I 

116TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 5227 

To establish the Office of Digital Law Enforcement within the Office of 

Justice Programs, and to establish grant programs to improve the digital 

evidence capacity of law enforcement personnel, and for other purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

NOVEMBER 21, 2019 

Mrs. DEMINGS (for herself, Mr. LAMB, Mr. RUTHERFORD, and Mr. BABIN) 

introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on the 

Judiciary, and in addition to the Committee on Homeland Security, for 

a period to be subsequently determined by the Speaker, in each case for 

consideration of such provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee concerned 

A BILL 

To establish the Office of Digital Law Enforcement within 

the Office of Justice Programs, and to establish grant 

programs to improve the digital evidence capacity of 

law enforcement personnel, and for other purposes. 

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Technology in Criminal 

5 Justice Act of 2019’’. 


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1 SEC. 2. OFFICE OF DIGITAL LAW ENFORCEMENT. 

2 Part A of title I of the Omnibus Crime Control and 

3 Safe Streets Act of 1968 (34 U.S.C. 10101 et seq.) is 

4 amended by adding at the end the following: 

5 ‘‘SEC. 110. OFFICE OF DIGITAL LAW ENFORCEMENT. 

6 ‘‘(a) ESTABLISHMENT.—There is established within 

7 the Office an Office of Digital Law Enforcement, which 

8 shall headed by a Director appointed by the Attorney Gen9 eral. In carrying out the functions of the Office of Digital 

10 Law Enforcement, the Director shall be subject to the au11 thority, direction, and control of the Attorney General. 

12 Such authority, direction, and control may be delegated 

13 only to the Assistant Attorney General. 

14 ‘‘(b) PURPOSE.—The purpose of the Office of Digital 

15 Law Enforcement shall be to support Federal, State, and 

16 local law enforcement in training, preparing, and sup17 porting criminal justice personnel in the conduct of crimi18 nal justice activities utilizing digital evidence. 

19 ‘‘(c) GRANTS.— 

20 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—In carrying out the purpose 

21 described under subsection (b), the Director may 

22 make grants to eligible recipients. 

23 ‘‘(2) USES.—Grants awarded under this sub24 section shall be used to support the provision of 

25 training, education, and technical assistance to 

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1 ing the digital evidence capacity (as such term is de2 fined in section 7 of the Technology in Criminal Jus3 tice Act of 2019) of law enforcement personnel (as 

4 such term is defined in section 7 of the Technology 

5 in Criminal Justice Act of 2019). 

6 ‘‘(3) DISTRIBUTION.—In making grants under 

7 this subsection, the Director shall ensure that, to the 

8 extent practicable, distribution of such grants en9 sures equitable access to relevant training, edu10 cation, and technical assistance across geographic 

11 areas and across urban and rural areas of varying 

12 population and area. 

13 ‘‘(4) ELIGIBLE RECIPIENTS.—The Director 

14 may award grants under this subsection to the fol15 lowing eligible recipients: 

16 ‘‘(A) The National Domestic Communica17 tions Assistance Center (NDCAC). 

18 ‘‘(B) The National Computer Forensics In19 stitute (NCFI). 

20 ‘‘(C) The Law Enforcement Cyber Center. 

21 ‘‘(D) The National White Collar Crime 

22 Center (NW3C). 

23 ‘‘(E) The National Cyber-Forensics and 

24 Training Alliance (NCFTA). 


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1 ‘‘(F) Regional Computer Forensics Lab2 oratories. 

3 ‘‘(G) Such other entities as the Director 

4 deems appropriate. 

5 ‘‘(d) STANDARDIZATION OF TRAINING CURRICULA.— 

6 The Director shall— 

7 ‘‘(1) on an ongoing basis, review curricula used 

8 for training and education programs supported by 

9 grants under subsection (c); 

10 ‘‘(2) identify opportunities for standardization 

11 of such curricula; and 

12 ‘‘(3) in awarding grants under subsection (c), 

13 establish requirements or processes, as appropriate, 

14 to promote standardization of such curricula. 

15 ‘‘(e) BEST PRACTICES.—The Director shall— 

16 ‘‘(1) identify best practices relevant to digital 

17 evidence capacity; and 

18 ‘‘(2) develop mechanisms to inform Federal, 

19 State, and local criminal justice personnel of such 

20 best practices and promote their adoption. 

