Preservation of Public Evidence Act of 2019

I 116TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION H. R. 4799 To require State and local law enforcement agencies to submit information about law enforcement investigations to the Attorney General, and for other purposes. IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES OCTOBER 22, 2019 Mr. VEASEY introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on the Judiciary A BILL To require State and local law enforcement agencies to sub- mit information about law enforcement investigations to the Attorney General, 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 ‘‘Preservation of Public 4 Evidence Act of 2019’’. 5 VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:01 Oct 28, 2019 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H4799.IH H4799 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 2 •HR 4799 IH SEC. 2. REQUIREMENT TO SUBMIT INFORMATION ABOUT 1 INVESTIGATIONS TO THE ATTORNEY GEN- 2 ERAL. 3 (a) REQUIREMENT.—A State receiving any amount 4 under a grant program covered by section 3(a) shall re- 5 quire each law enforcement agency of that State, and of 6 each unit of local government of that State, to submit to 7 the Attorney General, for any incident being investigated 8 by such law enforcement agency wherein a person was in- 9 jured or killed by a law enforcement officer or while in 10 the custody of a law enforcement agency, copies or records 11 of any of the following that pertains to the incident: 12 (1) Any record or information. 13 (2) Any item of evidence. 14 (3) Any photographs. 15 (4) Any videos, including footage from dash- 16 board cameras and body-worn cameras. 17 (5) Any witness statements. 18 (6) Any other tangible documents. 19 (b) PUBLICATION.—The Attorney General— 20 (1) shall preserve materials submitted under 21 subsection (a); and 22 (2) may, at the request of an attorney, a court, 23 or such other person as may be deemed appropriate 24 by the Attorney General, publish such materials or 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:01 Oct 28, 2019 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H4799.IH H4799 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 3 •HR 4799 IH descriptions thereof, subject to any applicable limita- 1 tion under law. 2 SEC. 3. ELIGIBILITY FOR FEDERAL FUNDS. 3 (a) COVERED PROGRAMS.— 4 (1) IN GENERAL.—For purposes of this Act, a 5 grant program is covered by this section if— 6 (A) the program is carried out by or under 7 the authority of the Attorney General; and 8 (B) the program provides amounts to 9 States for law enforcement purposes. 10 (2) LIST.—For each fiscal year after the date 11 of enactment of this Act, the Attorney General shall 12 prepare a list identifying each program that meets 13 the criteria of paragraph (1) and provide that list to 14 each State. 15 (b) COMPLIANCE.—For each fiscal year after the 16 date of enactment of this Act, any amount that a State 17 would otherwise receive for that fiscal year under a grant 18 program covered by this section shall be reduced by 10 19 percent, unless the chief executive of the State submits 20 to the Attorney General— 21 (1) a certification that each law enforcement 22 agency of the State, and of each unit of local govern- 23 ment of the State, is in compliance with the require- 24 ments of section 2; or 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:01 Oct 28, 2019 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H4799.IH H4799 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 4 •HR 4799 IH (2) an assurance that not less than 5 percent 1 of such amount shall be used only for the purpose 2 of enabling each law enforcement agency of the 3 State, and of each unit of local government of the 4 State to comply with the requirements of section 2, 5 so as to ensure that a certification under paragraph 6 (1) may be submitted not later than 90 days after 7 such assurance. 8 (c) REPORT ON NONCOMPLIANCE.—Not later than 9 the last day of each fiscal year after the date of enactment 10 of this Act, the Attorney General shall publish a report 11 listing each State wherein a law enforcement agency of 12 the State, or of a unit of local government of the State, 13 has not complied with the requirements of section 2 for 14 that fiscal year. 15 (d) REDISTRIBUTION OF AMOUNTS.—Amounts not 16 allocated to a State under a program as the result of a 17 reduction under subsection (b) shall be reallocated under 18 such program to a State that is in compliance with this 19 section, subject to the limitations under such program. 20 (e) EFFECTIVE DATE.—The first grants to which 21 subsection (b) applies are grants for the fiscal year begin- 22 ning October 1, 2020. 23 VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:01 Oct 28, 2019 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H4799.IH H4799 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 5 •HR 4799 IH SEC. 4. ENHANCED FUNDING FOR BODY CAMERA GRANTS. 1 For fiscal year 2021, out of any money in the Treas- 2 ury not otherwise appropriated, there is authorized to be 3 appropriated an additional amount of $10,000,000, to be 4 used for grants under part Q of the Omnibus Crime Con- 5 trol and Safe Streets Act of 1968, for the acquisition and 6 use of body-worn cameras by law enforcement officers. 7 Æ VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:01 Oct 28, 2019 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6301 E:\BILLS\H4799.IH H4799 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS