HOUSE DOCKET, NO. 3133        FILED ON: 1/21/2011

HOUSE  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  No. 2797

The Commonwealth of Massachusetts

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PRESENTED BY:

Antonio F. D. Cabral

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To the Honorable Senate and House of Representatives of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts in General
Court assembled:

The undersigned legislators and/or citizens respectfully petition for the adoption of the accompanying bill:

An Act to prevent gang violence.

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PETITION OF:

HOUSE DOCKET, NO. 3133        FILED ON: 1/21/2011

HOUSE  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  No. 2797

[SIMILAR MATTER FILED IN PREVIOUS SESSION
SEE HOUSE, NO. 1302 OF 2009-2010.]

The Commonwealth of Massachusetts

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In the Year Two Thousand Eleven

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An Act to prevent gang violence.

Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives in General Court assembled, and by the authority of the same, as follows:
 

Subsection (d) of Section 47 of Chapter 94C of the General Laws, as appearing in the 2008 Official Edition, is hereby amended by striking out the second paragraph and inserting in place thereof the following paragraphs:

The final order of the court shall provide that said monies and the proceeds of any such sale shall be distributed in the following manner: Thirty-four percent shall be distributed to the Senator Charles E. Shannon, Jr. Community Safety Initiative, as contained in item 8100-0111 of section 1A of Chapter 182 of the Acts of 2008 or its successors;  Thirty-three percent to the prosecuting district attorney or attorney general; And thirty-three percent to the police department or departments who actively participated in the investigation leading to and/or the conduct of the seizure.  If more than one police department actively participated in the investigation leading to and/or the conduct of the seizure, the court having jurisdiction of the forfeiture proceeds shall equitably distribute said proceeds among these departments.

SECTION 2. Subsection (d) of section 47 of Chapter 94C of the General Laws, as so appearing, is hereby amended by inserting at the end of said section the following sentence: Said department shall expend up to ten percent of monies and proceeds for drug rehabilitation, drug education, and other anti-drug or neighborhood crime watch programs that further law enforcement purposes.

SECTION 3. The third paragraph in subsection (d) of section 47 of Chapter 94C of the General Laws, as so appearing, is hereby further amended by striking out the last sentence and inserting in place thereof the following two sentences: Within ninety days of the close of the fiscal year in which this bill is enacted and on each February fifteenth thereafter, each district attorney and the attorney general shall file a detailed report with the house and senate committees on ways and means on the deposit and expenditure of all monies in the trust fund including, but not limited to, the use of such monies for the purpose of protracted investigations, provision of technical equipment, drug rehabilitation, drug education, and other anti-drug or neighborhood crime watch programs. Reports filed with said committees annually on February fifteen shall detail said deposit and expenditure of all monies for the preceding fiscal year and the current fiscal year through December thirty-first.

SECTION 4. The fourth paragraph in subsection (d) of Section 47 of Chapter 94C of the General Laws, as so appearing, is hereby further amended by adding the following after the end of said paragraph: Within ninety days of the close of the fiscal year in which this bill is enacted and on each February fifteenth thereafter, each chief of police of such city or town shall file a detailed report with the division of local services of the department of revenue and mayor or first selectman on the deposit and expenditure of all monies in the special law enforcement trust fund including, but not limited to, the use of such monies for the purpose of protracted investigations, provision of technical equipment, drug education, and other anti-drug or neighborhood crime watch programs or other law enforcement purposes as the chief of police of such city or town, or the colonel of state police deems appropriate. Reports filed with said department annually in February fifteenth shall detail such deposits and expenditures of all monies for the preceding fiscal year and the current fiscal year through December thirty-first.

SECTION 5. Chapter 10 of the General Laws is hereby amended by inserting after section 35T, as appearing in the 2008 Official Edition, the following section: Section 35U. There shall be established and set up on the books of the commonwealth a separate fund, to be known as the Charles E. Shannon, Jr. Community Safety Initiative, to be administered by the Executive Office of Public Safety and Security to support regional, multidisciplinary approaches to combat gang violence and for community-based drug treatment, education and prevention programs. Said fund shall consist of all funds received by the commonwealth from the following sources: proceeds under the provisions of paragraph (d) of section forty-seven of chapter 94C; fines paid under the provisions of sections thirty-two to forty, inclusive, of said chapter 94C; and appropriations, gifts, grants, or donations to said fund from public or private sources for the purposes of said fund. The state treasurer shall not deposit said revenues in, or transfer said revenues to, the General Fund or any other fund other than the Charles E. Shannon, Jr. Community Safety Initiative, subject to appropriation. The state treasurer shall deposit monies in said fund in accordance with the provisions of sections 34 and 34A of chapter 29 in such manner as will secure the highest interest rate available consistent with the safety of the fund. Subject to appropriation, said fund shall be expended only for the purposes of regional, multidisciplinary approaches to combat gang violence and for community-based drug treatment, education and prevention programs at the direction of the commissioner of public safety and security, and any unexpended balances shall be redeposited, as herein provided, for further use consistent with this section.