II 

117TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION S. 4549 

To provide for a system for reviewing the case files of cold case murders 

at the instance of certain persons, and for other purposes. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

JULY 19, 2022 

Mr. CORNYN (for himself, Mr. DURBIN, Mr. GRASSLEY, Mr. COONS, Mr. COTTON, Mr. OSSOFF, Mrs. BLACKBURN, Mr. WHITEHOUSE, and Mr. KENNEDY) introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred 

to the Committee on the Judiciary 

A BILL 

To provide for a system for reviewing the case files of cold 

case murders at the instance of certain persons, 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 ‘‘Homicide Victims’ 

5 Families’ Rights Act of 2022’’. 

6 SEC. 2. CASE FILE REVIEW. 

7 (a) IN GENERAL.—The head of an agency shall re8 view the case file regarding a cold case murder upon writ9 ten application by one designated person to determine if 


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1 a full reinvestigation would result in either the identifica2 tion of probative investigative leads or a likely perpetrator. 

3 (b) REVIEW.—The review under subsection (a) shall 

4 include— 

5 (1) an analysis of what investigative steps or 

6 follow-up steps may have been missed in the initial 

7 investigation; 

8 (2) an assessment of whether witnesses should 

9 be interviewed or reinterviewed; 

10 (3) an examination of physical evidence to see 

11 if all appropriate forensic testing and analysis was 

12 performed in the first instance or if additional test13 ing might produce information relevant to the inves14 tigation; and 

15 (4) an update of the case file using the most 

16 current investigative standards as of the date of the 

17 review to the extent it would help develop probative 

18 leads. 

19 (c) CERTIFICATION IN LIEU OF REVIEW.—In any 

20 case in which a written application for review has been 

21 received under this Act by the agency, review shall be un22 necessary where the case does not satisfy the criteria for 

23 a cold case murder. In such a case, the head of the agency 

24 shall issue a written certification, with a copy provided to 

25 the designated person that made the application under 


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1 subsection (a), stating that final review is not necessary 

2 because all probative investigative leads have been ex3 hausted or that a likely perpetrator will not be identified. 

4 (d) REVIEWER.—A review required under subsection 

5 (a) shall not be conducted by a person who previously in6 vestigated the murder at issue. 

7 (e) ACKNOWLEDGMENT.—The agency shall provide 

8 in writing to the applicant as soon as reasonably pos9 sible— 

10 (1) confirmation of the agency’s receipt of the 

11 application under subsection (a); and 

12 (2) notice of the applicant’s rights under this 

13 Act. 

14 (f) PROHIBITION ON MULTIPLE CONCURRENT RE15 VIEWS.—Only one case review shall be undertaken at any 

16 one time with respect to the same cold case murder victim. 

17 (g) TIME LIMIT.—Not later than 6 months after the 

18 receipt of the written application submitted pursuant to 

19 subsection (a), the agency shall conclude its case file re20 view and reach a conclusion about whether or not a full 

21 reinvestigation under section 4 is warranted. 

22 (h) EXTENSIONS.— 

23 (1) IN GENERAL.—The agency may extend the 

24 time limit under subsection (g) once for a period of 

25 time not to exceed 6 months if the agency makes a 


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1 finding that the number of case files to be reviewed 

2 make it impracticable to comply with such limit 

3 without unreasonably taking resources from other 

4 law enforcement activities. 

5 (2) ACTIONS SUBSEQUENT TO WAIVER.—For 

6 cases for which the time limit in subsection (g) is ex7 tended, the agency shall provide notice and an expla8 nation of its reasoning to one designated person who 

9 filed the written application pursuant to this section. 

10 SEC. 3. APPLICATION. 

11 Each agency shall develop a written application to be 

12 used for designated persons to request a case file review 

13 under section 2. 

14 SEC. 4. FULL REINVESTIGATION. 

15 (a) IN GENERAL.—The agency shall conduct a full 

16 reinvestigation of the cold case murder at issue if the re17 view of the case file required by section 2 concludes that 

18 a full reinvestigation of such cold case murder would result 

19 in probative investigative leads. 

20 (b) REINVESTIGATION.—A full reinvestigation shall 

21 include analyzing all evidence regarding the cold case mur22 der at issue for the purpose of developing probative inves23 tigative leads or a likely perpetrator. 


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1 (c) REVIEWER.—A reinvestigation required under 

2 subsection (a) shall not be conducted by a person who pre3 viously investigated the murder at issue. 

4 (d) PROHIBITION ON MULTIPLE CONCURRENT RE5 VIEWS.—Only one full reinvestigation shall be undertaken 

6 at any one time with respect to the same cold case murder 

7 victim. 

8 SEC. 5. CONSULTATION AND UPDATES. 

9 (a) IN GENERAL.—The agency shall consult with the 

10 designated person who filed the written application pursu11 ant to section 2 and provide him or her with periodic up12 dates during the case file review and full reinvestigation. 

13 (b) EXPLANATION OF CONCLUSION.—The agency 

14 shall meet with the designated person and discuss the evi15 dence to explain to the designated person who filed the 

16 written application pursuant to section 2 its decision 

17 whether or not to engage in the full reinvestigation pro18 vided for under section 4 at the conclusion of the case 

19 file review. 

20 SEC. 6. SUBSEQUENT REVIEWS. 

21 (a) CASE FILE REVIEW.—If a review under sub22 section (a) case file regarding a cold case murder is con23 ducted and a conclusion is reached not to conduct a full 

24 reinvestigation, no additional case file review shall be re25 quired to be undertaken under this Act with respect to 


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1 that cold case murder for a period of five years, unless 

2 there is newly discovered, materially significant evidence. 

