Authorizing Legislation

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42 USC Sec. 3732 01/26/98

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TITLE 42 - THE PUBLIC HEALTH AND WELFARE

CHAPTER 46 - JUSTICE SYSTEM IMPROVEMENT

SUBCHAPTER III - BUREAU OF JUSTICE STATISTICS

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Sec. 3732. Bureau of Justice Statistics

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(a) Establishment

There is established within the Department of Justice, under the general authority of the Attorney General, a Bureau of Justice Statistics (hereinafter referred to in this subchapter as ''Bureau'').

(b) Appointment of Director; experience; authority; restrictions

The Bureau shall be headed by a Director appointed by the President, by and with the advice and consent of the Senate. The Director shall have had experience in statistical programs. The Director shall have final authority for all grants, cooperative agreements, and contracts awarded by the Bureau. The Director shall report to the Attorney General through the Assistant Attorney General. The Director shall not engage in any other employment than that of serving as Director; nor shall the Director hold any office in, or act in any capacity for, any organization, agency, or

institution with which the Bureau makes any contract or other arrangement under this Act.

(c) Duties and functions of Bureau

The Bureau is authorized to -

(1) make grants to, or enter into cooperative agreements or contracts with public agencies, institutions of higher education, private organizations, or private individuals for purposes related to this subchapter; grants shall be made subject to continuing compliance with standards for gathering justice statistics set forth in rules and regulations promulgated by the Director;

(2) collect and analyze information concerning criminal victimization, including crimes against the elderly, and civil disputes;

(3) collect and analyze data that will serve as a continuous and comparable national social indication of the prevalence, incidence, rates, extent, distribution, and attributes of crime, juvenile delinquency, civil disputes, and other statistical factors related to crime, civil disputes, and juvenile delinquency, in support of national, State, and local justice policy and decisionmaking;

(4) collect and analyze statistical information, concerning the operations of the criminal justice system at the Federal, State, and local levels;

(5) collect and analyze statistical information concerning the prevalence, incidence, rates, extent, distribution, and attributes of crime, and juvenile delinquency, at the Federal, State, and local levels;

(6) analyze the correlates of crime, civil disputes and juvenile delinquency, by the use of statistical information,

about criminal and civil justice systems at the Federal, State, and local levels, and about the extent, distribution and attributes of crime, and juvenile delinquency, in the Nation and at the Federal, State, and local levels;

(7) compile, collate, analyze, publish, and disseminate uniform national statistics concerning all aspects of criminal justice and related aspects of civil justice, crime, including crimes against the elderly, juvenile delinquency, criminal offenders, juvenile delinquents, and civil disputes in the various States;

(8) recommend national standards for justice statistics and for insuring the reliability and validity of justice statistics supplied pursuant to this chapter;

(9) maintain liaison with the judicial branches of the Federal and State Governments in matters relating to justice statistics, and cooperate with the judicial branch in assuring as much uniformity as feasible in statistical systems of the executive and judicial branches;

(10) provide information to the President, the Congress, the judiciary, State and local governments, and the general public on justice statistics;

(11) establish or assist in the establishment of a system to provide State and local governments with access to Federal informational resources useful in the planning, implementation, and evaluation of programs under this Act;

(12) conduct or support research relating to methods of gathering or analyzing justice statistics;

(13) provide for the development of justice information systems programs and assistance to the States and units of local government relating to collection, analysis, or dissemination of justice statistics;

(14) develop and maintain a data processing capability to support the collection, aggregation, analysis and dissemination of information on the incidence of crime and the operation of the criminal justice system;

(15) collect, analyze and disseminate comprehensive Federal justice transaction statistics (including statistics on issues of Federal justice interest such as public fraud and high technology crime) and to provide technical assistance to and work jointly with other Federal agencies to improve the availability and quality of Federal justice data;

(16) provide for the collection, compilation, analysis, publication and dissemination of information and statistics about the prevalence, incidence, rates, extent, distribution and attributes of drug offenses, drug related offenses and drug dependent offenders and further provide for the establishment of a national clearinghouse to maintain and update a comprehensive and timely data base on all criminal justice aspects of the drug crisis and to disseminate such information;

(17) provide for the collection, analysis, dissemination and publication of statistics on the condition and progress of drug control activities at the Federal, State and local levels with particular attention to programs and intervention efforts demonstrated to be of value in the overall national anti-drug strategy and to provide for the establishment of a national clearinghouse for the gathering of data generated by Federal, State, and local criminal justice agencies on their drug enforcement activities;

(18) provide for the development and enhancement of State and local criminal justice information systems, and the standardization of data reporting relating to the collection, analysis or dissemination of data and statistics about drug offenses, drug related offenses, or drug dependent offenders;

(19) provide for research and improvements in the accuracy, completeness, and inclusiveness of criminal history record information, information systems, arrest warrant, and stolen vehicle record information and information systems and support research concerning the accuracy, completeness, and inclusiveness of other criminal justice record information;

(20) maintain liaison with State and local governments and governments of other nations concerning justice statistics;

(21) cooperate in and participate with national and international organizations in the development of uniform justice statistics;

(22) ensure conformance with security and privacy requirement of section 3789g of this title and identify, analyze, and participate in the development and implementation of privacy, security and information policies which impact on Federal and State criminal justice operations and related statistical activities; and

(23) exercise the powers and functions set out in subchapter

VIII of this chapter.