21 ‘‘(f) DATA ON LAW ENFORCEMENT ACCESS TO DIG22 ITAL EVIDENCE.—The Director shall— 

23 ‘‘(1) maintain data relevant to digital evidence 

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1 lizing digital evidence and digital forensic laboratory 

2 backlogs; and 

3 ‘‘(2) no later than January 31 of each calendar 

4 year, submit to Congress a report summarizing data 

5 collected under paragraph (f)(1) of this section dur6 ing the preceding calendar year and identifying key 

7 trends, gaps, and challenges associated with the 

8 data. The report shall be submitted in unclassified 

9 format.’’. 

10 SEC. 3. REVIEW OF FEDERAL SUPPORT FOR DIGITAL LAW 

11 ENFORCEMENT TRAINING AND ASSISTANCE. 

12 (a) REVIEW REQUIRED.—The Attorney General and 

13 the Secretary of Homeland Security shall jointly conduct 

14 a review of existing United States Government programs 

15 that provide training, education, and technical assistance 

16 to criminal justice personnel for the purpose of improving 

17 digital evidence capacity. 

18 (b) ELEMENTS OF REVIEW.—The review required 

19 under subsection (a) shall examine the following matters: 

20 (1) Identification of existing programs that pro21 vide training, education, and technical assistance to 

22 criminal justice personnel, and the sources and 

23 amounts of U.S. Government funding supporting 

24 such programs, for the purpose of improving the 


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1 digital evidence capacity of law enforcement per2 sonnel. 

3 (2) Examination of the purposes, organizational 

4 models, target audiences, and effectiveness of these 

5 programs. 

6 (3) Identification of gaps in these programs, 

7 and assessment of whether these programs are suffi8 cient to meet the needs of Federal, State, and local 

9 criminal justice personnel. 

10 (4) Recommendations for opportunities, if any, 

11 to improve these programs in order to achieve great12 er efficiency, coherence, or effectiveness in the deliv13 ery of such training, education, and technical assist14 ance, including through expansion, consolidation, or 

15 reorganization. 

16 (c) REPORT TO CONGRESS.—Upon completion of the 

17 review required in subsection (a), and not later than 360 

18 days after the enactment of this Act, the Attorney General 

19 and the Secretary of Homeland Security shall submit to 

20 Congress a joint report summarizing the conclusions of 

21 the review and providing any recommendations to Con22 gress for legislative action. 

23 SEC. 4. CENTER OF EXCELLENCE FOR DIGITAL FORENSICS. 

24 (a) DESIGNATION.—Not later than 360 days after 

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1 sultation with the Secretary of Homeland Security, shall 

2 designate an entity of the Federal Government as the Cen3 ter of Excellence for Digital Forensics (hereafter, the 

4 ‘‘Center’’). 

5 (b) MISSION.—The Center shall be a clearinghouse 

6 for training, technical expertise, and legal assistance relat7 ing to accessing digital evidence in support of criminal in8 vestigations, including by— 

9 (1) serving as a central repository of knowledge 

10 and expertise regarding common types of data rel11 evant to law enforcement investigations, common 

12 technical systems for storing and transmitting such 

13 data, formulation of lawful requests for such data, 

14 and procedures for submitting such requests; 

15 (2) building and maintaining a library of ana16 lytic and forensic tools, along with technical exper17 tise on the use of such tools, to be available to sup18 port Federal, State, and local law enforcement inves19 tigations; 

20 (3) developing and maintaining technical sup21 port tools to facilitate, standardize, and authenticate 

22 law enforcement requests for digital evidence; 

23 (4) providing training to Federal, State, and 

24 local law enforcement organizations on procedures 

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1 ervation, and utilization of digital evidence, as well 

2 as the protection of privacy and civil liberties in the 

3 course of investigations and prosecutions involving 

4 digital evidence; 

5 (5) producing and maintaining up-to-date train6 ing materials and curricula to support training of 

7 Federal, State, and local law enforcement organiza8 tions relating to digital evidence capacity by other 

9 training providers; 

10 (6) coordinating with international, Federal, 

11 and State training programs, as well as relevant 

12 non-governmental stakeholders, to leverage and co13 ordinate existing resources for training, technical as14 sistance tools, and informative materials on proce15 dures and techniques relating to digital evidence ca16 pacity; and 

17 (7) providing a hotline available for law enforce18 ment officials seeking advice about or assistance re19 lating to digital evidence capacity. 

20 (c) COORDINATION WITH EXISTING TRAINING PRO21 VIDERS.—The designation required by subsection (a) shall 

22 be informed by the results of the review conducted under 

23 section 3. 

24 (d) TERMINATION OR MODIFICATION OF DESIGNA25 TION.—The Attorney General may terminate or modify 


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1 the designation under subsection (a) if the Attorney Gen2 eral, in consultation with the Secretary of Homeland Secu3 rity, determines that the Center is no longer capable of 

4 achieving the missions specified in subsection (b) and des5 ignates a separate entity of the Federal Government to 

6 serve as the Center. Not later than 60 days before the 

7 effective date of such a termination, the Secretary shall 

8 provide written notice to Congress, including the rationale 

9 for such termination. 

10 SEC. 5. FEDERAL GOVERNMENT LAW ENFORCEMENT TECH11 NOLOGY SUPPORT TO STATE AND LOCAL 

12 LAW ENFORCEMENT. 

13 (a) PROGRAM.—The Attorney General and the Sec14 retary of Homeland Security shall jointly establish a Law 

15 Enforcement Technology Support to State and Local Law 

16 Enforcement program under the direction of the Director 

17 of the Office of Digital Law Enforcement. 

18 (b) DEVELOPMENT.—Under the program established 

19 in subsection (a), the Attorney General and the Secretary 

20 shall jointly develop guidelines and processes, as appro21 priate, to authorize the use of funds made available to 

22 grantees under the following programs for purposes of ac23 quiring technology to improve the digital evidence capacity 

24 of law enforcement personnel: 


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1 (1) The Edward Byrne Memorial Justice As2 sistance Grant program. 

3 (2) The Urban Area Security Initiative. 

4 (3) The State Homeland Security Grant Pro5 gram. 

6 (c) DISSEMINATION OF ACQUISITION GUIDANCE.— 

7 Through the program established in subsection (a), the 

8 Attorney General and the Secretary shall develop guidance 

9 on acquisition of law enforcement technologies that sup10 port digital evidence capacity, and regularly disseminate 

11 such guidance to State and local law enforcement organi12 zations. Such guidance shall identify and encourage adop13 tion of effective law enforcement technologies useful across 

14 different technological platforms and formats. 

15 (d) PUBLIC-PRIVATE PARTNERSHIPS.—Subject to 

16 the availability of resources, the Attorney General and the 

17 Secretary shall, under the program established in sub18 section (a), enter into partnerships with public or private 

19 entities to improve the access of Federal, State, and local 

20 law enforcement personnel to law enforcement tech21 nologies that support digital evidence capacity. Such part22 nerships may— 

23 (1) develop collaborative approaches to devel24 oping new investigative tools; 


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1 (2) promote the exchange of technical experts 

2 between the technology and law enforcement commu3 nities; 

4 (3) build public access data sets that may aid 

5 law enforcement investigations; 

6 (4) exchange information on technical ap7 proaches relating to digital evidence capacity, con8 sistent with relevant laws and policies; 

9 (5) develop training modules and content to 

10 support training of criminal justice personnel on rel11 evant topics relating to digital evidence capacity; and 

12 (6) address other such matters as the Attorney 

13 General and the Secretary deem appropriate. 

14 SEC. 6. DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE TECHNOLOGY POLICY 

15 ADVISORY BOARD. 

16 (a) ESTABLISHMENT.—There is established a De17 partment of Justice Technology Policy Advisory Board 

18 (hereinafter in this section referred to as the ‘‘Board’’), 

19 which shall be composed of 11 members appointed in ac20 cordance with subsection (c) and shall conduct its business 

21 in accordance with this chapter. 