3 An agency may continue an investigation absent a des4 ignated person’s application. 

5 (b) FULL REINVESTIGATION.—If a full reinvestiga6 tion of a cold case murder is completed and a suspect is 

7 not identified at its conclusion, no additional case file re8 view or full reinvestigation shall be undertaken with re9 gard to that cold case murder for a period of five years 

10 beginning on the date of the conclusion of the reinvestiga11 tion, unless there is newly discovered, materially signifi12 cant evidence. 

13 SEC. 7. DATA COLLECTION. 

14 (a) IN GENERAL.—Beginning on the date that is 

15 three years after the date of enactment of this Act, and 

16 annually thereafter, the Director of the National Institute 

17 of Justice shall publish statistics on the number of cold 

18 case murders. 

19 (b) MANNER OF PUBLICATION.—The statistics pub20 lished pursuant to subsection (a) shall, at a minimum, be 

21 disaggregated by the circumstances of the cold case mur22 der, including the classification of the offense, and by 

23 agency. 


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1 SEC. 8. PROCEDURES TO PROMOTE COMPLIANCE. 

2 (a) REGULATIONS.—Not later than one year after the 

3 date of enactment of this Act, the head of each agency 

4 shall promulgate regulations to enforce the right of a des5 ignated person to request a review under this Act and to 

6 ensure compliance by the agency with the obligations de7 scribed in this Act. 

8 (b) PROCEDURES.—The regulations promulgated 

9 under subsection (a) shall— 

10 (1) designate an administrative authority within 

11 the agency to receive and investigate complaints re12 lating to a review initiated under section 2 or a re13 investigation initiated under section 4; 

14 (2) require a course of training for appropriate 

15 employees and officers within the agency regarding 

16 the procedures, responsibilities, and obligations re17 quired under this Act; 

18 (3) contain disciplinary sanctions, which may 

19 include suspension or termination from employment, 

20 for employees of the agency who are shown to have 

21 willfully or wantonly failed to comply with this Act; 

22 (4) provide a procedure for the resolution of 

23 complaints filed by the designated person concerning 

24 the agency’s handling of a cold case murder inves25 tigation or the case file evaluation; and 


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1 (5) provide that the head of the agency, or the 

2 designee thereof, shall be the final arbiter of the 

3 complaint, and that there shall be no judicial review 

4 of the final decision of the head of the agency by a 

5 complainant. 

6 SEC. 9. WITHHOLDING INFORMATION. 

7 Nothing in this Act shall require an agency to provide 

8 information that would endanger the safety of any person, 

9 unreasonably impede an ongoing investigation, violate a 

10 court order, or violate legal obligations regarding privacy. 

11 SEC. 10. MULTIPLE AGENCIES. 

12 In the case that more than one agency conducted the 

13 initial investigation of a cold case murder, each agency 

14 shall coordinate their case file review or full reinvestiga15 tion such that there is only one joint case file review or 

16 full reinvestigation occurring at a time in compliance with 

17 section 2(f) or 4(d), as applicable. 

18 SEC. 11. APPLICABILITY. 

19 This Act applies in the case of any cold case murder 

20 occurring on or after January 1, 1970. 

21 SEC. 12. DEFINITIONS. 

22 In this Act: 

23 (1) The term ‘‘designated person’’ means an 

24 immediate family member or someone similarly situ25 ated, as defined by the Attorney General. 


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1 (2) The term ‘‘immediate family member’’ 

2 means a parent, parent-in-law, grandparent, grand3 parent-in-law, sibling, spouse, child, or step-child of 

4 a murder victim. 

5 (3) The term ‘‘victim’’ means a natural person 

6 who died as a result of a cold case murder. 

7 (4) The term ‘‘murder’’ means any criminal of8 fense under section 1111(a) of title 18, United 

9 States Code, or any offense the elements of which 

10 are substantially identical to such section. 

11 (5) The term ‘‘agency’’ means a Federal law 

12 enforcement entity with jurisdiction to engage in the 

13 detection, investigation, or prosecution of a cold case 

14 murder. 

15 (6) The term ‘‘cold case murder’’ means a mur16 der— 

17 (A) committed more than three years prior 

18 to the date of an application by a designated 

19 person under section 2(a); 

20 (B) previously investigated by a Federal 

21 law enforcement entity; 

22 (C) for which all probative investigative 

23 leads have been exhausted; and 

24 (D) for which no likely perpetrator has 

25 been identified. 


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1 SEC. 13. ANNUAL REPORT. 

2 (a) IN GENERAL.—Each agency shall submit an an3 nual report to the Committees on the Judiciary of the 

4 House of Representatives and of the Senate describing ac5 tions taken and results achieved under this Act during the 

6 previous year. 

7 (b) REPORT DESCRIBED.—The report described in 

8 subsection (a) shall include— 

9 (1) the number of written applications filed 

10 with the agency pursuant to section 2(a); 

11 (2) the number of extensions granted, and an 

12 explanation of reasons provided under section 2(h); 

13 (3) the number of full reinvestigations initiated 

14 and closed pursuant to section 4; and 

15 (4) statistics and individualized information on 

16 topics that include identified suspects, arrests, 

17 charges, and convictions for reviews under section 2 

18 and reinvestigations under section 4. 

Æ 


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