What This Bill Does
This bill creates a grant program that gives money to states and local governments that work to prevent violent repeat offenses. The Attorney General, through the Bureau of Justice Assistance (the part of the Department of Justice that provides grants to law enforcement), would award these grants to eligible states and local governments.
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Who It Affects
- State governments
- Local government units (such as cities and counties)
- State courts and magistrates (judges who handle minor cases)
- Law enforcement officers and prosecutors
- The general public in communities receiving grants
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Key Provisions
- States and local governments must allow state courts or magistrates to consider how dangerous a person is to the community when deciding bail or pretrial release conditions (a decision about whether someone waits in jail or is released before trial). (Sec. 2(b)(1))
- States and local governments must have taken steps in the previous calendar year to prevent violent repeat offenses, which includes enacting laws that allow courts to consider community danger when setting bail or release conditions, hiring and keeping law enforcement officers and prosecutors, or running public education programs to improve community and police relations. (Sec. 2(b)(2))
- Eligible recipients may use grant money for purposes described in section 211(b) of the Second Chance Act of 2007. (Sec. 2(c))
- Congress authorizes 10 million dollars to be spent each year from fiscal year 2024 through fiscal year 2029 to run this grant program. (Sec. 2(d))
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What Changes
If this becomes law, states and local governments that meet the eligibility requirements would become able to receive federal grant money to fund efforts to prevent violent repeat offenses. The bill creates a new funding source through the Attorney General's office.
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Important Definitions
The bill states that "State" and "unit of local government" have the meanings given in section 901 of the Omnibus Crime Control and Safe Streets Act of 1968, but those definitions are not included in this bill text.
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Effective Date
Not specified in bill text
I
118TH CONGRESS
1ST SESSION
H. R. 304
To authorize grants for States, and units of local government that take
efforts to stop enabling repeat violence, and for other purposes.
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
JANUARY 11, 2023
Ms. STEFANIK (for herself, Mr. LALOTA, Mr. GARBARINO, Ms. TENNEY, Ms.
MALLIOTAKIS, Mr. MOLINARO, Mr. WILLIAMS
of New York, Mr.
D’ESPOSITO, Mr. LANGWORTHY, Mr. LAWLER, and Mr. SANTOS) intro-
duced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on the Ju-
diciary
A BILL
To authorize grants for States, and units of local government
that take efforts to stop enabling repeat violence, and
for other purposes.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-
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tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled,
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SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.
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This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Stop Enabling Repeat
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Violence and Endangering Our Communities Act’’ or the
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‘‘SERVE Our Communities Act’’.
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•HR 304 IH
SEC. 2. SERVE OUR COMMUNITIES GRANT PROGRAM.
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(a) AUTHORIZATION.—The Attorney General, acting
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through the Director of the Bureau of Justice Assistance,
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is authorized to make grants to eligible States and units
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of local government for the purposes described in sub-
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section (c).
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(b) ELIGIBILITY.—In order to be eligible for a grant
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under this section, a State or unit of local government—
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(1) shall allow a State court or magistrate to
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consider the danger an individual poses to the com-
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munity when determining bail or pretrial release
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conditions; and
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(2) shall have taken steps during the previous
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calendar year to prevent repeat offenses by violent
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offenders, including—
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(A) enacting a law that allows a State
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court or magistrate to consider the danger an
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individual poses to the community when deter-
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mining bail or pretrial release conditions;
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(B) expanding efforts of that jurisdiction
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to hire and retain law enforcement officers and
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prosecutorial staff; or
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(C) administering a public education pro-
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gram to combat anti-police sentiment and im-
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prove community-police relations.
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•HR 304 IH
(c) USE OF FUNDS.—A State or unit of local govern-
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ment that receives a grant under this section may use such
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funds for the purposes described in section 211(b) of the
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Second Chance Act of 2007 (34 U.S.C. 60531(b)).
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(d) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—There is
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authorized to be appropriated $10,000,000 for each of fis-
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cal years 2024 through 2029 to carry out this section.
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(e) DEFINITIONS.—In this section, the terms ‘‘State’’
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and ‘‘unit of local government’’ have the meanings given
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such terms in section 901 of the Omnibus Crime Control
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and Safe Streets Act of 1968 (34 U.S.C. 10251).
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Æ
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