I
107TH CONGRESS
2D SESSION
H. R. 5697
To authorize the Attorney General to carry out a program, known as the
Northern Border Prosecution Initiative, to provide funds to northern
border States to reimburse county and municipal governments for costs
associated with certain criminal activities, and for other purposes.
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
OCTOBER 21, 2002
Mr. LARSEN of Washington introduced the following bill; which was referred
to the Committee on the Judiciary
A BILL
To authorize the Attorney General to carry out a program,
known as the Northern Border Prosecution Initiative,
to provide funds to northern border States to reimburse
county and municipal governments for costs associated
with certain criminal activities, and for other purposes.
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 ‘‘Northern Border Pros-
ecution Initiative Reimbursement Act’’ .
SEC. 2. NORTHERN BORDER PROSECUTION INITIATIVE.
(a) INITIATIVE REQUIRED.—From amounts made
available to carry out this section, the Attorney General,
acting through the Director of the Bureau of Justice As-
sistance of the Office of Justice Programs, shall carry out
a program, to be known as the Northern Border Prosecu-
tion Initiative, to provide funds to reimburse eligible
northern border entities for costs incurred by those enti-
ties for handling case dispositions of eligible federally initi-
ated and declined-referred criminal cases.
(b) ALLOCATION OF FUNDS.—Funds provided under
the program shall be allocated in a manner that the Attor-
ney General considers appropriate.
(c) USE OF FUNDS.—Funds provided to an eligible
northern border entity may be used by the entity for any
lawful purpose, including the following purposes:
(1) Court costs.
(2) Costs of courtroom technology.
(3) Costs of constructing holding spaces.
(4) Costs of administrative staff.
(5) Costs of defense counsel for indigent de-
fendants.
(6) Detention costs, including pre-trial and
post-trial detention.
(d) DEFINITIONS.—In this section:
(1) The term ‘‘eligible northern border entity’’
means—
(A) any of the following States: Alaska,
Idaho, Illinois, Indiana, Maine, Michigan, Min-
nesota, Montana, New Hampshire, New York,
North Dakota, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Vermont,
Washington, and Wisconsin; or
(B) any unit of local government within a
State referred to in subparagraph (A).
(2) The term ‘‘federally initiated case’’ means a
criminal case resulting from a criminal investigation
or an arrest involving Federal law enforcement au-
thorities for a potential violation of Federal criminal
law, including investigations resulting from multi-
jurisdictional task forces.
(3) The term ‘‘federally declined-referred crimi-
nal case’’ means a decision by a United States At-
torney or a Federal law enforcement agency during
a Federal investigation to no longer pursue Federal
criminal charges against a defendant and referral of
the investigation to a State or local jurisdiction for
possible prosecution. Reimbursement is available for
cases regardless of whether the case was formally
declined and referred by a United States Attorney,
or through a blanket Federal declination-referral
policy, accepted Federal law enforcement practice, or
Federal prosecutorial discretion.
(4) The term ‘‘case disposition’’, for purposes
of the Northern Border Prosecution Initiative, refers
to the time between a suspect’s arrest and the reso-
lution of the criminal charges through a county or
State judicial or prosecutorial process. Disposition
does not include incarceration time for sentenced of-
fenders, or time spent by prosecutors on judicial ap-
peals.
SEC. 3. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.
There are authorized to be appropriated to carry out
this section $20,000,000 for fiscal year 2003 and such
sums as may be necessary for fiscal years after fiscal year
2003.
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