I 
116TH CONGRESS 
1ST SESSION H. R. 4313 
To authorize the Attorney General to make grants to State and Tribal 
courts in order to allow the electronic service of certain court orders, 
and for other purposes. 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
SEPTEMBER 12, 2019 
Mrs. DINGELL (for herself and Mr. FITZPATRICK) introduced the following 
bill; which was referred to the Committee on the Judiciary 
A BILL 
To authorize the Attorney General to make grants to State 
and Tribal courts in order to allow the electronic service 
of certain court orders, 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 ‘‘Electronic Service for 
Effectiveness, Reduction of Violence, and Improved Court 
Efficiency Act of 2019’’ or the ‘‘E–SERVICE Act’’. 
VerDate Sep 11 2014 
00:21 Sep 14, 2019
Jkt 089200
PO 00000
Frm 00001
Fmt 6652
Sfmt 6201
E:\BILLS\H4313.IH
H4313
kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS
SEC. 2. GRANTS TO STATE AND TRIBAL COURTS TO IMPLE-
MENT 
PROTECTION 
ORDER 
PILOT 
PRO-
GRAMS. 
Part U of title I of the Omnibus Crime Control and 
Safe Streets Act of 1968 (34 U.S.C. 10461 et seq.) is 
amended— 
(1) by redesignating sections 2103, 2104, and 
2105 as sections 2104, 2105, and 2106, respectively; 
and 
(2) by inserting after section 2102 the fol-
lowing: 
‘‘SEC. 2103. GRANTS TO STATE AND TRIBAL COURTS TO IM-
PLEMENT PROTECTION ORDER PILOT PRO-
GRAMS. 
‘‘(a) DEFINITION OF ELIGIBLE ENTITY.—In this sec-
tion, the term ‘eligible entity’ means a State or tribal court 
that is part of a multidisciplinary partnership that in-
cludes, to the extent practicable— 
‘‘(1) State, tribal, or local law enforcement 
agency; 
‘‘(2) a State, tribal, or local prosecutor advocate 
group; 
‘‘(3) a victim service provider or State or tribal 
domestic violence coalition; 
‘‘(4) a nonprofit program or government agency 
with demonstrated experience in providing legal as-
VerDate Sep 11 2014 
00:21 Sep 14, 2019
Jkt 089200
PO 00000
Frm 00002
Fmt 6652
Sfmt 6201
E:\BILLS\H4313.IH
H4313
kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS
sistance or legal advice to victims of domestic vio-
lence and sexual assault; 
‘‘(5) the bar association of the applicable State 
or Indian Tribe; 
‘‘(6) the State or tribal association of court 
clerks; 
‘‘(7) a State, tribal, or local association of 
criminal defense attorneys; 
‘‘(8) not fewer than 2 individuals with expertise 
in the design and management of court case man-
agement systems and systems of integration; 
‘‘(9) not fewer than 2 State or tribal court 
judges with experience in— 
‘‘(A) the field of domestic violence; and 
‘‘(B) issuing protective orders; and 
‘‘(10) a judge assigned to the criminal docket of 
the State or tribal court. 
‘‘(b) GRANTS AUTHORIZED.— 
‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—In addition to grants au-
thorized under section 2101, the Attorney General 
shall make grants to eligible entities to carry out the 
activities described in subsection (c) of this section. 
‘‘(2) NUMBER.—The Attorney General may 
award not more than 10 grants under paragraph 
(1). 
VerDate Sep 11 2014 
00:21 Sep 14, 2019
Jkt 089200
PO 00000
Frm 00003
Fmt 6652
Sfmt 6201
E:\BILLS\H4313.IH
H4313
kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS
‘‘(3) AMOUNT.—The amount of a grant award-
ed under paragraph (1) may be not more than 
$1,500,000. 
‘‘(c) MANDATORY ACTIVITIES.— 
‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—An eligible entity that re-
ceives a grant under this section shall use the grant 
funds, in consultation with the partners required 
under subsection (a), to— 
‘‘(A) develop and implement a program for 
properly and legally serving protection orders 
through electronic communication methods to— 
‘‘(i) modernize the service process and 
make the process more effective and effi-
cient; 
‘‘(ii) provide for improved safety of 
victims; and 
‘‘(iii) make protection orders enforce-
able as quickly as possible; 
‘‘(B) develop best practices relating to the 
service of protection orders through electronic 
communication methods; 
‘‘(C) ensure that the program developed 
under subparagraph (A) complies with due 
process requirements and any other procedures 
required by law or by a court; and 
VerDate Sep 11 2014 
00:21 Sep 14, 2019
Jkt 089200
PO 00000
Frm 00004
Fmt 6652
Sfmt 6201
E:\BILLS\H4313.IH
H4313
kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS
‘‘(D) implement any technology necessary 
to carry out the program developed under sub-
paragraph (A), such as technology to verify and 
track the receipt of a protection order by the 
intended party. 