(d) Justice statistical collection, analysis, and dissemination to insure that all justice statistical collection, analysis, and dissemination is carried out in a coordinated manner, the Director is authorized to -

(1) utilize, with their consent, the services, equipment, records, personnel, information, and facilities of other Federal, State, local, and private agencies and instrumentalities with or without reimbursement therefor, and to enter into agreements with such agencies and instrumentalities for purposes of data collection and analysis;

(2) confer and cooperate with State, municipal, and other local agencies;

(3) request such information, data, and reports from any Federal agency as may be required to carry out the purposes of this chapter;

(4) seek the cooperation of the judicial branch of the Federal Government in gathering data from criminal justice records; and

(5) encourage replication, coordination and sharing among justice agencies regarding information systems, information policy, and data.

(e) Furnishing of information, data, or reports by Federal agencies Federal agencies requested to furnish information, data, or reports pursuant to subsection (d)(3) of this section shall provide such information to the Bureau as is required to carry out the purposes of this section.

(f) Consultation with representatives of State and local government and judiciary In recommending standards for gathering justice statistics under this section, the Director shall consult with representatives of State and local government, including, where appropriate, representatives of the judiciary.

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(Pub. L. 90-351, title I, Sec. 302, as added Pub. L. 96-157, Sec. 2, Dec. 27, 1979, 93 Stat. 1176; amended Pub. L. 98-473, title II, Sec. 605(b), Oct. 12, 1984, 98 Stat. 2079; Pub. L. 100-690, title VI, Sec. 6092(a), Nov. 18, 1988, 102 Stat. 4339; Pub. L. 103-322, title XXXIII, Sec. 330001(h)(2), Sept. 13, 1994, 108 Stat. 2139.)

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REFERENCES IN TEXT

This Act, referred to in subsecs. (b) and (c)(11), is Pub. L. 90-351, June 19, 1968, 82 Stat. 197, as amended, known as the Omnibus Crime Control and Safe Streets Act of 1968. For complete classification of this Act to the Code, see Short Title note set out under section 3711 of this title and Tables.

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PRIOR PROVISIONS

A prior section 3732, Pub. L. 90-351, title I, Sec. 302, June 19, 1968, 82 Stat. 200; Pub. L. 93-83, Sec. 2, Aug. 6, 1973, 87 Stat. 201; Pub. L. 94-503, title I, Sec. 110, Oct. 15, 1976, 90 Stat. 2412, related to establishment of State planning agencies to develop comprehensive State plans for grants for law enforcement and criminal justice purposes, prior to the general amendment of this chapter by Pub. L. 96-157.

AMENDMENTS

1994 - Subsec. (c)(19). Pub. L. 103-322 substituted a semicolon for period at end.

1988 - Subsec. (c)(16) to (23). Pub. L. 100-690 added pars. (16) to (19) and redesignated former pars. (16) to (19) as (20) to (23), respectively.

1984 - Subsec. (b). Pub. L. 98-473, Sec. 605(b)(1), inserted provision requiring Director to report to Attorney General through Assistant Attorney General.

Subsec. (c)(13). Pub. L. 98-473, Sec. 605(b)(2)(A), (C), added par. (13) and struck out former par. (13) relating to provision of financial and technical assistance to States and units of local government relating to collection, analysis, or dissemination of justice statistics.

Subsec. (c)(14), (15). Pub. L. 98-473, Sec. 605(b)(2)(C), added pars. (14) and (15). Former pars. (14) and (15) redesignated (16) and (17), respectively.

Subsec. (c)(16). Pub. L. 98-473, Sec. 605(b)(2)(A), (B), redesignated par. (14) as (16) and struck out former par. (16) relating to insuring conformance with security and privacy regulations issued under section 3789g of this title.

Subsec. (c)(17). Pub. L. 98-473, Sec. 605(b)(2)(B), redesignated par. (15) as (17). Former par. (17) redesignated (19).

Subsec. (c)(18). Pub. L. 98-473, Sec. 605(b)(2)(D), added par. (18).

Subsec. (c)(19). Pub. L. 98-473, Sec. 605(b)(2)(B), redesignated former par. (17) as (19).

Subsec. (d)(1). Pub. L. 98-473, Sec. 605(b)(3)(A), inserted '', and to enter into agreements with such agencies and instrumentalities for purposes of data collection and analysis''.

Subsec. (d)(5). Pub. L. 98-473, Sec. 605(b)(3)(B)-(D), added par. (5).

EFFECTIVE DATE OF 1984 AMENDMENT

Amendment by Pub. L. 98-473 effective Oct. 12, 1984, see section 609AA(a) of Pub. L. 98-473, set out as an Effective Date note under section 3711 of this title.

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SECTION REFERRED TO IN OTHER SECTIONS

This section is referred to in section 5603 of this title.