I 

118TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION H. R. 8509 

To reform pattern or practice investigations conducted by the Department 

of Justice, and for other purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

MAY 22, 2024 

Ms. STRICKLAND (for herself, Mr. CARSON, and Mr. TORRES of New York) 

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

Judiciary 

A BILL 

To reform pattern or practice investigations conducted by 

the Department of Justice, 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 ‘‘Enhancing Oversight 

5 to End Discrimination in Policing Act’’. 

6 SEC. 2. CONSENT DECREE PROCEDURES. 

7 (a) IN GENERAL.—The Attorney General, acting 

8 through the Assistant Attorney General of the Civil Rights 

9 Division of the Department of Justice, shall— 


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1 (1) modify the procedures for civil consent de2 crees and consent agreements in civil litigation with 

3 State and local governmental entities arising from 

4 pattern or practice investigations under section 

5 210401 of the Violent Crime Control and Law En6 forcement Act of 1994 (34 U.S.C. 12601) to ensure 

7 that— 

8 (A) the use of consent decrees and consent 

9 agreements fosters the creation and use of rem10 edies that are not limited to law enforcement 

11 reforms, such as mental health support, includ12 ing in cases where a pattern or practice of con13 duct is found to violate the Americans with Dis14 abilities Act of 1990 (42 U.S.C. 12101 et seq.), 

15 or community-based restorative justice mecha16 nisms; 

17 (B) community oversight requirements, 

18 such as a community oversight body described 

19 in subsection (b), are incorporated, when pos20 sible, into the terms of consent decrees and con21 sent agreements; and 

22 (C) remedies are developed and imple23 mented expeditiously, when possible; and 

24 (2) in carrying out paragraph (1)(A), request 

25 guidance from the heads of other relevant agencies, 


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1 such as the Secretary of Housing and Urban Devel2 opment and the Secretary of Health and Human 

3 Services, on the efficacy of the alternative remedies 

4 described in that paragraph. 

5 (b) COMMUNITY OVERSIGHT BODY DESCRIBED.—A 

6 community oversight body described in this subsection is 

7 an oversight entity that— 

8 (1) is comprised of individuals who— 

9 (A) represent the communities and organi10 zations within the State or unit of local govern11 ment to which the consent decree or consent 

12 agreement applies; and 

13 (B) do not work, and have not previously 

14 worked, in a law enforcement capacity; 

15 (2) has a role of— 

16 (A) ensuring compliance with the provi17 sions of the consent decree or consent agree18 ment; and 

19 (B) fostering transparency in the adminis20 tration and personnel of the law enforcement 

21 agency; and 

22 (3) has the authority to— 

23 (A) ask questions of the law enforcement 

24 agency; 


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1 (B) obtain documents, data, and informa2 tion from the law enforcement agency; and 

3 (C) make recommendations— 

4 (i) for modifications to the provisions 

5 of the consent decree or consent agree6 ment, as necessary; and 

7 (ii) to the law enforcement agency or 

8 governmental officials overseeing the agen9 cy about changes in policing services. 

10 SEC. 3. FUNDING FOR PATTERN OR PRACTICE INVESTIGA11 TIONS. 

12 (a) ADDITIONAL FUNDING.— 

13 (1) IN GENERAL.—There are authorized to be 

14 appropriated, in addition to any other amounts au15 thorized, $445,000,000 to the Civil Rights Division 

16 of the Department of Justice for each of fiscal years 

17 2025 through 2034, not less than $100,000,000 of 

18 which shall be made available each fiscal year for en19 forcement and technical assistance under section 

20 210401 of the Violent Crime Control and Law En21 forcement Act of 1994 (34 U.S.C. 12601). 

22 (2) REPORTS TO CONGRESS.—Not later than 1 

23 year after the date of enactment of this Act, and an24 nually thereafter, the Attorney General shall submit 

25 to the Committee on the Judiciary of the Senate and 


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1 the Committee on the Judiciary of the House of 

2 Representatives a report on the use of amounts ap3 propriated pursuant to the authorization of appro4 priations under paragraph (1), which shall include a 

5 detailed summary of how the amounts were used for 

6 pattern or practice investigations. 

7 (b) UNLAWFUL CONDUCT.—Subtitle D of title XXI 

8 of the Violent Crime Control and Law Enforcement Act 

9 of 1994 (34 U.S.C. 12601 et seq.) is amended— 

10 (1) in the subtitle heading, by striking ‘‘Po11 lice’’; and 

12 (2) in section 210401(a) (34 U.S.C. 

