Grand Jury Reform Act of 2015

Summary: Grand Jury Reform Act of 2015  Conditions a state or local government's eligibility for funding under the Edward Byrne Memorial Justice Assistance Grant Program on the state's compliance with this Act. Requires: (1) the chief officer of the law enforcement agency of a locality in which a death results from the use of deadly force by a law enforcement officer of such agency to report the death to the elected prosecutor of that locality within 24 hours of such death, and (2) the elected prosecutor to report the death to the governor of the state within 24 hours after receiving such notice.  Directs the governor: (1) within three days after receiving such report, to appoint a special prosecutor to present evidence on the state's behalf at a hearing before a judge to determine whether probable cause exists to bring criminal charges against the law enforcement officer; (2) to use a random process to select the special prosecutor from among all of the elected prosecutors in the state, excluding the elected prosecutor of the locality in which the death occurred; and (3) within 24 hours after being notified of such death, to report the death to the chief officer of the state's law enforcement agency, which shall assume exclusive control of the investigation of the death during the pendency of the probable cause hearing.  Requires: (1) the hearing to be held within 90 days after the appointment of the special prosecutor, unless the judge determines that good cause exists to delay it; (2) the court to remain open to the public for such hearing, except as determined appropriate by the presiding judge; (3) the presiding judge, within five days of the hearing's conclusion, to issue a determination regarding probable cause and to submit such determination to the elected prosecutor of the locality in which the death occurred; and (4) the special prosecutor to submit recommendations to the elected prosecutor, including regarding whether criminal charges should be brought against the officer. Declares that the probable cause hearing shall have no binding effect on the elected prosecutor.

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

    This Act may be cited as the ``Grand Jury Reform Act of 2015''.

SEC. 2. FINDINGS.

    The Congress finds the following:
            (1) Grand juries are typically used as the process by which 
        allegations of police misconduct are prosecuted.
            (2) There exists a symbiotic relationship between local 
        prosecutors and the law enforcement officers who regularly 
        testify in routine grand jury investigations.
            (3) The closeness of this relationship creates public 
        suspicion that accused police officers receive preferential 
        consideration from grand juries when they are subject to grand 
        jury investigations.
            (4) Police officers have the right to appear before the 
        grand jury investigating allegations of wrongdoing by said 
        officer, and give testimony not subject to a thorough cross 
        examination.
            (5) Grand jury proceedings are by law secret proceedings.
            (6) The secret grand jury process has historically resulted 
        in a refusal to indict when the subject of their investigation 
        is a local law enforcement officer.
            (7) The recent grand jury proceedings following the deaths 
        of Michael Brown and Eric Garner have followed historical 
        tradition, ending with a refusal to indict the law enforcement 
        officers involved in their deaths.
            (8) The American people have lost confidence in the 
        secretive grand jury process when it is used to evaluate 
        allegations of police misconduct.
            (9) The loss of confidence in our system of justice leads 
        to the undermining of the principles of equality and justice 
        upon which this country was founded.
            (10) Preliminary hearings are often replaced with direct 
        presentments, whereby the prosecutor may send a case directly 
        to the grand jury without a public preliminary hearing.

SEC. 3. HEARING BEFORE A JUDGE REQUIRED.

    (a) Receipt of Grant Funds.--In order for a State or unit of local 
government in a State to be eligible to receive Federal funding under 
subpart 1 of part E of title I of the Omnibus Crime Control and Safe 
Streets Act of 1968 (42 U.S.C. 3750 et seq.), the State shall comply 
with the requirements of this section.
    (b) Notification Requirements.--
            (1) Notification to prosecutor.--In the case of a law 
        enforcement officer of a local law enforcement agency who uses 
        deadly force against a person in the course of the officer's 
        employment, and thereby causes the death of that person, not 
        later than 24 hours after the death occurs, the chief officer 
        of the law enforcement agency of the locality in which the 
        death occurred shall report the death to the elected prosecutor 
        of that locality.
            (2) Notification to governor.--Not later than 24 hours 
        after receiving notice under paragraph (1), the elected 
        prosecutor of the locality in which the death occurred shall 
        report the death to the Governor of that State.
    (c) Hearing Requirement; Appointment of Special Prosecutor.--
            (1) In general.--Not later than 3 days after receiving 
        notice under subsection (b)(2), the Governor of the State in 
        which the death occurred shall appoint a special prosecutor to 
        present evidence on behalf of the State at a hearing before a 
        judge in the appropriate court, in order to determine whether 
        probable cause exists for the State to bring criminal charges 
        against the law enforcement officer relating to the death of 
        the person, which determination shall be made by the judge. The 
        Governor shall use a random process to select the special 
        prosecutor from among all of the elected prosecutors in the 
        State, excluding the elected prosecutor of the locality in 
        which the death occurred.
            (2) Timing.--The hearing described in paragraph (1) shall 
        be held not later than 90 days after the appointment of the 
        special prosecutor, unless the judge determines that good cause 
        exists to delay the hearing.
            (3) Court to remain open to the public.--Except as 
        determined appropriate by the presiding judge, in a hearing 
        described in paragraph (1), the court shall remain open to the 
        public, and upon scheduling the hearing the judge shall provide 
        notice to the public of the date, time, and location of the 
        hearing.
    (d) State Law Enforcement Agency To Have Exclusive Authority Over 
Investigation.--
            (1) In general.--Not later than 24 hours after receiving 
        notice under subsection (b)(2), the Governor shall report the 
        death to the chief officer of the State law enforcement agency 
        of the State in which the death occurred, and the State law 
        enforcement agency shall assume exclusive control of the 
        investigation of the death during the pendency of the probable 
        cause hearing.
            (2) Cooperation of local law enforcement agency.--The chief 
        officer of the law enforcement agency of the locality in which 
        the death occurred shall cooperate with the special prosecutor 
        and the chief officer of the State law enforcement agency by 
        responding promptly to requests for information related to the 
        death.
    (e) Written Determination of Probable Cause.--Not later than 5 days 
after the conclusion of a hearing described in subsection (c), the 
judge presiding over the hearing shall issue the determination 
described in subsection (c) in writing, and shall submit such 
determination to the elected prosecutor of the locality in which the 
death occurred. Such determination shall be made available to the 
public.
    (f) Recommendations of the Special Prosecutor.--Upon the conclusion 
of a hearing described in subsection (c), the special prosecutor shall 
submit written recommendations to the elected prosecutor of the 
locality in which the death occurred, including a recommendation 
regarding whether criminal charges should be brought against the law 
enforcement officer relating to the death of the person.
    (g) Tolling of Procedural Deadlines.--Any applicable filing or 
other procedural deadlines are tolled during the pendency of the 
hearing described in subsection (c).
    (h) Preservation of Prosecutorial Discretion.--The hearing 
described in subsection (c) shall be purely advisory, and shall have no 
binding effect on the elected prosecutor of the locality in which the 
death occurred. After the conclusion of the hearing described in 
subsection (c), the elected prosecutor of the locality in which the 
death occurred shall retain prosecutorial discretion as to whether to 
bring charges against the law enforcement officer, including whether to 
hold a grand jury proceeding in the appropriate court.