What This Bill Does
This bill requires the Attorney General to award competitive grants (money given without expectation of repayment) to state, tribal, and local governments. These grants help establish or maintain programs that protect witnesses and assist them in court cases involving serious crimes like homicide, violent felonies, drug offenses, gang activity and organized crime.
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Who It Affects
- State governments
- Tribal governments
- Local governments
- The Attorney General
- Witnesses in criminal court proceedings
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Key Provisions
- The Attorney General must award competitive grants to state, tribal, and local governments for witness protection and assistance programs in cases involving homicide, serious violent felonies, serious drug offenses, gangs or organized crime (Sec. 2(b))
- The Attorney General must evaluate grant applicants based on: lack of existing infrastructure, prevalence of witness intimidation, percentage of unprosecuted cases due to witness intimidation, homicide rates per capita, violent felony and drug offense rates per capita, presence of organized crime, and any other criteria the Attorney General deems appropriate (Sec. 2(c))
- Grant recipients must submit reports to the Attorney General evaluating their programs, including their policies and procedures (Sec. 2(e)(1))
- The Attorney General must develop best practice models based on recipient reports and share them with state, tribal, and local governments within one year (Sec. 2(e)(2) and (3))
- The federal government will pay no more than 75 percent of program costs, with the remainder coming from non-federal sources (Sec. 2(f)(1))
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What Changes
If this bill becomes law, state, tribal, and local governments will become eligible to receive federal grants to create or continue witness protection programs. The Attorney General will develop and distribute best practice models to help these governments improve their witness safety efforts.
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Important Definitions
- **Applicant:** A state, tribal, or local government that applies for a grant (Sec. 2(a)(1))
- **Serious drug offense** and **serious violent felony:** Terms defined in federal criminal law (Sec. 2(a)(2))
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Effective Date
Not specified in bill text
II
118TH CONGRESS
1ST SESSION
S. 37
To require the Attorney General to make competitive grants to State, tribal,
and local governments to establish and maintain witness protection and
assistance programs.
IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES
JANUARY 24 (legislative day, JANUARY 3), 2023
Mr. CARDIN introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred
to the Committee on the Judiciary
A BILL
To require the Attorney General to make competitive grants
to State, tribal, and local governments to establish and
maintain witness protection and assistance programs.
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 ‘‘Witness Security and
4
Protection Grant Program Act of 2023’’.
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SEC. 2. WITNESS PROTECTION GRANT PROGRAM.
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(a) DEFINITIONS.—In this section—
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•S 37 IS
(1) the term ‘‘applicant’’ means a State, tribal,
1
or local government that applies for a grant under
2
this section; and
3
(2) the terms ‘‘serious drug offense’’ and ‘‘seri-
4
ous violent felony’’ have the meanings given the
5
terms in section 3559(c) of title 18, United States
6
Code.
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(b) GRANTS REQUIRED.—Subject to subsection (j),
8
the Attorney General shall make competitive grants to
9
State, tribal, and local governments to establish or main-
10
tain programs that provide protection or assistance to wit-
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nesses in court proceedings involving—
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(1) a homicide, serious violent felony, or serious
13
drug offense; or
14
(2) gangs or organized crime.
15
(c) CRITERIA.—In making grants under this section,
16
the Attorney General shall evaluate applicants based upon
17
the following:
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(1) The extent to which the applicant lacks in-
19
frastructure to support programs that provide pro-
20
tection or assistance to witnesses.
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(2) The prevalence of witness intimidation in
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the jurisdiction of the applicant.
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(3) The percentage of cases not prosecuted by
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the applicant due to witness intimidation.
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•S 37 IS
(4) The number of homicides per capita com-
1
mitted in the jurisdiction of the applicant.
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(5) The number of serious violent felonies or se-
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rious drug offenses per capita committed in the ju-
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risdiction of the applicant.
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(6) The extent to which organized crime is
6
present in the jurisdiction of the applicant.
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(7) Any other criteria that the Attorney Gen-
8
eral determines appropriate.
