28 USC 530C - Authority to use available funds

U.S Code last checked for updates: Nov 23, 2024

§ 530C.

Authority to use available funds

(a)

In General.—

Except to the extent provided otherwise by law, the activities of the Department of Justice (including any bureau, office, board, division, commission, subdivision, unit, or other component thereof) may, in the reasonable discretion of the Attorney General, be carried out through any means, including—

(1)

through the Department’s own personnel, acting within, from, or through the Department itself;

(2)

by sending or receiving details of personnel to other branches or agencies of the Federal Government, on a reimbursable, partially-reimbursable, or nonreimbursable basis;

(3)

through reimbursable agreements with other Federal agencies for work, materials, or equipment;

(4)

through contracts, grants, or cooperative agreements with non-Federal parties; and

(5)

as provided in subsection (b), in section 524, and in any other provision of law consistent herewith, including, without limitation, section 102(b) of Public Law 102–395 (106 Stat. 1838), as incorporated by section 815(d) of Public Law 104–132 (110 Stat. 1315).

(b)

Permitted Uses.—

(1)

General permitted uses.—

Funds available to the Attorney General (i.e., all funds available to carry out the activities described in subsection (a)) may be used, without limitation, for the following:

(A)

The purchase, lease, maintenance, and operation of passenger motor vehicles, or police-type motor vehicles for law enforcement purposes, without regard to general purchase price limitation for the then-current fiscal year.

(B)

The purchase of insurance for motor vehicles, boats, and aircraft operated in official Government business in foreign countries.

(C)

Services of experts and consultants, including private counsel, as authorized by section 3109 of title 5, and at rates of pay for individuals not to exceed the maximum daily rate payable from time to time under section 5332 of title 5.

(D)

Official reception and representation expenses (i.e., official expenses of a social nature intended in whole or in predominant part to promote goodwill toward the Department or its missions, but excluding expenses of public tours of facilities of the Department of Justice), in accordance with distributions and procedures established, and rules issued, by the Attorney General, and expenses of public tours of facilities of the Department of Justice.

(E)

Unforeseen emergencies of a confidential character, to be expended under the direction of the Attorney General and accounted for solely on the certificate of the Attorney General.

(F)

Miscellaneous and emergency expenses authorized or approved by the Attorney General, the Deputy Attorney General, the Associate Attorney General, or the Assistant Attorney General for Administration.

(G)

(i)

attendance at meetings and seminars;

(ii)

conferences and training; and

(iii)

advances of public moneys under section 3324 of title 31: Provided, That travel advances of such moneys to law enforcement personnel engaged in undercover activity shall be considered to be public money for purposes of section 3527 of title 31.

(H)

Contracting with individuals for personal services abroad, except that such individuals shall not be regarded as employees of the United States for the purpose of any law administered by the Office of Personnel Management.

(I)

Payment of interpreters and translators who are not citizens of the United States, in accordance with procedures established and rules issued by the Attorney General.

(J)

Expenses or allowances for uniforms as authorized by section 5901 of title 5, but without regard to the general purchase price limitation for the then-current fiscal year.

(K)

Expenses of—

(i)

primary and secondary schooling for dependents of personnel stationed outside the United States at cost not in excess of those authorized by the Department of Defense for the same area, when it is determined by the Attorney General that schools available in the locality are unable to provide adequately for the education of such dependents; and

(ii)

transportation of those dependents between their place of residence and schools serving the area which those dependents would normally attend when the Attorney General, under such regulations as he may prescribe, determines that such schools are not accessible by public means of transportation.

(L)

payment of rewards (i.e., payments pursuant to public advertisements for assistance to the Department of Justice), in accordance with procedures and regulations established or issued by the Attorney General: Provided, That—

(i)

no such reward shall exceed $3,000,000, unless—

(I)

the reward is to combat domestic terrorism or international terrorism (as defined in section 2331 of title 18); or

(II)

a statute should authorize a higher amount;

(ii)

no such reward of $250,000 or more may be made or offered without the personal approval of either the Attorney General or the President;

(iii)

the Attorney General shall give written notice to the Chairmen and ranking minority members of the Committees on Appropriations and the Judiciary of the Senate and of the House of Representatives not later than 30 days after the approval of a reward under clause (ii);

(iv)

any executive agency or military department (as defined, respectively, in sections 105 and 102 of title 5) may provide the Attorney General with funds for the payment of rewards; and

(v)

neither the failure of the Attorney General to authorize a payment nor the amount authorized shall be subject to judicial review.

(M)

(i)

At the request of an appropriate law enforcement official of a State or political subdivision, the Attorney General may assist in the investigation of violent acts and shootings occurring in a place of public use and in the investigation of mass killings and attempted mass killings. Any assistance provided under this subparagraph shall be presumed to be within the scope of Federal office or employment.

(i)

 So in original. Probably should be “(ii)”.

For purposes of this subparagraph—

(I)

the term “mass killings” means 3 or more killings in a single incident; and

(II)

the term “place of public use” has the meaning given that term under section 2332f(e)(6) of title 18, United States Code.

(2)

Specific permitted uses.—

(A)

Aircraft and boats.—

Funds available to the Attorney General for United States Attorneys, for the Federal Bureau of Investigation, for the United States Marshals Service, for the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, for the Drug Enforcement Administration, and for the Immigration and Naturalization Service may be used for the purchase, lease, maintenance, and operation of aircraft and boats, for law enforcement purposes.

