§ 15605. Grants to protect inmates and safeguard communities

(a) Grants authorized

From amounts made available for grants under this section, the Attorney General shall make grants to States to assist those States in ensuring that budgetary circumstances (such as reduced State and local spending on prisons) do not compromise efforts to protect inmates (particularly from prison rape) and to safeguard the communities to which inmates return. The purpose of grants under this section shall be to provide funds for personnel, training, technical assistance, data collection, and equipment to prevent and prosecute prisoner rape.

(b) Use of grant amounts Amounts received by a grantee under this section may be used by the grantee, directly or through subgrants, only for one or more of the following activities:

(1) Protecting inmates Protecting inmates by—

(A) undertaking efforts to more effectively prevent prison rape;

(B) investigating incidents of prison rape; or

(C) prosecuting incidents of prison rape.

(2) Safeguarding communities Safeguarding communities by—

(A) making available, to officials of State and local governments who are considering reductions to prison budgets, training and technical assistance in successful methods for moderating the growth of prison populations without compromising public safety, including successful methods used by other jurisdictions;

(B) developing and utilizing analyses of prison populations and risk assessment instruments that will improve State and local governments’ understanding of risks to the community regarding release of inmates in the prison population;

(C) preparing maps demonstrating the concentration, on a community-by-community basis, of inmates who have been released, to facilitate the efficient and effective—

(i) deployment of law enforcement resources (including probation and parole resources); and

(ii) delivery of services (such as job training and substance abuse treatment) to those released inmates;

(D) promoting collaborative efforts, among officials of State and local governments and leaders of appropriate communities, to understand and address the effects on a community of the presence of a disproportionate number of released inmates in that community; or

(E) developing policies and programs that reduce spending on prisons by effectively reducing rates of parole and probation revocation without compromising public safety.

(c) Grant requirements

(1) Period

A grant under this section shall be made for a period of not more than 2 years.

(2) Maximum

The amount of a grant under this section may not exceed $1,000,000.

(3) Matching

The Federal share of a grant under this section may not exceed 50 percent of the total costs of the project described in the application submitted under subsection (d) for the fiscal year for which the grant was made under this section.

(d) Applications

(1) In general

To request a grant under this section, the chief executive of a State shall submit an application to the Attorney General at such time, in such manner, and accompanied by such information as the Attorney General may require.

(2) Contents Each application required by paragraph (1) shall—

(A) include the certification of the chief executive that the State receiving such grant—

(i) has adopted all national prison rape standards that, as of the date on which the application was submitted, have been promulgated under this chapter; and

(ii) will consider adopting all national prison rape standards that are promulgated under this chapter after such date;

(B) specify with particularity the preventative, prosecutorial, or administrative activities to be undertaken by the State with the amounts received under the grant; and

(C) in the case of an application for a grant for one or more activities specified in paragraph (2) of subsection (b)—

(i) review the extent of the budgetary circumstances affecting the State generally and describe how those circumstances relate to the State’s prisons;

(ii) describe the rate of growth of the State’s prison population over the preceding 10 years and explain why the State may have difficulty sustaining that rate of growth; and

(iii) explain the extent to which officials (including law enforcement officials) of State and local governments and victims of crime will be consulted regarding decisions whether, or how, to moderate the growth of the State’s prison population.

(e) Reports by grantee

(1) In general The Attorney General shall require each grantee to submit, not later than 90 days after the end of the period for which the grant was made under this section, a report on the activities carried out under the grant. The report shall identify and describe those activities and shall contain an evaluation of the effect of those activities on—

(A) the number of incidents of prison rape, and the grantee’s response to such incidents; and

(B) the safety of the prisons, and the safety of the communities in which released inmates are present.

(2) Dissemination

The Attorney General shall ensure that each report submitted under paragraph (1) is made available under the national clearinghouse established under section 15604 of this title.

(f) State defined

In this section, the term “State” includes the District of Columbia, the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, and any other territory or possession of the United States.

(g) Authorization of appropriations

(1) In general

There are authorized to be appropriated for grants under this section $40,000,000 for each of fiscal years 2004 through 2010.

(2) Limitation

Of amounts made available for grants under this section, not less than 50 percent shall be available only for activities specified in paragraph (1) of subsection (b).

(Pub. L. 108–79, § 6, Sept. 4, 2003, 117 Stat. 978.)