[Congressional Bills 105th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 747 Introduced in House (IH)]







105th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                H. R. 747

 To require notification of the interstate relocation of a witness by 
       State engaging in that relocation, and for other purposes.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                           February 13, 1997

    Mr. McCollum (for himself, Mr. Deutsch, and Mr. Romero-Barcelo) 
 introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on 
                             the Judiciary

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
 To require notification of the interstate relocation of a witness by 
       State engaging in that relocation, and for other purposes.

    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 ``Witness Relocation Notification Act 
of 1997''.

SEC. 2. REQUIREMENT OF NOTIFICATION FOR STATE AND LOCAL WITNESS 
              RELOCATION.

    (a) In General.--Subject only to the sanction provided in section 
3, each State or local law enforcement agency that relocates a witness 
who--
            (1) has been arrested or convicted of a crime of violence 
        as defined in section 16 of title 18, United States Code; or
            (2) is otherwise considered by the agency to be a threat to 
        public safety;
shall provide notice to the chief law enforcement official in the 
jurisdiction to which the relocation has been made, in the manner 
specified by the Attorney General under subsection (b).
    (b) Requirements for Notice.--The Attorney General shall establish 
guidelines for the notice required by subsection (a). The guidelines 
shall require that such notice--
            (1) be made not later than 10 days before the relocation 
        and shall also be updated, not later than 10 days after the 
        agency giving such notice learns of information that would have 
        been required in the original notice; and
            (2) include the criminal history record of the arrest or 
        conviction for each crime of violence and any other indication, 
        known to the relocating agency, that the witness might pose a 
        threat to public safety.

SEC. 3. WITNESS RELOCATION TRAINING PROGRAM.

    (a) Survey.--The Director of the National Institute of Justice, in 
consultation with the Director of the United States Marshals Service, 
shall survey State and local witness protection and relocation programs 
to determine the extent and nature of such programs and the training 
needs of those programs. Not later than 180 days after the date of the 
enactment of this section, the Director shall report the results of 
this survey to Congress.
    (b) Training.--Based on the results of such survey, the Attorney 
General shall make available to State and local law enforcement 
agencies a training program to assist those law enforcement agencies in 
developing and managing effective, safe witness protection and 
relocation programs.
    (c) Limit on Participation.--Any agency that fails to comply with 
the requirement of section 2 shall not be eligible to participate in 
the training program established under this subsection.
    (d) Authorization of Appropriations.--There are authorized to be 
appropriated to carry out this subsection for fiscal year 1998 not to 
exceed $500,000.

SEC. 4. DEFINITION.

    As used in this section the term ``State'' includes the District of 
Columbia, Puerto Rico, and any other territory or possession of the 
United States.
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