Fair Legal Access Grants Act

[Congressional Bills 119th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 7171 Introduced in House (IH)]

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119th CONGRESS
  2d Session
                                H. R. 7171

  To amend the Omnibus Crime Control and Safe Streets Act of 1968 to 
  award grants for providing legal resources for petitioners seeking 
        extreme risk protection orders, and for other purposes.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                            January 21, 2026

 Ms. Chu (for herself, Mr. Goldman of New York, Ms. Norton, Mr. Lynch, 
Mr. Frost, Mr. Moskowitz, Mr. Johnson of Georgia, Mrs. McBath, and Ms. 
 Schakowsky) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the 
                       Committee on the Judiciary

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
  To amend the Omnibus Crime Control and Safe Streets Act of 1968 to 
  award grants for providing legal resources for petitioners seeking 
        extreme risk protection orders, and for other purposes.

    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 ``Fair Legal Access Grants Act''.

SEC. 2. LEGAL RESOURCES FOR EXTREME RISK PROTECTION ORDER PETITIONERS.

    Subpart I of part E of title I of the Omnibus Crime Control and 
Safe Streets Act of 1968 (34 U.S.C. 10151 et seq.) is amended--
            (1) by redesignating section 509 as section 510; and
            (2) by inserting after section 508 the following:

``SEC. 509. LEGAL RESOURCES FOR EXTREME RISK PROTECTION ORDER 
              PETITIONERS.

    ``(a) Definitions.--In this section:
            ``(1) Covered petitioner.--The term `covered petitioner' 
        means an individual who is eligible to seek an extreme risk 
        protection order from an applicable State or Tribal court.
            ``(2) Extreme risk protection order.--The term `extreme 
        risk protection order' means a written order or warrant, issued 
        by a State or Tribal court or signed by a magistrate or other 
        comparable judicial officer, the primary purpose of which is to 
        reduce the risk of firearm-related death or injury by--
                    ``(A) prohibiting a named individual from owning, 
                purchasing, possessing, receiving, or having under the 
                custody or control of the individual a firearm; or
                    ``(B) having a firearm removed or requiring the 
                surrender of a firearm from a named individual.
            ``(3) Firearm.--The term `firearm' has the meaning given 
        the term in section 921 of title 18, United States Code.
    ``(b) Authority.--
            ``(1) In general.--The Attorney General shall award grants 
        to States, local governments, and Tribal Governments for the 
        purpose of providing legal representation and resources to 
        covered petitioners.
            ``(2) Use of funds.--A State, local government, or Tribal 
        Government that receives a grant under paragraph (1) may use 
        amounts from the grant to--
                    ``(A) ensure covered petitioners have access to 
                counsel and interpretation and translation services;
                    ``(B) establish legal resources centers--
                            ``(i) for publishing and distributing 
                        information and responding to inquiries 
                        relating to the extreme risk protection order 
                        legal process of the applicable State or Tribal 
                        Government; and
                            ``(ii) that focus on expanding resources in 
                        multiple languages other than English;
                    ``(C) hire personnel to--
                            ``(i) process and represent covered 
                        petitioners, such as personnel in local 
                        district attorney offices and law enforcement 
                        agencies; or
                            ``(ii) serve as legal resource 
                        coordinators;
                    ``(D) award subgrants to nonprofit organizations 
                that provide community legal aid; and
                    ``(E) train legal service providers, law 
                enforcement officers, prosecutors, court personnel, and 
                other individuals on the differences between an extreme 
                risk protection order and a domestic violence 
                protection order to ensure that victims of domestic 
                violence seek the form of protection order that best 
                addresses their safety needs.
    ``(c) Authorization of Appropriations.--There are authorized to be 
appropriated to carry out this section $50,000,000 for each of fiscal 
years 2028 through 2034.''.

SEC. 3. JURISDICTION OF FEDERAL COURTS.

    (a) Definition.--In this section, the term ``covered petitioner'' 
has the meaning given the term in section 509(a) of the Omnibus Crime 
Control and Safe Streets Act of 1968, as added by section 2 of this 
Act.
    (b) No Jurisdiction.--No Federal court may exercise jurisdiction 
over a Federal, State, Tribal, or local cause of action in response to 
a covered petitioner filing a petition for an extreme risk protection 
order if the covered petitioner did not file a false or intentionally 
harassing petition.
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