Fair Legal Access Grants Act

Bill: 118-s-2214
Sponsor: full_name: Sen. Gillibrand, Kirsten E. [D-NY]
Introduced: 2023-07-10
Policy area: Crime and Law Enforcement
Latest action: action_date: 2023-07-10
text: Read twice and referred to the Committee on the Judiciary.

Summaries:

tv_txt: II 118th CONGRESS 1st Session S. 2214 IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES July 10, 2023 Mrs. Gillibrand introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on the Judiciary A BILL To amend the Omnibus Crime Control and Safe Streets Act of 1968 to award grants for providing legal resources for petitioners seeking extreme risk protection orders, and for other purposes.

1. Short title This Act may be cited as the Fair Legal Access Grants Act . 2. Legal resources for extreme risk protection order petitioners Subpart I of Part E of title I of the Omnibus Crime Control and Safe Streets Act of 1968 ( 34 U.S.C. 10151 et seq. ) is amended— (1) by redesignating section 509 as section 510; and (2) by inserting after section 508 the following: 509. Legal resources for extreme risk protection order petitioners (a) Definitions In this section: (1) Covered petitioner The term covered petitioner means an individual who is eligible to seek an extreme risk protection order from an applicable State or Tribal court. (2) Extreme risk protection order The term extreme risk protection order means a written order or warrant, issued by a State or Tribal court or signed by a magistrate or other comparable judicial officer, the primary purpose of which is to reduce the risk of firearm-related death or injury by— (A) prohibiting a named individual from owning, purchasing, possessing, receiving, or having under the custody or control of the individual a firearm; or (B) having a firearm removed or requiring the surrender of a firearm from a named individual. (3) Firearm The term firearm has the meaning given the term in section 921 of title 18, United States Code. (b) Authority (1) In general The Attorney General shall award grants to States, local governments, and Tribal governments for the purpose of providing legal representation and resources to covered petitioners. (2) Use of funds A State, local government, or Tribal government that receives a grant under paragraph (1) may use amounts from the grant to— (A) ensure covered petitioners have access to counsel and interpretation and translation services; (B) establish legal resources centers— (i) for publishing and distributing information and responding to inquiries relating to the extreme risk protection order legal process of the applicable State or Tribal government; and (ii) that focus on expanding resources in multiple languages other than English; (C) hire personnel to— (i) process and represent covered petitioners, such as personnel in local district attorney offices and law enforcement agencies; or (ii) serve as legal resource coordinators; (D) award subgrants to nonprofit organizations that provide community legal aid; and (E) train legal service providers, law enforcement officers, prosecutors, court personnel, and other individuals on the differences between an extreme risk protection order and a domestic violence protection order to ensure that victims of domestic violence seek the form of protection order that best addresses their safety needs. (c) Authorization of appropriations There are authorized to be appropriated to carry out this section $50,000,000 for each of fiscal years 2025 through 2031. . 3. Jurisdiction of Federal courts (a) Definition In this section, the term covered petitioner has the meaning given the term in section 509(a) of the Omnibus Crime Control and Safe Streets Act of 1968, as added by section 2 of this Act. (b) No jurisdiction No Federal court may exercise jurisdiction over a Federal, State, Tribal, or local cause of action in response to a covered petitioner filing a petition for an extreme risk protection order if the covered petitioner did not file a false or intentionally harassing petition.