(B)

Purchase of ammunition and firearms; firearms competitions.—

Funds available to the Attorney General for United States Attorneys, for the Federal Bureau of Investigation, for the United States Marshals Service, for the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, for the Drug Enforcement Administration, for the Federal Prison System, for the Office of the Inspector General, and for the Immigration and Naturalization Service may be used for—

(i)

the purchase of ammunition and firearms; and

(ii)

participation in firearms competitions.

(C)

Construction.—

Funds available to the Attorney General for construction may be used for expenses of planning, designing, acquiring, building, constructing, activating, renovating, converting, expanding, extending, remodeling, equipping, repairing, or maintaining buildings or facilities, including the expenses of acquisition of sites therefor, and all necessary expenses incident or related thereto; but the foregoing shall not be construed to mean that funds generally available for salaries and expenses are not also available for certain incidental or minor construction, activation, remodeling, maintenance, and other related construction costs.

(3)

Fees and expenses of witnesses.—

Funds available to the Attorney General for fees and expenses of witnesses may be used for—

(A)

expenses, mileage, compensation, protection, and per diem in lieu of subsistence, of witnesses (including advances of public money) and as authorized by section 1821 or other law, except that no witness may be paid more than 1 attendance fee for any 1 calendar day;

(B)

fees and expenses of neutrals in alternative dispute resolution proceedings, where the Department of Justice is a party; and

(C)

construction of protected witness safesites.

(4)

Federal bureau of investigation.—

Funds available to the Attorney General for the Federal Bureau of Investigation for the detection, investigation, and prosecution of crimes against the United States may be used for the conduct of all its authorized activities.

(5)

Immigration and naturalization service.—

Funds available to the Attorney General for the Immigration and Naturalization Service may be used for—

(A)

acquisition of land as sites for enforcement fences, and construction incident to such fences;

(B)

cash advances to aliens for meals and lodging en route;

(C)

refunds of maintenance bills, immigration fines, and other items properly returnable, except deposits of aliens who become public charges and deposits to secure payment of fines and passage money; and

(D)

expenses and allowances incurred in tracking lost persons, as required by public exigencies, in aid of State or local law enforcement agencies.

(6)

Federal prison system.—

Funds available to the Attorney General for the Federal Prison System may be used for—

(A)

inmate medical services and inmate legal services, within the Federal prison system;

(B)

the purchase and exchange of farm products and livestock;

(C)

the acquisition of land as provided in section 4010 of title 18; and

(D)

the construction of buildings and facilities for penal and correctional institutions (including prison camps), by contract or force account, including the payment of United States prisoners for their work performed in any such construction;

except that no funds may be used to distribute or make available to a prisoner any commercially published information or material that is sexually explicit or features nudity.

(7)

Detention trustee.—

Funds available to the Attorney General for the Detention Trustee may be used for all the activities of such Trustee in the exercise of all power and functions authorized by law relating to the detention of Federal prisoners in non-Federal institutions or otherwise in the custody of the United States Marshals Service and to the detention of aliens in the custody of the Immigration and Naturalization Service, including the overseeing of construction of detention facilities or for housing related to such detention, the management of funds appropriated to the Department for the exercise of detention functions, and the direction of the United States Marshals Service and Immigration Service with respect to the exercise of detention policy setting and operations for the Department of Justice.

(c)

Related Provisions.—

(1)

Limitation of compensation of individuals employed as attorneys.—

No funds available to the Attorney General may be used to pay compensation for services provided by an individual employed as an attorney (other than an individual employed to provide services as a foreign attorney in special cases) unless such individual is duly licensed and authorized to practice as an attorney under the law of a State, a territory of the United States, or the District of Columbia.

(2)

Reimbursements paid to governmental entities.—

Funds available to the Attorney General that are paid as reimbursement to a governmental unit of the Department of Justice, to another Federal entity, or to a unit of State or local government, may be used under authorities available to the unit or entity receiving such reimbursement.

(d)

Foreign Reimbursements.—

Whenever the Department of Justice or any component participates in a cooperative project to improve law enforcement or national security operations or services with a friendly foreign country on a cost-sharing basis, any reimbursements or contributions received from that foreign country to meet its share of the project may be credited to appropriate current appropriations accounts of the Department of Justice or any component. The amount of a reimbursement or contribution credited shall be available only for payment of the share of the project expenses allocated to the participating foreign country.

(e)

Railroad Police Training Fees.—

The Attorney General is authorized to establish and collect a fee to defray the costs of railroad police officers participating in a Federal Bureau of Investigation law enforcement training program authorized by Public Law 106–110, and to credit such fees to the appropriation account “Federal Bureau of Investigation, Salaries and Expenses”, to be available until expended for salaries and expenses incurred in providing such services.

(f)

Warranty Work.—

In instances where the Attorney General determines that law enforcement-, security-, or mission-related considerations mitigate against obtaining maintenance or repair services from private sector entities for equipment under warranty, the Attorney General is authorized to seek reimbursement from such entities for warranty work performed at Department of Justice facilities, and to credit any payment made for such work to any appropriation charged therefor.

(Added Pub. L. 107–273, div. A, title II, § 201(a), Nov. 2, 2002, 116 Stat. 1767; amended Pub. L. 108–199, div. B, title I, Jan. 23, 2004, 118 Stat. 53; Pub. L. 112–265, § 2(a), Jan. 14, 2013, 126 Stat. 2435.)

cite as: 28 USC 530C