317-22 Auto Theft Prevention Act Legislative Text.pdf

..................................................................... (Original Signature of Member) 117TH CONGRESS 2D SESSION H. R. ll To provide funding to State and local law enforcement agencies to combat auto theft and stolen automobile trafficking, and for other purposes. IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES Ms. SHERRILL introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on llllllllllllll A BILL To provide funding to State and local law enforcement agen- cies to combat auto theft and stolen automobile traf- ficking, and for other purposes. Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-1 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled,2 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.3 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Auto Theft Prevention4 Act’’.5 SEC. 2. AUTO THEFT PREVENTION GRANT PROGRAM.6 (a) ESTABLISHMENT.—Not later than 60 days after7 the date of the enactment of this Act, the Director of the8 VerDate Nov 24 2008 12:10 Oct 13, 2022 Jkt 000000 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 C:\USERS\AMGILLEY\APPDATA\ROAMING\SOFTQUAD\XMETAL\11.0\GEN\C\SHERNJ_16 October 13, 2022 (12:10 p.m.) G:\M\17\SHERNJ\SHERNJ_168.XML g:\V\E\101322\E101322.009.xml (854415|9)

2 Office of Community Oriented Policing Services of the De-1 partment of Justice shall establish an auto theft preven-2 tion grant program (in this Act referred to as the ‘‘Pro-3 gram’’) to provide funding to State law enforcement agen-4 cies and local law enforcement agencies to combat auto5 theft and stolen vehicle trafficking.6 (b) ELIGIBLE RECIPIENT.—The Director shall make7 grants under the Program to the Attorney General of each8 State, with the amount awarded determined by prioritizing9 States with a higher rate of auto thefts as determined by10 an equal weighting of the—11 (1) rate of auto thefts faced by the State in the12 year prior to the date of enactment of this Act; and13 (2) percentage increase in auto thefts between14 the year that is three years prior to the date of the15 enactment of this Act and the year prior to the date16 of the enactment of this Act.17 (c) DISTRIBUTION OF FUNDS.—18 (1) LOCAL LAW ENFORCEMENT AGENCIES.—19 The Attorney General of a State shall make at least20 50 percent of a grant awarded under subsection (b)21 available as competitive subgrants to local law en-22 forcement agencies to combat auto theft, with the23 amount awarded determined by prioritizing localities24 VerDate Nov 24 2008 12:10 Oct 13, 2022 Jkt 000000 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 C:\USERS\AMGILLEY\APPDATA\ROAMING\SOFTQUAD\XMETAL\11.0\GEN\C\SHERNJ_16 October 13, 2022 (12:10 p.m.) G:\M\17\SHERNJ\SHERNJ_168.XML g:\V\E\101322\E101322.009.xml (854415|9)

3 with a higher rate of auto theft as determined by an1 equal weighting of the—2 (A) rate of auto thefts faced by the locality3 in the year prior to the date of enactment of4 this Act; and5 (B) percentage increase in auto thefts be-6 tween three years prior to the date of the enact-7 ment of this Act and the year prior to the date8 of the enactment of this Act.9 (2) STATE LAW ENFORCEMENT AGENCIES.—10 The Attorney General of a State shall make at least11 25 percent of a grant awarded under subsection (b)12 available as competitive grants to State law enforce-13 ment agencies to combat auto theft.14 (3) OTHER AMOUNTS.—The Attorney General15 of a State shall make any proportion of the grant16 awarded under subsection (b) not allocated under17 paragraph (1) or (2) available as competitive sub-18 grants to local law enforcement agencies or competi-19 tive grants to State law enforcement agencies. Any20 subgrant made under this paragraph to a local law21 enforcement agency shall follow the prioritization22 pursuant to paragraph (1).23 (d) ELIGIBLE ACTIVITIES.—Amounts from a grant24 awarded under subsection (b) may only be used for the25 VerDate Nov 24 2008 12:10 Oct 13, 2022 Jkt 000000 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 C:\USERS\AMGILLEY\APPDATA\ROAMING\SOFTQUAD\XMETAL\11.0\GEN\C\SHERNJ_16 October 13, 2022 (12:10 p.m.) G:\M\17\SHERNJ\SHERNJ_168.XML g:\V\E\101322\E101322.009.xml (854415|9)

