Page:United States Statutes at Large Volume 90 Part 2.djvu/953

 PUBLIC LAW 94-503—OCT. 15, 1976

90 STAT. 2421

" (4) (xA) Whenever a State government or unit of local government, or any officer or employee thereof acting in an official capacity, has engaged or is engaging in any act or practice prohibited by this subsection, a civil action may be instituted after exhaustion of administrative remedies by the person aggrieved in an appropriate United States district court or in a State court of general jurisdiction. Administrative remedies shall be deemed to be exhausted upon the expiration of sixty days after the date of the administrative complaint was filed with the Administration, or any other administrative enforcement agency, unless within such period there has been a determination by the Administration or the agency on the merits of the complaint, in which case such remedies shall be deemed exhausted at the time the determination becomes final. "(B) In any civil action brought by a private person to enforce compliance with any provision of this subsection, the court may grant to a prevailing plaintiff reasonable attorney fees, unless the court determines that the lawsuit is frivolous, vexatious, brought for harassment purposes, or brought principally for the purpose of gaining attorney fees. "(C) In any action instituted under this section to enforce compliance with section 518(c)(1), the Attorney General, or a specially Ante, p. 2418. designated assistant for or in the name of the United States, may intervene upon timely application if he certifies that the action is of general public importance. In such action the United States shall be entitled to the same relief as if it had instituted the action,". CONFORMING AMENDMENT

SEC. 123. Title I of the Omnibus Crime Control and Safe Streets Act of 1968 is amended by striking out section 512. 42 USC 3760. ADMINISTRATIVE PROVISIONS

SEC. 124. Section 515 of the Omnibus Crime Control and Safe Streets Act of 1968 is amended to read as follows: 42 USC 3763. "SEC. 515. (a) Subject to the general authority of the Attorney General, and under the direction of the Administrator, the Administration shall— "(1) review, analyze, and evaluate the comprehensive State plan submitted by the State planning agency in order to determine whether the use of financial resources and estimates of future requirements as requested in the plan are consistent with the purposes of this title to improve and strengthen law enforcement and criminal justice and to reduce and prevent crime; if warranted, the Administration shall thereafter make recommendations to the State planning agency concerning improvements to be made in that comprehensive plan; " (2) asssure that the membership of the State planning agency is fairly representative of all components of the criminal justice system and review, prior to approval, the preparation, justification, and execution of the comprehensive plan to determine whether the State planning agency is coordinating and controlling the disbursement of the Federal funds provided under this title in a fair and proper manner to all components of the State and local criminal justice system; to assure such fair and proper disbursement, the State planning agency shall submit to the Administration, together with its comprehensive plan, a financial analysis indicating the percentage of Federal funds to be allocated under

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