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Congressional Research Service
Version 00 · Introduced in Senate · Dec 9, 2003
Witness Security and Protection Act of 2003 - Amends the Federal judicial code to provide for the establishment within the United States Marshals Service of a Short Term State Witness Protection Section to provide protection for witnesses in State and local trials involving homicide or other major violent crimes pursuant to cooperative agreements with State and local district attorneys and the U.S. attorney for the District of Columbia (DC).
Directs the Section to give priority in awarding grants and providing services to prosecutor's offices in States with an average of at least 100 murders per year during the five-year period immediately preceding an application for protection.
Authorizes: (1) the Attorney General to make grants to State and local district attorneys and the U.S. attorney for DC for providing such witness protection; (2) each grant recipient to use the grant to provide witness protection or to credit the grant to the Section to cover the Section's costs of providing witness protection on the recipient's behalf; and (3) grants to be awarded only in States with an average of not less than 100 murders per year during the most recent five-year period.
People & committees
Sen. Schumer, Charles E. [D-NY] · D–NY
Legislative record
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Read twice and referred to the Committee on the Judiciary.
Introduced in Senate
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Source last updated: Aug 10, 2026. Consult Congress.gov for the current record.
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