Oversight and accountability

34 U.S.C. § 10263
in effect
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All grants awarded by the Department of Justice that are authorized under this Act shall be subject to the following: (1) Audit requirementBeginning in fiscal year 2016, and each fiscal year thereafter, the Inspector General of the Department of Justice shall conduct audits of recipients of grants under this Act to prevent waste, fraud, and abuse of funds by grantees. The Inspector General shall determine the appropriate number of grantees to be audited each year. (2) Mandatory exclusionA recipient of grant funds under this Act that is found to have an unresolved audit finding shall not be eligible to receive grant funds under this Act during the 2 fiscal years beginning after the 12-month period described in paragraph (5). (3) PriorityIn awarding grants under this Act, the Attorney General shall give priority to eligible entities that, during the 3 fiscal years before submitting an application for a grant under this Act, did not have an unresolved audit finding showing a violation in the terms or conditions of a Department of Justice grant program. (4) ReimbursementIf an entity is awarded grant funds under this Act during the 2-fiscal-year period in which the entity is barred from receiving grants under paragraph (2), the Attorney General shall—(A) deposit an amount equal to the grant funds that were improperly awarded to the grantee into the General Fund of the Treasury; and (B) seek to recoup the costs of the repayment to the fund from the grant recipient that was erroneously awarded grant funds. (5) Defined termIn this section, the term “unresolved audit finding” means an audit report finding in the final audit report of the Inspector General of the Department of Justice that the grantee has utilized grant funds for an unauthorized expenditure or otherwise unallowable cost that is not closed or resolved within a 12-month period beginning on the date when the final audit report is issued. (6) Nonprofit organization requirements(A) DefinitionFor purposes of this section and the grant programs described in this Act, the term “nonprofit organization” means an organization that is described in section 501(c)(3) of title 26 and is exempt from taxation under section 501(a) of such title. (B) ProhibitionThe Attorney General shall not award a grant under any grant program described in this Act to a nonprofit organization that holds money in offshore accounts for the purpose of avoiding paying the tax described in section 511(a) of title 26. (C) DisclosureEach nonprofit organization that is awarded a grant under a grant program described in this Act and uses the procedures prescribed in regulations to create a rebuttable presumption of reasonableness for the compensation of its officers, directors, trustees and key employees, shall disclose to the Attorney General, in the application for the grant, the process for determining such compensation, including the independent persons involved in reviewing and approving such compensation, the comparability data used, and contemporaneous substantiation of the deliberation and decision. Upon request, the Attorney General shall make the information disclosed under this subsection available for public inspection. (7) Administrative expensesUnless otherwise explicitly provided in authorizing legislation, not more than 7.5 percent of the amounts authorized to be appropriated under this Act may be used by the Attorney General for salaries and administrative expenses of the Department of Justice. (8) Conference expenditures(A) LimitationNo amounts authorized to be appropriated to the Department of Justice under this Act may be used by the Attorney General or by any individual or organization awarded discretionary funds through a cooperative agreement under this Act, to host or support any expenditure for conferences that uses more than $20,000 in Department funds, unless the Deputy Attorney General or the appropriate Assistant Attorney General, Director, or principal deputy as the Deputy Attorney General may designate, provides prior written authorization that the funds may be expended to host a conference. (B) Written approvalWritten approval under subparagraph (A) shall include a written estimate of all costs associated with the conference, including the cost of all food and beverages, audio/visual equipment, honoraria for speakers, and any entertainment. (C) ReportThe Deputy Attorney General shall submit an annual report to the Committee on the Judiciary of the Senate and the Committee on the Judiciary of the House of Representatives on all conference expenditures approved by operation of this paragraph. (9) Prohibition on lobbying activity(A) In generalAmounts authorized to be appropriated under this Act may not be utilized by any grant recipient to—(i) lobby any representative of the Department of Justice regarding the award of grant funding; or (ii) lobby any representative of a Federal, State, local, or tribal government regarding the award of grant funding. (B) PenaltyIf the Attorney General determines that any recipient of a grant under this Act has violated subparagraph (A), the Attorney General shall—(i) require the grant recipient to repay the grant in full; and (ii) prohibit the grant recipient from receiving another grant under this Act for not less than 5 years. (10) Preventing duplicative grants(A) In generalBefore the Attorney General awards a grant to an applicant under this Act, the Attorney General shall compare potential grant awards with other grants awarded under this Act to determine whether duplicate grants are awarded for the same purpose. (B) ReportIf the Attorney General awards duplicate grants to the same applicant for the same purpose, the Attorney General shall submit to the Committee on the Judiciary of the Senate and the Committee on the Judiciary of the House of Representatives a report that includes—(i) a list of all duplicate grants awarded, including the total dollar amount of any duplicate grants awarded; and (ii) the reason the Attorney General awarded the duplicate grants.

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