I
105TH CONGRESS
1ST SESSION
H. R. 863
To establish or expand existing community prosecution programs.
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
FEBRUARY 27, 1997
Mr. BLAGOJEVICH introduced the following bill; which was referred to the
Committee on the Judiciary
A BILL
To establish or expand existing community prosecution
programs.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-
tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled,
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.
This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Community Prosecutor
Act of 1997’’.
SEC. 2. GRANT AUTHORIZATION.
(a) IN GENERAL.—The Attorney General may make
grants to State attorneys general, prosecutors, units of
local government, and Indian tribal prosecutors to estab-
lish or expand existing community prosecution programs,
including hiring and training prosecutors for such pro-
grams.
(b) EQUITABLE DISTRIBUTION.—The Attorney Gen-
eral should ensure, to the extent possible, that grants
awarded under this Act are distributed equitably between
urban and rural communities.
SEC. 3. ELIGIBILITY.
(a) IN GENERAL.—To be eligible to receive a grant
under this Act, State attorneys general, prosecutors, units
of local government and Indian tribal prosecutors may
apply for an award to establish or continue existing com-
munity-oriented prosecution programs.
(b) APPLICATION.—To apply for a grant, an inter-
ested eligible entity shall submit an application to the At-
torney General in such form as the Attorney General shall
prescribe by regulations or guidelines.
(c) CONTENTS.—Each application shall include the
following:
(1) The objectives, and need, including public
safety, for a grant award.
(2) A long-term strategy and detailed imple-
mentation plan.
(3) Certification of coordination and specific
commitments by the community to be served by the
grant to participate in a program described under
paragraph (2).
(4) A description of the geographical area to be
served.
(5) Identification of related initiatives which
will complement or be coordinated with a program
funded under this Act.
(6) An assurance that funds received under this
Act will be used to supplement not supplant other
Federal funds.
SEC. 4. USES OF FUNDS.
(a) IN GENERAL.—Funds provided under this Act
may be used to hire staff, procure equipment, technology,
and support systems or pay overtime in the establishment
of community-oriented prosecution programs if the eligible
entity can demonstrate to the satisfaction of the Attorney
General that the expenditures would result in a successful
reduction in crime.
(b) LOCAL MATCH.—The Federal share of a grant
made under this Act may not exceed 75 percent of the
total costs of the program described in the application sub-
mitted pursuant to section 3(b). The Attorney General
may waive, in whole or in part, the requirement of a
matching contribution and may consider in-kind contribu-
tions, fairly valued, in lieu of the local matching require-
ment.
SEC. 5. EVALUATIONS.
(a) IN GENERAL.—Each program or project funded
under this Act shall contain a monitoring component de-
veloped pursuant to guidelines established by the Attorney
General, including the identification and collection of data
regarding the activities and accomplishments of the pro-
gram over the life of the grant award. The Attorney Gen-
eral may require grant recipients to submit written reports
which describe the monitoring process and evaluation re-
sults.
(b) INFORMATION ACCESS.—The Attorney General
shall have access to any pertinent documents or records
relating to the program for the purposes of evaluation and
audit.
(c) REVOCATION OR SUSPENSION.—If the Attorney
General determines, as a result of the reviews described
in this section, that a grant recipient is not in substantial
compliance with the terms and requirements described in
this Act, or with the regulations issued by the Attorney
General, the Attorney General may revoke or suspend
grant funding, in whole or in part after opportunity for
a hearing.
SEC. 6. STUDY.
Not more than one percent of the funds appropriated
to carry out this Act shall be directed to the Attorney Gen-
eral to finance a study evaluating grants made under this
Act. At a minimum, this study shall include the following:
(1) The number of grant awards made and the
amount of each grant.
(2) The recipients of grants, including the com-
munities in which they are based.
(3) The purposes for which the grants were
awarded and used.
(4) An evaluation of the achievement of each
recipient’s stated goals and objectives.
(5) An assessment of the effect the program
had in encouraging and supporting coordinated com-
munity action against crime.
(6) Specific recommendations for further fund-
ing for each grant recipient.
(7) Specific recommendations for future oper-
ations of the grant program and its guidelines.
SEC. 7. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.
There are authorized to be appropriated to carry out
this Act $10,000,000 for fiscal year 1998 and such sums
as may be necessary for each of fiscal years 1999 through
2002.
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