[Congressional Bills 108th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 1895 Introduced in House (IH)]







108th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                H. R. 1895

To amend Federal crime grant programs relating to domestic violence to 
encourage States and localities to implement gun confiscation policies, 
 reform stalking laws, create integrated domestic violence courts, and 
hire additional personnel for entering protection orders, and for other 
                               purposes.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                             April 30, 2003

   Mr. Rothman (for himself, Mr. Holt, Ms. Norton, Mr. Pallone, Ms. 
 Corrine Brown of Florida, Mr. Wexler, Ms. Kilpatrick, Ms. Slaughter, 
   Ms. Eddie Bernice Johnson of Texas, Mr. Crowley, Mr. McNulty, Ms. 
Baldwin, Mrs. Capps, Mr. Brown of Ohio, Mr. Serrano, Mr. McGovern, Mr. 
 Rangel, Ms. McCollum, Ms. Millender-McDonald, Ms. Linda T. Sanchez of 
  California, Mr. Doggett, Mr. Udall of New Mexico, and Mr. Cummings) 
 introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on 
                             the Judiciary

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
To amend Federal crime grant programs relating to domestic violence to 
encourage States and localities to implement gun confiscation policies, 
 reform stalking laws, create integrated domestic violence courts, and 
hire additional personnel for entering protection orders, 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 ``Domestic Violence Victim Protection 
Act''.

SEC. 2. ENCOURAGEMENT OF GUN CONFISCATION POLICIES IN DOMESTIC VIOLENCE 
              CASES.

    Section 2101(c) of the Omnibus Crime Control and Safe Streets Act 
of 1968 (42 U.S.C. 3796hh(c)) is amended--
            (1) by striking ``and'' at the end of paragraph (3);
            (2) by striking the period at the end of paragraph (4) and 
        inserting ``; and''; and
            (3) by adding at the end the following new paragraph:
            ``(5) certify that their laws or official policies--
                    ``(A) provide that a law enforcement officer who 
                has probable cause that an act of domestic violence has 
                been committed may--
                            ``(i) question persons present to determine 
                        whether there are weapons on the premises; and
                            ``(ii) upon observing or learning that a 
                        weapon is present on the premises, seize any 
                        weapon that the officer reasonably believes 
                        would expose the victim or any other household 
                        member to a risk of serious bodily injury;
                    ``(B) provide that a court, as part of the relief 
                provided in a protection order--
                            ``(i) may order that the defendant is 
                        prohibited from possessing any firearm or other 
                        weapon; and
                            ``(ii) may order that any location may be 
                        searched for such a weapon, and such weapon may 
                        be seized, if the court has reasonable cause to 
                        believe that a firearm or other weapon of the 
                        defendant is at that location.''.

SEC. 3. ELIMINATION OF SPECIFIC INTENT TO CAUSE FEAR FROM THE ELEMENTS 
              OF THE OFFENSE OF STALKING.

    Section 40602 of the Violence Against Women Act of 1994 (42 U.S.C. 
14031) is amended by adding at the end the following new subsection:
    ``(c) Elements of Stalking Offense.--To be eligible to receive a 
grant under subsection (a), a State or unit of local government shall, 
in addition to the requirements of subsection (b), certify that its 
laws or official policies relating to the offense of stalking require, 
as elements of the offense, not more than the following: that the 
defendant has on more than one occasion harassed or threatened the 
victim.''.

SEC. 4. ENCOURAGEMENT OF INTEGRATED DOMESTIC VIOLENCE COURTS.

    Section 40412 of the Violence Against Women Act of 1994 (42 U.S.C. 
13992) is amended--
            (1) by inserting ``(a) In General.--'' at the beginning; 
        and
            (2) by adding at the end the following new subsection:
    ``(b) Integrated Domestic Violence Courts.--Training provided 
pursuant to grants made under this subtitle may include training in the 
context of establishing and maintaining courts that provide, wherever 
practicable, for domestic matters (whether civil or criminal) that 
arise out of the same family or domestic circumstance to be assigned to 
a judicial unit for the processing of those matters on a coordinated 
basis.''.

SEC. 5. HIRING AND MAINTAINING OF ADDITIONAL PERSONNEL FOR ENTERING 
              PROTECTION ORDERS.

    (a) Grants To Encourage Arrest Policies.--Section 2101(b) of the 
Omnibus Crime Control and Safe Streets Act of 1968 (42 U.S.C. 
3796hh(b)) is amended by adding at the end the following new paragraph:
            ``(9) To hire and maintain additional personnel for 
        entering information relating to protection orders.''.
    (b) Grants Relating to Stalking and Domestic Violence.--Section 
40602 of the Violence Against Women Act of 1994 (42 U.S.C. 14031) is 
amended by striking the period at the end of subsection (a) and 
inserting the following: ``, which may include hiring and maintaining 
additional personnel for entering such data.''.
                                 <all>