§10706 Grant accountability

Summary

All grants the Attorney General gives under this subchapter must follow special rules to make sure money is used properly. Applicable committees: the Senate Committee on the Judiciary and the House Committee on the Judiciary. Unresolved audit finding: when the DOJ Inspector General says a grantee spent money in ways that are not allowed and the problem is not fixed within 12 months. Nonprofit organization: a group described in 26 U.S.C. 501(c)(3) and tax-exempt under 501(a). The DOJ Inspector General must audit grantees every year starting in the first fiscal year after July 22, 2016. A grantee with an unresolved audit finding cannot get grants under this subchapter for the first 2 fiscal years after the 12-month fix period ends. The Attorney General must give priority to applicants that had no unresolved findings in the prior 3 fiscal years. If a barred grantee is paid anyway, the Attorney General must put the same amount into the General Fund of the Treasury and try to recover that money from the grantee. Nonprofits that keep money offshore to avoid the tax in 26 U.S.C. 511(a) cannot enter contracts or get subawards under section 10701(b). Nonprofits that use formal procedures to set officer pay must explain their process in the application, and the Attorney General will make that information available on request. No funds may pay for any conference that costs more than $20,000 from these grants unless the head of the agency gives written approval first; that approval must include a full cost estimate (food, drinks, audio-visual, speaker fees, entertainment). The Deputy Attorney General must send the applicable committees an annual report on approved conference spending. Beginning in the first fiscal year after July 22, 2016, the Attorney General must annually certify to the applicable committees that audits were finished and reviewed, required exclusions were made, reimbursements were done, and must list any excluded grantees from the prior year. Before awarding a grant, the Attorney General must check for duplicate funding for the same purpose; if duplicate grants are given, the Attorney General must report the duplicates, the dollar amounts, and the reasons to the applicable committees.