Nicole’s Law Act of 2019

I 116TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION H. R. 1100 To direct the Attorney General to make grants to States that have in place laws that expand the protections offered to victims of sex offenses who are not in a familiar or dating relationship with the perpetrators of such offenses. IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES FEBRUARY 7, 2019 Mr. SMITH of New Jersey (for himself and Ms. VELA´ZQUEZ) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on the Judiciary A BILL To direct the Attorney General to make grants to States that have in place laws that expand the protections of- fered to victims of sex offenses who are not in a familiar or dating relationship with the perpetrators of such of- fenses. Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa- 1 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 2 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 3 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Nicole’s Law Act of 4 2019’’. 5 VerDate Sep 11 2014 19:23 Feb 21, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1100.IH H1100 pamtmann on DSKBFK8HB2PROD with BILLS 2 •HR 1100 IH SEC. 2. DEFINITION. 1 The term ‘‘covered formula grant’’ means a grant 2 under— 3 (1) part T of title I of the Omnibus Crime Con- 4 trol and Safe Streets Act of 1968 (34 U.S.C. 10441 5 et seq.) (commonly referred to as the ‘‘STOP Vio- 6 lence Against Women Formula Grant Program’’); or 7 (2) section 41601 of the Violence Against 8 Women Act of 1994 (34 U.S.C. 12511) (commonly 9 referred to as ‘‘Sexual Assault Services Program’’). 10 SEC. 3. INCREASED FUNDING FOR FORMULA GRANTS AU- 11 THORIZED. 12 The Attorney General shall increase the amount pro- 13 vided to a State under the covered formula grants in ac- 14 cordance with this Act if the State has in place laws and 15 policies that ensure that, with respect to criminal cases 16 involving sex offenses (as defined by the State), protec- 17 tions similar to those offered to a victim of domestic vio- 18 lence are extended to a victim of a sex offense who is not 19 in a familial or dating relationship with the perpetrator 20 of such offense, including laws and policies that— 21 (1) expressly authorize judges and courts to 22 issue, as a condition of bail, parole, probation, or 23 other supervised release, protection orders that pro- 24 hibit a defendant charged with a sex offense from 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 19:23 Feb 21, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1100.IH H1100 pamtmann on DSKBFK8HB2PROD with BILLS 3 •HR 1100 IH having any contact with the victim or with the vic- 1 tim’s friends, co-workers, or relatives; 2 (2) permit judges and courts, after finding a 3 defendant guilty of a sex offense, to order a continu- 4 ation of a protection order described in paragraph 5 (1), or to otherwise restrict a defendant’s contact 6 with the victim, as a condition of bail, parole, proba- 7 tion, or other supervised release; and 8 (3) provide judges and courts with the author- 9 ity to grant or extend a protection order until fur- 10 ther order of a judge or court, as an alternative to 11 issuing protection orders that expire on a specific 12 date or upon termination of a sentence or period of 13 bail, parole, probation, or other supervised release. 14 SEC. 4. APPLICATION. 15 A State seeking an increase under this Act in the 16 amount provided to the State under the covered formula 17 grants shall include in the application of the State for each 18 covered formula grant such information as the Attorney 19 General may reasonably require, including information 20 about a law or policy described in section 2. 21 SEC. 5. GRANT INCREASE. 22 The amount of the increase provided under this Act 23 to a State under the covered formula grants shall be equal 24 to not more than 10 percent of the average of the total 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 19:23 Feb 21, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1100.IH H1100 pamtmann on DSKBFK8HB2PROD with BILLS 4 •HR 1100 IH amount of funding provided to the State under the covered 1 formula grants under the 3 most recent awards to the 2 State. 3 SEC. 6. PERIOD OF INCREASE. 4 (a) IN GENERAL.—The Attorney General shall pro- 5 vide an increase under this Act in the amount provided 6 to a State under the covered formula grants for a 2-year 7 period. 8 (b) LIMIT.—The Attorney General may not provide 9 an increase under this Act in the amount provided to a 10 State under the covered formula grants more than 4 11 times. 12 SEC. 7. ALLOCATION OF INCREASED FORMULA GRANT 13 FUNDS. 14 The Attorney General shall allocate an increase under 15 this Act in the amount provided to a State under the cov- 16 ered formula grants such that— 17 (1) 25 percent the amount of the increase is 18 provided for the program described in section 2(1); 19 and 20 (2) 75 percent the amount of the increase is 21 provided for the program described in section 2(2). 22 VerDate Sep 11 2014 19:23 Feb 21, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1100.IH H1100 pamtmann on DSKBFK8HB2PROD with BILLS 5 •HR 1100 IH SEC. 8. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS. 1 There is authorized to be appropriated to carry out 2 this Act $5,000,000 for each of fiscal years 2020 through 3 2024. 4 Æ VerDate Sep 11 2014 19:23 Feb 21, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6301 E:\BILLS\H1100.IH H1100 pamtmann on DSKBFK8HB2PROD with BILLS