[Congressional Bills 108th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 777 Introduced in House (IH)]






108th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                H. R. 777

To authorize grants to States to fund arrangements between local police 
departments and public accommodations to have the accommodations serve 
                as emergency domestic violence shelters.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                           February 13, 2003

 Mr. Andrews introduced the following bill; which was referred to the 
                       Committee on the Judiciary

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
To authorize grants to States to fund arrangements between local police 
departments and public accommodations to have the accommodations serve 
                as emergency domestic violence shelters.

    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 Shelter 
Coordination Act of 2003''.

SEC. 2. STATE GRANTS FOR EMERGENCY DOMESTIC VIOLENCE SHELTERS.

    (a) In General.--The Attorney General may make grants to States to 
enable the States to provide local police departments within the States 
with funds to pay to have hotels, motels, and other places of public 
accommodation serve as emergency domestic violence shelters.
    (b) Application.--The Attorney General shall by regulation 
prescribe the manner in which grant funds under subsection (a) are to 
be made available to local police departments for emergency domestic 
violence shelters. Such regulation shall include--
            (1) a requirement that a State may not receive funds from 
        the Attorney General under subsection (a) unless the State 
        demonstrates, to the satisfaction of the Attorney General, 
        that--
                    (A) there is a shortage of emergency domestic 
                violence shelters in the State;
                    (B) appropriate measures will be taken with respect 
                to a public accommodation to be used as an emergency 
                domestic violence shelter for privacy of, and security 
                for, the users of the shelter; and
                    (C) there will be cooperation between the emergency 
                domestic violence shelters in the State and the local 
                police departments; and
            (2) a requirement that no place of public accommodation may 
        be used as an emergency domestic violence shelter without the 
        consent of the owner of the accommodation.
To receive a grant under subsection (a) a State shall submit an 
application to the Attorney General which shall include a plan prepared 
in accordance with the regulation of the Attorney General for the 
distribution of grant funds to local police departments.
    (c) Definition.--For purposes of this section, the term ``domestic 
violence'' includes acts or threats of violence, not including acts of 
self-defense, committed by a current or former spouse of the victim, by 
a person with whom the victim shares a child in common, by a person who 
is cohabiting with or has cohabited with the victim, by a person who is 
or has been in a continuing social relationship of a romantic or 
intimate nature with the victim, by a person similarly situated to a 
spouse of the victim under the domestic or family violence laws of the 
jurisdiction, or by any other person against a victim who is protected 
from that person's acts under the domestic or family violence laws of 
the jurisdiction.
    (d) Authorization.--There are authorized to be appropriated to the 
Attorney General for grants under subsection (a) such sums as may be 
necessary.
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