Federal

EAGLE Act of 2023

Source: Congress.gov · 647 words in original text

What This Bill Does

This bill directs the Attorney General to create a grant program that gives money to local police departments so they can become accredited or re-certified. Accreditation means a professional organization confirms that a police department meets certain standards. The bill is called the EAGLE Act of 2023.

Who It Affects

Local police agencies with fewer than 350 employees are directly affected by this bill.

Key Provisions

• The Attorney General must start the grant program within 90 days of the bill becoming law (Sec. 2(a)). • Local police agencies can apply for grants by showing they have financial need and listing how much money they need for accreditation or re-certification costs (Sec. 2(d)). • Grant money can only be used to pay for accreditation or re-certification services, on-site assessment charges, and extension fees (Sec. 2(e)). • The federal government will provide up to $10,000,000 to run this program in fiscal year 2024 (Sec. 2(f)). • Money given out under this program can be used until it is spent with no time limit (Sec. 2(g)).

What Changes

If this becomes law, local police departments with fewer than 350 employees can apply for federal grants to help pay the costs of becoming accredited or re-certified by professional law enforcement organizations.

Important Definitions

• Qualified accreditation or re-certification: Approval from a professional law enforcement group at the national, state, regional, or tribal level that develops standards for police departments, such as CALEA (the Commission on Accreditation for Law Enforcement Agencies) (Sec. 2(h)(1)). • Local law enforcement agency: A local government police department authorized by law to prevent, detect, investigate, or prosecute crimes and that employs fewer than 350 people (Sec. 2(h)(2)).

I 118TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION H. R. 1649 To direct the Attorney General to establish a grant program to provide for the qualified accreditation and re-certification of local law enforce- ment agencies, and for other purposes. IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES MARCH 17, 2023 Mr. PAPPAS (for himself, Mr. FITZPATRICK, Mr. BACON, Ms. CRAIG, Mr. DAVIS of North Carolina, Ms. KUSTER, Mr. OBERNOLTE, and Ms. SHERRILL) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Com- mittee on the Judiciary A BILL To direct the Attorney General to establish a grant program to provide for the qualified accreditation and re-certifi- cation of local law enforcement agencies, and for other purposes. Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa- 1 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 2 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 3 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Establishing Accredita- 4 tion Grants for Law Enforcement Act of 2023’’ or the 5 ‘‘EAGLE Act of 2023’’. 6 VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:37 Mar 30, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1649.IH H1649 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB 2 •HR 1649 IH SEC. 2. GRANT PROGRAM FOR LOCAL LAW ENFORCEMENT 1 AGENCY ACCREDITATION. 2 (a) ESTABLISHMENT.—Not later than 90 days after 3 the date of the enactment of this Act, the Attorney Gen- 4 eral shall establish a grant program (in this Act referred 5 to as the ‘‘Program’’) to provide for the qualified accredi- 6 tation or re-certification of a local law enforcement agency. 7 (b) GRANT AUTHORITY.—In carrying out the Pro- 8 gram, the Attorney General shall award a grant to an eli- 9 gible recipient under subsection (c). 10 (c) ELIGIBLE RECIPIENT.—The Attorney General 11 shall award a grant under the Program to a local law en- 12 forcement agency that submits an application pursuant to 13 subsection (d). 14 (d) APPLICATION.—To be eligible under the Pro- 15 gram, a local law enforcement agency shall submit to the 16 Attorney General an application that demonstrates— 17 (1) the financial need of the local law enforce- 18 ment agency; and 19 (2) amount requested by the local law enforce- 20 ment agency, including amount to be spent on— 21 (A) accreditation or re-certification fees; 22 (B) on-site assessment charges; and 23 (C) extension fees. 24 (e) ELIGIBLE PROJECTS.—Grant funds awarded 25 under the Program may only be used to assist in the quali- 26 VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:37 Mar 30, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1649.IH H1649 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB 3 •HR 1649 IH fied accreditation or re-certification of a local law enforce- 1 ment agency. 2 (f) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—There 3 are authorized to be appropriated to carry out the Pro- 4 gram $10,000,000 for fiscal year 2024. 5 (g) PERIOD OF AVAILABILITY.—Funds made avail- 6 able to carry out the Program shall remain available until 7 expended. 8 (h) DEFINITIONS.—In this Act: 9 (1) QUALIFIED ACCREDITATION OR RE-CERTIFI- 10 CATION.—The term ‘‘qualified accreditation or re- 11 certification’’ means accreditation or re-certification 12 of a local law enforcement agency by a professional 13 law enforcement organization involved in the devel- 14 opment of standards of accreditation for law en- 15 forcement agencies at the national, State, regional, 16 or Tribal level, such as the Commission on Accredi- 17 tation for Law Enforcement Agencies (CALEA). 18 (2) LOCAL LAW ENFORCEMENT AGENCY.—The 19 term ‘‘local law enforcement agency’’ means an 20 agency of a unit of local government that is author- 21 ized by law to supervise the prevention, detection, in- 22 vestigation, or prosecution of any violation of crimi- 23 nal law and that has less than 350 employees. 24 Æ VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:37 Mar 30, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6301 E:\BILLS\H1649.IH H1649 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB

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