§30101 State Grant Program for Training and Prosecution of Computer Crimes

Summary

The Office of Justice Programs must give each State a grant when Congress provides money in advance. States can use the money with local governments, courts, or other states to fight computer crime. Grants can help police and prosecutors enforce computer-crime laws, teach the public to spot and avoid computer crime, train officers and prosecutors in investigation and digital forensics, buy computer equipment for investigations, and share federal law enforcement know-how, including through multi-state task forces. To get a grant, a State must promise it has laws that punish computer crimes (like computer fraud, damaging or deleting software or data, or blocking access to computers), has checked what resources it and its local governments need, and will coordinate these programs with other federal training programs (for example, the Local Law Enforcement Block Grant). The federal share can be up to 90% of costs unless the Attorney General waives that limit. Congress authorized $25,000,000 for each of fiscal years 2009 through 2013. The Attorney General may use up to 3% of that each year for administration. Each State (except tribes) must get at least 0.75% of the yearly total unless all its eligible applications are funded; the United States Virgin Islands, American Samoa, Guam, and the Northern Mariana Islands each get 0.25%. The Attorney General may also make grants directly to Indian tribes.