(a) There is established as a special fund the Litigation Support Fund ("Fund"), which shall be administered by the Office of the Attorney General in accordance with this section.
(b) Subject to the limitations of subsection (d)(3) of this section, any recoveries from claims or litigation brought by the Office of the Attorney General on behalf of the District shall be deposited into the Fund.
(c)(1) Money in the Fund shall be used for the following purposes:
(A) Supporting general litigation expenses associated with prosecuting or defending litigation matters on behalf of the District of Columbia;
(B) Funding staff positions, personnel costs, and employee retirement and separation incentives, up to a maximum amount of $6 million per year, and non-personnel costs related to administering any grant issued pursuant to the authority provided in § 1-301.88f(a); and
(C) Crime reduction and violence interruption programming.
(2) Beginning in Fiscal Year 2020, up to $7 million deposited into the Fund each fiscal year may be used for the purposes of crime reduction, violence interruption, and other public safety initiatives.
(3) In Fiscal Year 2021, the first $500,000 deposited into the Fund shall be transferred to the Office of Victim Services and Justice Grants for victim services grants.
(c-1) Repealed.
(d)(1) Except as provided in paragraph (3) of this subsection, the money deposited into the Fund, and interest earned, shall not revert to the unrestricted fund balance of the General Fund of the District of Columbia at the end of any fiscal year or at any other time.
(2) Subject to authorization in an approved budget and financial plan, any funds appropriated in the Fund shall be continually available without regard to fiscal year limitation.
(3)(A) The balance in the Fund, including interest earned, shall not exceed $17 million. Any funds in excess of $17 million shall revert at the end of a fiscal year to the unrestricted fund balance of the General Fund of the District of Columbia.
(B) Notwithstanding subparagraph (A) of this subsection, the Office of the Attorney General may retain up to $19.1 million in the Fund until September 30, 2021.
(e) For the purposes of this section, the term "recovery" shall include funds obtained through court determinations or through the settlement of claims in which the Office of the Attorney General represents the District, but shall not include funds obtained through an administrative proceeding or funds obligated to another source by District or federal law.
(f) Notwithstanding any other provision of this section, $12,039,659.91 of the amount to be received by the District in Fiscal Year 2021 in settlement of District of Columbia v. Monsanto Co., Superior Court of the District of Columbia Case No. 2020 CA 002445 B, shall be deposited in the Fund and allocated as follows:
(1) $7,339,659.91 shall be paid in attorney's fees and costs to May Firm/EKM Association on PCBs for legal services received pursuant to Contract No. DCCB-2019-C-0008; and
(2) $4,700,000 shall be used for the authorized purposes of the Fund pursuant to subsection (c) of this section.
(May 27, 2010, D.C. Law 18-160, § 106b; as added Oct. 22, 2015, D.C. Law 21-36, § 1032(a), 62 DCR 10905; Oct. 8, 2016, D.C. Law 21-160, § 3092(a), 63 DCR 10775; Dec. 13, 2017, D.C. Law 22-33, § 3072(a), 64 DCR 7652; May 10, 2019, D.C. Law 22-313, § 2(a), 66 DCR 1627; Sept. 11, 2019, D.C. Law 23-16, § 3072(a), (c), 66 DCR 8621; Dec. 3, 2020, D.C. Law 23-149, § 3062(a), 67 DCR 10493.)