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(d) TECHNICAL ASSISTANCE.—From amounts made
10
available under subsection (j) to carry out this section, the
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Attorney General, upon request of a recipient of a grant
12
under this section, shall direct the appropriate offices
13
within the Department of Justice to provide technical as-
14
sistance to the recipient to the extent the Attorney General
15
determines technical assistance is needed to establish or
16
maintain a program that provides protection or assistance
17
to witnesses.
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(e) BEST PRACTICES.—
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(1) REPORT.—A recipient of a grant under this
20
section shall submit to the Attorney General a re-
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port, in such form and manner and containing such
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information as specified by the Attorney General,
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that evaluates each program established or main-
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•S 37 IS
tained pursuant to the grant, including policies and
1
procedures under the program.
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(2) DEVELOPMENT
OF
BEST
PRACTICES.—
3
Based on the reports submitted under paragraph
4
(1), the Attorney General shall develop best practice
5
models to assist State, tribal, and local governments
6
in addressing—
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(A) witness safety;
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(B) short-term and permanent witness re-
9
location;
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(C) financial and housing assistance; and
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(D) any other services related to witness
12
protection or assistance that the Attorney Gen-
13
eral determines necessary.
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(3) DISSEMINATION
TO
STATES.—Not later
15
than 1 year after developing best practice models
16
under paragraph (2), the Attorney General shall dis-
17
seminate the models to State, tribal, and local gov-
18
ernments.
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(4) SENSE OF CONGRESS.—It is the sense of
20
Congress that State, tribal, and local governments
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should use the best practice models developed and
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disseminated under this subsection to evaluate, im-
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prove, and develop witness protection or witness as-
24
sistance programs as appropriate.
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•S 37 IS
(5) RULE
OF
CONSTRUCTION
RELATING
TO
1
SENSITIVE INFORMATION.—Nothing in this section
2
shall be construed to require the dissemination of
3
any information that the Attorney General deter-
4
mines—
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(A) is law enforcement sensitive and
6
should only be disclosed within the law enforce-
7
ment community; or
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(B) poses a threat to national security.
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(f) FEDERAL SHARE.—
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(1) IN GENERAL.—The Federal share of the
11
cost of a program carried out using a grant made
12
under this section shall be not more than 75 per-
13
cent.
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(2) IN-KIND CONTRIBUTIONS.—
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(A) IN
GENERAL.—Subject to subpara-
16
graph (B), the non-Federal share for a program
17
carried out using a grant made under this sec-
18
tion may be in the form of in-kind contributions
19
that are directly related to the purpose for
20
which the grant was made.
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(B) MAXIMUM
PERCENTAGE.—Not more
22
than 50 percent of the non-Federal share for a
23
program carried out using a grant made under
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•S 37 IS
this section may be in the form of in-kind con-
1
tributions.
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(g) ADMINISTRATIVE COSTS.—Of amounts made
3
available to carry out this section for a fiscal year, the
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Attorney General may use not more than 5 percent for
5
administrative costs.
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(h) GEOGRAPHIC DISTRIBUTION.—In making grants
7
under this section, the Attorney General shall—
8
(1) to the extent reasonable and practical, en-
9
sure an equitable geographical distribution through-
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out the United States of programs that provide pro-
11
tection or assistance to witnesses; and
12
(2) give due consideration to applicants from
13
both urban and rural areas.
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(i) REPORT TO CONGRESS.—The Attorney General
15
shall submit a report to Congress—
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(1) not later than 1 year after the date of en-
17
actment of this Act, on the implementation of this
18
section, including any information on programs
19
funded by grants made under this section; and
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(2) not later than 5 years after the date of en-
21
actment of this Act, on the programs funded by
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grants made under this section, including on best
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practice models developed under subsection (e)(2).
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•S 37 IS
(j) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—There is
1
authorized to be appropriated to carry out this section
2
$30,000,000 for each of fiscal years 2023 through 2027.
3
Æ
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