22 (b) PURPOSE.—The purpose of the Board shall be 

23 to— 


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1 (1) foster sustained dialogue between the tech2 nology and law enforcement communities on policy 

3 issues of mutual concern; and 

4 (2) advise the Attorney General on— 

5 (A) relevant developments in technologies 

6 relating to law enforcement, forensics, commu7 nications, and cybersecurity, and their implica8 tions for the Department of Justice; 

9 (B) strategies and technical approaches for 

10 improving digital evidence capacity; 

11 (C) strategies and technical approaches for 

12 improving law enforcement activities relating to 

13 the prevention, investigation, and prosecution of 

14 cyber crime; and 

15 (D) such other matters as requested by the 

16 Attorney General. 

17 (c) MEMBERS.— 

18 (1) MEMBERS.—The members of the Board 

19 shall be senior non-government leaders with knowl20 edge or expertise, whether by experience or training, 

21 in the fields of technology, communications, com22 puter science, cybersecurity, digital forensics, law en23 forcement, relevant laws relating to digital searches 

24 and the use of digital evidence, and related fields, 

25 who shall be appointed by the Attorney General. 


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1 (2) TERM.—The term of a Board member shall 

2 be 4 years. 

3 (3) VACANCIES.—Any vacancy in the member4 ship of the Board shall not affect the powers of the 

5 Board and shall be filled in the same manner as the 

6 original appointment. 

7 (4) CHAIRMAN.—The Members of the Board 

8 shall elect one member to serve as Chairman of the 

9 Board. 

10 (d) COMPENSATION AND EXPENSES.— 

11 (1) COMPENSATION.—A Member of the Board 

12 shall receive no compensation for the member’s serv13 ices as such. 

14 (2) EXPENSES.—A member of the Board shall 

15 be allowed necessary travel expenses (or in the alter16 native, mileage for use of a privately owned vehicle 

17 and a per diem in lieu of subsistence not to exceed 

18 the rate and amount prescribed in sections 5702 and 

19 5704 of title 5, United States Code), and other nec20 essary expenses incurred by the member in the per21 formance of duties vested in the Panel, without re22 gard to the provisions of subchapter I of chapter 57 

23 of title 5, United States Code, the Standardized 

24 Government Travel Regulations, or section 5731 of 

25 title 5, United States Code. 


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1 (e) SUPPORT.—The Attorney General shall provide 

2 support for the performance of the Board’s functions and 

3 shall ensure compliance with the requirements of the Fed4 eral Advisory Committee Act of 1972 (5 U.S.C., Appen5 dix), the Government in the Sunshine Act of 1976 (5 

6 U.S.C. 552b), governing Federal statutes and regulations, 

7 and Department of Justice policies and procedures. 

8 SEC. 7. DEFINITIONS. 

9 For purposes of this Act: 

10 (1) DIGITAL EVIDENCE CAPACITY.—The term 

11 ‘‘digital evidence capacity’’ shall include, in inves12 tigations and prosecutions involving digital evidence, 

13 the capacity, or activities supporting the capacity, 

14 to— 

15 (A) acquire digital evidence in accordance 

16 with current surveillance, civil rights, and crimi17 nal justice laws; 

18 (B) ensure digital evidence acquisition ac19 tivities— 

20 (i) minimize the acquisition of digital 

21 information not necessary to an investiga22 tion, including the acquisition of informa23 tion pertaining to non-targeted persons; 

24 (ii) are conducted in accordance with 

25 proper legal processes such as warrants, 


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1 court orders, and notice when required; 

2 and 

3 (iii) favor less intrusive investigative 

4 techniques when they would suffice; 

5 (C) handle and preserve digital evidence 

6 appropriately, including by ensuring— 

7 (i) the integrity of the evidentiary 

8 chain of custody; 

9 (ii) preventing inadvertent corruption 

10 or destruction of the evidence; and 

11 (iii) promoting the prompt return of 

12 seized digital devices and the prompt re13 turn or destruction of seized digital infor14 mation not used in prosecution of the 

15 crime for which it was acquired; 

16 (D) extract, analyze, and exploit digital 

17 evidence; 

18 (E) ensure the appropriate use of digital 

19 evidence, including by limiting the repurposing 

20 of seized digital information; 

21 (F) use digital evidence in criminal legal 

22 proceedings; and 

23 (G) ensure appropriate protections relating 

24 to privacy and security are applied to activities 


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1 involving the acquisition, preservation, analysis 

2 and exploitation, and use of digital information. 

3 (2) CRIMINAL JUSTICE PERSONNEL.—The term 

4 ‘‘criminal justice personnel’’ shall mean employees of 

5 any unit of Federal, State, or local government who 

6 have responsibilities pertaining to criminal justice, 

7 as defined by section (a)(1) of title 34, United 

8 States Code. 

Æ 


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