[Congressional Bills 107th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 5697 Introduced in House (IH)]






107th CONGRESS
  2d Session
                                H. R. 5697

To authorize the Attorney General to carry out a program, known as the 
 Northern Border Prosecution Initiative, to provide funds to northern 
 border States to reimburse county and municipal governments for costs 
  associated with certain criminal activities, and for other purposes.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                            October 21, 2002

   Mr. Larsen of Washington introduced the following bill; which was 
               referred to the Committee on the Judiciary

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
To authorize the Attorney General to carry out a program, known as the 
 Northern Border Prosecution Initiative, to provide funds to northern 
 border States to reimburse county and municipal governments for costs 
  associated with certain criminal activities, 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 ``Northern Border Prosecution 
Initiative Reimbursement Act'' .

SEC. 2. NORTHERN BORDER PROSECUTION INITIATIVE.

    (a) Initiative Required.--From amounts made available to carry out 
this section, the Attorney General, acting through the Director of the 
Bureau of Justice Assistance of the Office of Justice Programs, shall 
carry out a program, to be known as the Northern Border Prosecution 
Initiative, to provide funds to reimburse eligible northern border 
entities for costs incurred by those entities for handling case 
dispositions of eligible federally initiated and declined-referred 
criminal cases.
    (b) Allocation of Funds.--Funds provided under the program shall be 
allocated in a manner that the Attorney General considers appropriate.
    (c) Use of Funds.--Funds provided to an eligible northern border 
entity may be used by the entity for any lawful purpose, including the 
following purposes:
            (1) Court costs.
            (2) Costs of courtroom technology.
            (3) Costs of constructing holding spaces.
            (4) Costs of administrative staff.
            (5) Costs of defense counsel for indigent defendants.
            (6) Detention costs, including pre-trial and post-trial 
        detention.
    (d) Definitions.--In this section:
            (1) The term ``eligible northern border entity'' means--
                    (A) any of the following States: Alaska, Idaho, 
                Illinois, Indiana, Maine, Michigan, Minnesota, Montana, 
                New Hampshire, New York, North Dakota, Ohio, 
                Pennsylvania, Vermont, Washington, and Wisconsin; or
                    (B) any unit of local government within a State 
                referred to in subparagraph (A).
            (2) The term ``federally initiated case'' means a criminal 
        case resulting from a criminal investigation or an arrest 
        involving Federal law enforcement authorities for a potential 
        violation of Federal criminal law, including investigations 
        resulting from multijurisdictional task forces.
            (3) The term ``federally declined-referred criminal case'' 
        means a decision by a United States Attorney or a Federal law 
        enforcement agency during a Federal investigation to no longer 
        pursue Federal criminal charges against a defendant and 
        referral of the investigation to a State or local jurisdiction 
        for possible prosecution. Reimbursement is available for cases 
        regardless of whether the case was formally declined and 
        referred by a United States Attorney, or through a blanket 
        Federal declination-referral policy, accepted Federal law 
        enforcement practice, or Federal prosecutorial discretion.
            (4) The term ``case disposition'', for purposes of the 
        Northern Border Prosecution Initiative, refers to the time 
        between a suspect's arrest and the resolution of the criminal 
        charges through a county or State judicial or prosecutorial 
        process. Disposition does not include incarceration time for 
        sentenced offenders, or time spent by prosecutors on judicial 
        appeals.

SEC. 3. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.

    There are authorized to be appropriated to carry out this section 
$20,000,000 for fiscal year 2003 and such sums as may be necessary for 
fiscal years after fiscal year 2003.
                                 <all>