[Congressional Bills 103th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 840 Introduced in House (IH)]

103d CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                H. R. 840

  To establish a national program to reduce the incidence of stalking.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                            February 4, 1993

 Mr. Kennedy (for himself, Mr. Meehan, Mr. Neal of Massachusetts, and 
  Mr. Royce) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the 
                       Committee on the Judiciary

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
  To establish a national program to reduce the incidence of stalking.

    Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the 
United States of America in Congress assembled,

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

    This Act may be cited as the ``National Stalker Reduction Act of 
1993''.

SEC. 2. FINDINGS.

    The Congress finds that--
            (1) stalking, which is the willful, malicious, and repeated 
        following or harassing by an individual who makes a threat with 
        the intent to place another individual in imminent fear of 
        death or serious bodily injury, often is part of a pattern of 
        behavior within the scope of domestic violence;
            (2) there is insufficient data available to determine the 
        extent and number of incidents of stalking;
            (3) nearly 30 percent of all female murders are attributed 
        to domestic violence;
            (4) State criminal statutes often do not apply to stalking, 
        and more than 50 percent of the States have failed to enact 
        legislation that includes stalking; and
            (5) the prolonged suffering of victims from stalking has 
        been frequently reported by the media, and victims, their 
        families, and friends.

SEC. 3. ENACTMENT OF STATE ANTI-STALKING LEGISLATION.

    (a) Programs Regarding Stalking.--Section 501(b) of title I of the 
Omnibus Crime Control and Safe Streets Act of 1968 is amended--
            (1) by striking the period at the end of paragraph (21) and 
        adding ``; and''; and
            (2) by adding at the end the following:
            ``(22) programs that increase awareness, reporting, and 
        prevention of stalking.''.
    (b) Formula Grant Reduction for Noncompliance.--Section 506 of 
title I of the Omnibus Crime Control and Safe Streets Act of 1968 is 
amended by adding at the end the following:
    ``(g) In order not to reduce the funds available under this subpart 
by 25 percent (for redistribution to other participating States), a 
State shall, on the first day of each fiscal year succeeding the first 
fiscal year beginning after September 30, 1994, meet the following 
requirements:
            ``(1) Have in effect throughout the State in such fiscal 
        year a law which--
                    ``(A) makes it unlawful for an individual to 
                willfully, maliciously, and repeatedly follow or harass 
                another individual while making a threat with the 
                intent to place such individual in imminent fear of 
                death or serious bodily injury;
                    ``(B) provides a minimum penalty of--
                            ``(i) in the case of a first offense, a 
                        fine of not less than $1,000 or imprisonment 
                        for not more than 5 years, or both;
                            ``(ii) in the case of violation of a 
                        temporary or permanent vacate, restraining, or 
                        no-contact order or judgment issued under State 
                        law, imprisonment for not less than one year, 
                        but not more than 5 years;
                            ``(iii) in any other case, imprisonment for 
                        not less than 2 years, but not more than 10 
                        years.
            ``(2) Require that the State, in consultation with State or 
        local domestic violence coalitions, develop training programs 
        for law enforcement, judicial, and court personnel.
            ``(3) Require each public agency in the State which employs 
        law enforcement officers or judicial personnel to report 
        information regarding domestic violence offenses to a 
        designated statewide central registry in the State.
            ``(4) Require judicial personnel to search and examine the 
        central registry of statewide domestic violence records when 
        petitioned for a civil restraining order.
            ``(5) Require judicial personnel to report information 
        regarding a defendant to law enforcement personnel when an 
        outstanding warrant exists.''.

SEC. 4. STATE DATA BASES.

    (a) Allocation Reservation.--Subject to subsection (d), each State 
which receives funds under section 506 of the Omnibus Crime Control and 
Safe Streets Act of 1968 in a fiscal year shall allocate not less than 
5 percent of such funds for the development of records regarding 
stalking and other forms of domestic violence.
    (b) Development of Records.--The development of records referred to 
in subsection (a) shall include--
            (1) the development or expansion of maintaining records 
        regarding the dispositions of all complaints and arrests for 
        stalking and other forms of domestic violence;
            (2) the full automation of such records; and
            (3) the frequency and quality of reports sent to the Bureau 
        of Justice Statistics.
    (c) The Director, in consultation with the Director of the Bureau 
of Justice Statistics, shall establish guidelines for the fulfillment 
of the requirements specified in subsections (a) and (b) of this 
section.
    (d) In accordance with such guidelines as the Director shall issue 
and at the request of a State, the Director may--
            (1) waive compliance with subsection (a) by such State; or
            (2) authorize such State to reduce the minimum amount such 
        State is required to allocate under subsection (a);
if the Director finds that the quality of the States' records regarding 
stalking and domestic violence complaints and arrests does not warrant 
expending the amount allocated under subsection (a).

SEC. 5. NATIONAL INFORMATION.

    (a) Definitions.--Not later than 6 months after the date of the 
enactment of this Act, the Bureau of Justice Statistics shall define 
terms that relate to stalking and make such definitions available to 
individuals and groups that request such information.
    (b) Collection of Data.--Not later than 2 years after the date of 
the enactment of this Act, the Bureau of Justice Statistics, in 
coordination with the Federal Bureau of Investigation and the States, 
shall compile a national data base regarding stalking civil protective 
orders and other forms of domestic violence.

SEC. 6. REPORTING.

    The Director of the Bureau of Justice Assistance shall submit to 
the Congress an annual report, beginning one year after the date of the 
enactment of this Act, that evaluates the effectiveness of State anti-
stalking efforts and legislation.

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