4 purpose of combating auto theft and combating stolen1 automobile trafficking, including—2 (1) purchasing equipment used to combat auto3 theft, such as law enforcement vehicles and license4 plate readers;5 (2) hiring additional law enforcement officers6 and support staff to combat auto theft;7 (3) funding overtime costs and additional com-8 pensation for law enforcement officers and support9 staff involved in combating auto theft;10 (4) providing training for law enforcement offi-11 cers and support staff to combat auto theft;12 (5) providing resources for joint task forces es-13 tablished to combat auto theft; and14 (6) funding law enforcement data collection and15 research activities related to combating auto theft.16 (e) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—There is17 authorized to be appropriated $30,000,000 for each of fis-18 cal years 2023 through 2027 to carry out the Program.19 SEC. 3. ADDITIONAL AUTHORIZED USES OF COPS GRANT20 PROGRAM FUNDS.21 Section 1701(b) of the Omnibus Crime Control and22 Safe Streets Act of 1968 (34 U.S.C. 10381(b)) is amend-23 ed—24 VerDate Nov 24 2008 12:10 Oct 13, 2022 Jkt 000000 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 C:\USERS\AMGILLEY\APPDATA\ROAMING\SOFTQUAD\XMETAL\11.0\GEN\C\SHERNJ_16 October 13, 2022 (12:10 p.m.) G:\M\17\SHERNJ\SHERNJ_168.XML g:\V\E\101322\E101322.009.xml (854415|9)

5 (1) by redesignating paragraph (23) as para-1 graph (24);2 (2) in paragraph (22)—3 (A) by striking ‘‘(21)’’ and inserting4 ‘‘(22)’’; and5 (B) by redesignating paragraph (22) as6 paragraph (23); and7 (3) by inserting after paragraph (21), the fol-8 lowing:9 ‘‘(22) to combat auto thefts and combat stolen10 automobile trafficking by purchasing equipment, hir-11 ing law enforcement officers and support staff, cov-12 ering overtime and officer compensation costs, ex-13 panding access to training initiatives, funding joint14 task forces, and funding law enforcement data col-15 lection and research activities related to auto16 thefts;’’.17 SEC. 4. DEFINITIONS.18 For purposes of this Act:19 (1) LOCAL LAW ENFORCEMENT AGENCY.—The20 term ‘‘local law enforcement agency’’ means any en-21 tity administered by a locality that exists primarily22 to prevent and detect crime and enforce criminal23 laws.24 VerDate Nov 24 2008 12:10 Oct 13, 2022 Jkt 000000 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 C:\USERS\AMGILLEY\APPDATA\ROAMING\SOFTQUAD\XMETAL\11.0\GEN\C\SHERNJ_16 October 13, 2022 (12:10 p.m.) G:\M\17\SHERNJ\SHERNJ_168.XML g:\V\E\101322\E101322.009.xml (854415|9)

6 (2) LOCALITY.—The term ‘‘locality’’ means any1 city, county, township, town, borough, parish, vil-2 lage, or other general purpose political subdivision of3 a State.4 (3) STATE.—The term ‘‘State’’ means any5 State of the United States, the District of Columbia,6 the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, the Virgin Is-7 lands, Guam, American Samoa, and the Common-8 wealth of the Northern Mariana Islands.9 (4) STATE LAW ENFORCEMENT AGENCY.—The10 term ‘‘State law enforcement agency’’ means any11 State entity that exists primarily to prevent and de-12 tect crime and enforce criminal laws.13 VerDate Nov 24 2008 12:10 Oct 13, 2022 Jkt 000000 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 C:\USERS\AMGILLEY\APPDATA\ROAMING\SOFTQUAD\XMETAL\11.0\GEN\C\SHERNJ_16 October 13, 2022 (12:10 p.m.) G:\M\17\SHERNJ\SHERNJ_168.XML g:\V\E\101322\E101322.009.xml (854415|9)