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.

February 13, 2003

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

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.

END