‘‘(2) TIMELINE.—An eligible entity that re-
ceives a grant under this section shall— 
‘‘(A) implement the program required 
under paragraph (1)(A) not later than 2 years 
after receiving the grant; and 
‘‘(B) carry out the program for not fewer 
than 3 years. 
‘‘(d) DIVERSITY
OF RECIPIENTS.—The Attorney 
General shall award grants under this section to eligible 
entities in a variety of areas and situations, including— 
‘‘(1) a State court that serves a population of 
not fewer than 1,000,000 individuals; 
‘‘(2) a State court that— 
‘‘(A) serves a State that is among the 7 
States with the lowest population density in the 
United States; and 
‘‘(B) has a relatively low rate of successful 
service with respect to protection orders, as de-
termined by the Attorney General; 
‘‘(3) a State court that— 
VerDate Sep 11 2014 
00:21 Sep 14, 2019
Jkt 089200
PO 00000
Frm 00005
Fmt 6652
Sfmt 6201
E:\BILLS\H4313.IH
H4313
kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS
‘‘(i) successful service; and 
‘‘(ii) enforcement; 
‘‘(C) an initial list of the entities serving as 
the partners required under subsection (a); and 
‘‘(D) any other information the Attorney 
General may reasonably require. 
‘‘(2) NO OTHER APPLICATION REQUIRED.—An 
eligible entity shall not be required to submit an ap-
plication under section 2102 to receive a grant 
under this section. 
‘‘(f) TECHNICAL ASSISTANCE.—Notwithstanding sec-
tion 40002(b)(11) of the Violence Against Women Act of 
1994 (34 U.S.C. 12291(b)(11)), as applied under section 
2106 of this part, not less than 5 percent and not more 
than 8 percent of the total amounts appropriated to carry 
out this section shall be available to the Attorney General 
for technical assistance relating to the purposes of this 
section. 
‘‘(g) REPORT TO ATTORNEY GENERAL.— 
‘‘(1) INITIAL REPORT.—Not later than 2 years 
after receiving a grant under this section, an eligible 
entity shall submit to the Attorney General a report 
that details the plan of the entity for implementation 
of the program under subsection (c). 
‘‘(2) SUBSEQUENT REPORTS.— 
VerDate Sep 11 2014 
00:21 Sep 14, 2019
Jkt 089200
PO 00000
Frm 00007
Fmt 6652
Sfmt 6201
E:\BILLS\H4313.IH
H4313
kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS
‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 1 year 
after implementing the program under sub-
section (c), and not later than 2 years there-
after, an eligible entity shall submit to the At-
torney General a report that describes the pro-
gram implemented under subsection (c), includ-
ing with respect to— 
‘‘(i) viability; 
‘‘(ii) cost; 
‘‘(iii) service statistics; 
‘‘(iv) challenges; 
‘‘(v) analysis of the technology used to 
fulfill the goals of the program; 
‘‘(vi) analysis of any legal or due proc-
ess issues resulting from the electronic 
service method described in subsection 
(c)(1)(A); and 
‘‘(vii) best practices for implementing 
such a program in other similarly situated 
locations. 
‘‘(B) CONTENTS OF FINAL REPORT.—An 
eligible entity shall include in the second report 
submitted 
under 
subparagraph 
(A) 
rec-
ommendations for— 
VerDate Sep 11 2014 
00:21 Sep 14, 2019
Jkt 089200
PO 00000
Frm 00008
Fmt 6652
Sfmt 6201
E:\BILLS\H4313.IH
H4313
kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS
‘‘(i) future nationwide implementation 
of the program implemented by the eligible 
entity; and 
‘‘(ii) usage of electronic service, simi-
lar to the service used by the eligible enti-
ty, for other commonly used court orders, 
including with respect to viability and cost. 
‘‘(h) NO
REGULATIONS
OR
GUIDELINES
RE-
QUIRED.—Notwithstanding section 2105, the Attorney 
General shall not be required to publish regulations or 
guidelines implementing this section. 
‘‘(i) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—In addi-
tion to amounts otherwise made available to carry out this 
part, there is authorized to be appropriated to carry out 
this section $10,000,000 for fiscal years 2019 through 
2024.’’. 
Æ 
VerDate Sep 11 2014 
00:21 Sep 14, 2019
Jkt 089200
PO 00000
Frm 00009
Fmt 6652
Sfmt 6301
E:\BILLS\H4313.IH
H4313
kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS