4 

12 times. 

13 SEC. 7. ALLOCATION OF INCREASED FORMULA GRANT 

14 FUNDS. 

15 The Attorney General shall allocate an increase under 

16 this Act in the amount provided to a State under the cov17 ered formula grants such that— 

18 (1) 25 percent the amount of the increase is 

19 provided for the program described in section 2(1); 

20 and 

21 (2) 75 percent the amount of the increase is 

22 provided for the program described in section 2(2). 


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1 SEC. 8. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS. 

2 There is authorized to be appropriated to carry out 

3 this Act $5,000,000 for each of fiscal years 2019 through 

4 2023. 

Æ 


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