I

105TH CONGRESS

2D SESSION H. R. 4860

To amend the Violence Against Women Act of 1994 to establish a national

domestic violence victim notification system.

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

OCTOBER 20, 1998

Mr. BAESLER introduced the following bill; which was referred to the

Committee on the Judiciary

A BILL

To amend the Violence Against Women Act of 1994 to

establish a national domestic violence victim notification

system.

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 ‘‘National Domestic Vio5 lence Victim Notification Act’’.

6 SEC. 2. VICTIM NOTIFICATION SYSTEM.

7 (a) AMENDMENT.—Subtitle A of the Violence

8 Against Women Act of 1994 is amended by adding at the

9 end the following:
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1 ‘‘CHAPTER 6—VICTIM NOTIFICATION

2 SYSTEM

3 ‘‘SEC. 40161. ESTABLISHMENT AND OPERATION.

4 ‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—The Attorney General may make

5 a grant to a private non-profit entity to create and operate

6 a national victim notification system (referred to in this

7 section as a ‘VINE system’). A VINE system shall be a

8 comprehensive community and individual awareness pro9 gram that connects communities and victims of domestic

10 violence with vital criminal justice information about indi11 viduals who have been charged with a domestic violence

12 crime and prison inmates.

13 ‘‘(c) NOTIFICATION.—

14 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—The VINE system shall

15 have a system whereby information about such indi16 viduals and inmates, including the status of the

17 prosecution of such individuals, the correctional sta18 tus of such inmates, the availability of assistance

19 from local law enforcement agencies and civil re20 straining orders upon the release of such inmates,

21 the location of the nearest domestic violence center,

22 and any information obtained in the course of a sex23 ual offender registration, shall be available to indi24 viduals who contact the system.
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1 ‘‘(2) SPECIFIC COMPONENTS.— Such a system

2 shall include—

3 ‘‘(A) information on the trail date for an

4 individual charged with a domestic violence

5 crime, the release date of a prison inmate, the

6 location of the prison, if the inmate has not

7 been released, the parole eligibility dates of the

8 inmate, the date the imprisonment sentence ex9 pires, and any other relevant data respecting

10 such inmate as may be developed under data11 bases under State sexual offender registration

12 programs under section 170101 of the Violent

13 Crime Control and Law Enforcement Act of

14 1994;

15 ‘‘(B) referrals of victims to appropriate law

16 enforcement or victim service organizations;

17 ‘‘(C) a toll free number which operates 24

18 hours a day, 365 days a year which a victim of

19 domestic violence may use to receive the infor20 mation described in subparagraphs (A) and

21 (B);

22 ‘‘(D) a procedure under which a victim

23 may register with the system to receive auto24 matic telephone notification when the inmate

25 involved has a change in custody or other
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1 change, including court appointments, which

2 may involve or threaten the victim; and

3 ‘‘(E) the safeguards of the system to pro4 tect the confidentiality of victims calling the toll

5 free number or receiving inmate information.’’.

6 ‘‘(d) OTHER ACTIVITIES.—In establishing and oper7 ating a VINE system, the entity involved shall—

8 ‘‘(1) establish a procedure whereby the VINE

9 system is to receive on a regular basis information

10 from the courts, corrections institutions, and law en11 forcement agencies, including law enforcement agen12 cies which have information from a State program

13 for the registration of sexual offenders, about indi14 viduals charged with domestic violence crimes and

15 prison inmates;

16 ‘‘(2) work collaboratively with the National Do17 mestic Violence Hotline authorized under section

18 40211 of the Violence Against Women Act of 1994

19 (42 U.S.C. 10416) to create a system of automatic

20 referral to the National Domestic Violence Hotline

21 for information on the availability of shelters and

22 services that support battered women in the caller’s

23 area ; and

24 ‘‘(3) in connection with the National Domestic

25 Violence Hotline, employ, train, and supervise per-
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1 sonnel to answer incoming calls and provide counsel2 ing and referral services to callers on a 24 hour-a3 day basis;

4 ‘‘(4) publicize the National Domestic Violence

5 Hotline to potential users throughout the area the

6 system is to serve.

7 ‘‘(e) GRANTS.—To be approved for a grant under

8 subsection (a), an application for such grant shall—

9 (1) contain such agreements, assurances, and

10 information, be in such form and be submitted in

11 such manner as the Attorney General shall prescribe

12 through notice in the Federal Register;

13 (2) include a complete description of the appli14 cant’s plan for its operation in connection with the

15 National Domestic Violence Hotline, including de16 scriptions of—

17 ‘‘(A) the training program for hotline per18 sonnel;

19 ‘‘(B) the hiring criteria for hotline person20 nel;

21 ‘‘(C) the methods for the creation, mainte22 nance, and updating of a resource database;

23 ‘‘(D) a plan for publicizing the availability

24 of the hotline;
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1 ‘‘(E) a plan for providing service to non2 English speaking callers; and

3 ‘‘(F) a plan for facilitating access to the

4 hotline by persons with hearing impairments;

5 ‘‘(3) demonstrate that the applicant has nation6 ally recognized expertise in the area of domestic vio7 lence and a record of high quality service to victims

8 of domestic violence;

9 ‘‘(4) demonstrate that the applicant has a com10 mitment to the provision of services to ethnic, racial,

11 and non-English speaking minorities, older individ12 uals, and individuals with disabilities; and

13 ‘‘(5) contain such other information as the At14 torney General may require.

15 ‘‘(f) DEFINITION.—For purposes of this chapter, the

16 term ‘prison inmate’ means a person who has been impris17 oned for conviction of a crime involving domestic vio18 lence.’’.

19 SEC. 3. STUDY.

20 The Attorney General shall conduct a study about the

21 integration of a national victim notification system with

22 the National Domestic Violence Hotline, databases devel23 oped under State sexual offender registration programs

24 under section 170101 of the Violent Crime Control and

25 Law Enforcement Act of 1994, and the National Crime
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1 Information Center. The Attorney General shall report the

2 result of such study to Congress along with any rec3 ommendation for legislation arising from such study.

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