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(b) AUTHORIZATION
OF APPROPRIATIONS.—There 
are authorized to be appropriated $5,000,000 for each of 
fiscal years 2005 through 2009 to carry out this section. 
(c) STATE DEFINED.—For purposes of this section, 
the term ‘‘State’’ means a State of the United States, the 
District of Columbia, the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, 
the United States Virgin Islands, American Samoa, 
Guam, and the Northern Mariana Islands. 
SEC. 313. INCENTIVE GRANTS TO STATES TO ENSURE CON-
SIDERATION OF CLAIMS OF ACTUAL INNO-
CENCE. 
For each of fiscal years 2005 through 2009, all funds 
appropriated to carry out sections 203, 205, 207, and 312 
shall be reserved for grants to eligible entities that—
(1) meet the requirements under section 203, 
205, 207, or 312, as appropriate; and 
(2) demonstrate that the State in which the eli-
gible entity operates—
(A) provides post-conviction DNA testing 
of specified evidence—
(i) under a State statute enacted be-
fore the date of enactment of this Act (or 
extended or renewed after such date), to 
any person convicted after trial and under 
a sentence of imprisonment or death for a
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State offense, in a manner that ensures a 
meaningful process for resolving a claim of 
actual innocence; or 
(ii) under a State statute enacted 
after the date of enactment of this Act, or 
under a State rule, regulation, or practice, 
to any person under a sentence of impris-
onment or death for a State offense, in a 
manner comparable to section 3600(a) of 
title 18, United States Code (provided that 
the State statute, rule, regulation, or prac-
tice may make post-conviction DNA test-
ing available in cases in which such testing 
is not required by such section), and if the 
results of such testing exclude the appli-
cant, permits the applicant to apply for 
post-conviction relief, notwithstanding any 
provision of law that would otherwise bar 
such application as untimely; and 
(B) preserves biological evidence secured in 
relation to the investigation or prosecution of a 
State offense—
(i) under a State statute or a State or 
local rule, regulation, or practice, enacted 
or adopted before the date of enactment of
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this Act (or extended or renewed after 
such date), in a manner that ensures that 
reasonable measures are taken by all juris-
dictions within the State to preserve such 
evidence; or 
(ii) under a State statute or a State 
or local rule, regulation, or practice, en-
acted or adopted after the date of enact-
ment of this Act, in a manner comparable 
to section 3600A of title 18, United States 
Code, if—
(I) all jurisdictions within the 
State comply with this requirement; 
and 
(II) such jurisdictions may pre-
serve such evidence for longer than 
the period of time that such evidence 
would be required to be preserved 
under such section 3600A.
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Subtitle B—Improving the Quality 
of Representation in State Cap-
ital Cases 
SEC. 
321. 
CAPITAL 
REPRESENTATION 
IMPROVEMENT 
GRANTS. 
(a) IN GENERAL.—The Attorney General shall award 
grants to States for the purpose of improving the quality 
of legal representation provided to indigent defendants in 
State capital cases. 
(b) DEFINED TERM.—In this section, the term ‘‘legal 
representation’’ means legal counsel and investigative, ex-
pert, and other services necessary for competent represen-
tation. 
(c) USE OF FUNDS.—Grants awarded under sub-
section (a)—
(1) shall be used to establish, implement, or im-
prove an effective system for providing competent 
legal representation to—
(A) indigents charged with an offense sub-
ject to capital punishment; 
(B) indigents who have been sentenced to 
death and who seek appellate or collateral relief 
in State court; and
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(C) indigents who have been sentenced to 
death and who seek review in the Supreme 
Court of the United States; and 
(2) shall not be used to fund, directly or indi-
rectly, representation in specific capital cases. 
(d) EFFECTIVE SYSTEM.—As used in subsection 
(c)(1), an effective system for providing competent legal 
representation is a system that—
(1) invests the responsibility for appointing 
qualified attorneys to represent indigents in capital 
cases—
(A) in a public defender program that re-
lies on staff attorneys, members of the private 
bar, or both, to provide representation in cap-
ital cases; 
(B) in an entity established by statute or 
by the highest State court with jurisdiction in 
criminal cases, which is composed of individuals 
with demonstrated knowledge and expertise in 
capital representation; or 
(C) pursuant to a statutory procedure en-
acted before the date of the enactment of this 
Act under which the trial judge is required to 
appoint qualified attorneys from a roster main-
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tained by a State or regional selection com-
mittee or similar entity; and 
(2) requires the program described in para-
graph (1)(A), the entity described in paragraph 
(1)(B), or an appropriate entity designated pursuant 
to the statutory procedure described in paragraph 
(1)(C), as applicable, to—
(A) establish qualifications for attorneys 
who may be appointed to represent indigents in 
capital cases; 
(B) establish and maintain a roster of 
qualified attorneys; 
(C) except in the case of a selection com-
mittee or similar entity described in paragraph 
(1)(C), assign 2 attorneys from the roster to 
represent an indigent in a capital case, or pro-
vide the trial judge a list of not more than 2 
pairs of attorneys from the roster, from which 
1 pair shall be assigned, provided that, in any 
case in which the State elects not to seek the 
death penalty, a court may find, subject to any 
requirement of State law, that a second attor-
ney need not remain assigned to represent the 
indigent to ensure competent representation;