I 
115TH CONGRESS 
2D SESSION 
H. R. 5364 
To improve security at State and local courthouses. 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
MARCH 21, 2018 
Mr. POE of Texas (for himself and Mr. SMITH of Texas) introduced the fol-
lowing bill; which was referred to the Committee on the Judiciary, and 
in addition to the Committee on Oversight and Government Reform, for 
a period to be subsequently determined by the Speaker, in each case for 
consideration of such provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the com-
mittee concerned 
A BILL 
To improve security at State and local courthouses. 
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 ‘‘Local Courthouse Safe-
ty Act of 2018’’. 
SEC. 2. SECURITY TRAINING. 
Part D of title I of the Omnibus Crime Control and 
Safe Streets Act of 1968 (42 U.S.C. 3741 et seq.) is 
amended by adding at the end the following: 
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‘‘SEC. 403. PREVENTING VIOLENCE AGAINST LAW EN-
FORCEMENT AND ENSURING OFFICER RESIL-
IENCE AND SURVIVABILITY. 
‘‘The Director may carry out a training and technical 
assistance program designed to teach employees of State, 
local, and tribal law enforcement agencies how to antici-
pate, survive, and respond to violent encounters during the 
course of their duties, including duties relating to security 
at State, county, and tribal courthouses. If the Director 
offers a training program specifically designed to train 
participants on courthouse security issues, preference for 
admission into such program shall be given to employees 
of jurisdictions that have magnetometers available for use 
at their courthouses.’’. 
SEC. 3. STATE JUSTICE INSTITUTE. 
The State Justice Institute Act of 1984 is amended— 
(1) 
in 
section 
203(b)(1) 
(42 
U.S.C. 
10702(b)(1)), in the matter preceding subparagraph 
(A), by inserting ‘‘, safe,’’ after ‘‘a fair’’; and 
(2) in section 206 (42 U.S.C. 10705)— 
(A) in subsection (c)— 
(i) in paragraph (14)— 
(I) by inserting ‘‘to’’ before ‘‘con-
duct’’; and 
(II) by striking ‘‘and’’ at the end; 
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(ii) by redesignating paragraph (15) 
as paragraph (16); and 
(iii) by inserting after paragraph (14) 
the following: 
‘‘(15) to improve the safety and security of 
State and local courts; and’’; and 
(B) by adding at the end the following: 
‘‘(g) MAGNETOMETERS.—In the case of a grant 
awarded under this section to be used as described in sub-
section (c)(15), if the State or local court applying for the 
grant does not have magnetometers available for use, not 
less than $300 nor more than $1,000 of the matching 
fund required under subsection (d) of the State or local 
court shall be used to acquire a magnetometer.’’. 
SEC. 4. SECURITY EQUIPMENT. 
(a) IN GENERAL.—Subchapter III of chapter 5 of 
title 40, United States Code, is amended by adding after 
section 559 the following: 
‘‘§ 560. Surplus security equipment for State and 
local courts 
‘‘(a) DEFINITIONS.—In this section— 
‘‘(1) the term ‘surplus security equipment’ 
means surplus property that is used to detect weap-
ons, including metal detectors, wands, and baggage 
screening devices; and 
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a particular piece of surplus security equip-
ment, the surplus security equipment shall be 
distributed based on need, as determined by the 
Administrator of General Services, with priority 
given to a qualifying State or local courthouse 
that has no security equipment.’’. 
(b) TECHNICAL AND CONFORMING AMENDMENT.— 
The table of sections for chapter 5 of title 40, United 
States Code, is amended by inserting after the item relat-
ing to section 559 the following: 
‘‘560. Surplus security equipment for State and local courts.’’. 
Æ 
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