H.R. 7171 — Fair Legal Access Grants Act

This section redesignates section 509 as section 510 of the Omnibus Crime Control and Safe Streets Act of 1968 and inserts new section 509, which authorizes the Attorney General to award grants to states, local governments, and Tribal governments to provide legal representation and resources to covered petitioners—i.e., individuals eligible to seek extreme risk protection orders (ERPOs) from state or Tribal courts. ERPOs are court orders primarily designed to reduce firearm-related death or injury by prohibiting a named individual from acquiring or possessing firearms (using the definition in 18 U.S.C. §921) or requiring firearm surrender. Grant funds may be used (1) to ensure access to counsel, interpretation, and translation services; (2) to establish multilingual legal resource centers for ERPO information and inquiries; (3) to hire personnel such as district attorneys, law enforcement, and legal coordinators to assist petitioners; (4) to award subgrants to nonprofit legal aid organizations; and (5) to train legal providers, law enforcement, prosecutors, and court personnel on distinctions between ERPOs and domestic violence protection orders. The section authorizes $50 million for each of FY2028 through FY2034.

This section bars federal courts from exercising jurisdiction over any federal, state, tribal, or local cause of action arising from a covered petitioner's filing of a petition for an extreme risk protection order (ERPO)—a temporary court order prohibiting firearm possession by an individual deemed to pose an extreme risk—unless the petition was false or intentionally harassing. (A covered petitioner is as defined in section 509(a) of the Omnibus Crime Control and Safe Streets Act of 1968, as added by section 2 of this Act.)