13 12601(a))— 

14 (A) by striking ‘‘by law enforcement offi15 cers or by officials or employees of any govern16 mental agency with responsibility for the ad17 ministration of juvenile justice or the incarcer18 ation of juveniles’’ and inserting ‘‘by law en19 forcement officers, prosecutors, judges, officials 

20 or employees of any governmental agency with 

21 responsibility for the administration of juvenile 

22 justice or the incarceration of juveniles, or other 

23 officials or employees of any governmental 

24 agency involved in the administration of jus25 tice’’; and 


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1 (B) by inserting before the period at the 

2 end the following: ‘‘, provided that no pros3 ecutor shall be deemed to have engaged in un4 lawful conduct under this subsection on the 

5 basis of exercising discretion to decline to bring 

6 criminal charges’’. 

7 (c) AUTHORITY FOR STATE INVESTIGATIONS.—Sec8 tion 210401(b) of the Violent Crime Control and Law En9 forcement Act of 1994 (34 U.S.C. 12601(b)) is amend10 ed— 

11 (1) by striking ‘‘Whenever’’ and inserting the 

12 following: 

13 ‘‘(1) FEDERAL ENFORCEMENT.—Whenever’’; 

14 (2) in paragraph (1), as so designated, by strik15 ing ‘‘paragraph (1)’’ and inserting ‘‘subsection (a)’’; 

16 and 

17 (3) by adding at the end the following: 

18 ‘‘(2) STATE ENFORCEMENT.— 

19 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—Whenever an attorney 

20 general of a State has reasonable cause to be21 lieve that a violation of subsection (a) has oc22 curred by a governmental authority, or agent 

23 thereof, of the State, including a prosecutor or 

24 other agency involved in the administration of 

25 justice, the attorney general, or another official 


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1 or agency designated by the State, may in a 

2 civil action brought in any appropriate district 

3 court of the United States obtain appropriate 

4 equitable and declaratory relief to eliminate the 

5 pattern or practice. 

6 ‘‘(B) PREVENTION OF CONFLICTS OF IN7 TEREST.— 

8 ‘‘(i) IN GENERAL.—No official or 

9 agency may be designated under subpara10 graph (A) if— 

11 ‘‘(I) upon such designation, the 

12 Attorney General determines there is 

13 reason to believe— 

14 ‘‘(aa) the official or agency 

15 would be unable to conduct an 

16 independent investigation; or 

17 ‘‘(bb) a conflict of interest 

18 between the official or agency 

19 and the governmental authority 

20 under investigation exists; or 

21 ‘‘(II) the official is employed by 

22 or the agency is within, as the case 

23 may be, the governmental authority 

24 under investigation. 


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1 ‘‘(ii) INDEPENDENT ORGANIZATION

2 REQUIRED.—In the case of a governmental 

3 authority under investigation that is a 

4 State-wide office, an independent organiza5 tion that is unaffiliated with State or local 

6 government shall be designated under sub7 paragraph (A). 

8 ‘‘(C) TECHNICAL ASSISTANCE.—The At9 torney General shall provide technical assist10 ance and training to States and units of local 

11 government to assist States and units of local 

12 governments in carrying out pattern or practice 

13 investigations and cases. 

14 ‘‘(D) RULE OF CONSTRUCTION.—Nothing 

15 in this paragraph shall be construed to preclude 

16 a Federal investigation or other enforcement 

17 under this section during the course of a State18 led investigation or claim.’’. 

19 (d) GRANT PROGRAM.— 

20 (1) STATE DEFINED.—In this subsection, the 

21 term ‘‘State’’ means each of the several States, the 

22 District of Columbia, and each commonwealth, terri23 tory, or possession of the United States. 

24 (2) AUTHORIZATION.—The Attorney General 

25 may award grants to States to assist such States in 


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1 pursuing pattern or practice investigations and cases 

2 under section 210401 of the Violent Crime Control 

3 and Law Enforcement Act of 1994 (34 U.S.C. 

4 12601). 

5 (3) USE OF FUNDS.—A grant awarded under 

6 this subsection may be used by a State to— 

7 (A) conduct pattern or practice investiga8 tions and cases under section 210401 of the 

9 Violent Crime Control and Law Enforcement 

10 Act of 1994 (34 U.S.C. 12601); 

11 (B) implement and enforce law enforce12 ment reforms to address patterns and practices 

13 identified under such section 210401, provided 

14 that no funds may be diverted to law enforce15 ment agencies for other law enforcement oper16 ations; and 

17 (C) develop non-law enforcement programs 

18 that reduce dependence on law enforcement 

19 agencies, such as funding social workers, behav20 ioral health crisis experts, and public safety al21 ternatives to police enforcement of traffic rules. 

22 (4) APPLICATION.—To be eligible to receive a 

23 grant under this subsection, a State shall submit an 

24 application to the Attorney General that— 


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1 (A) contains clearly defined and measur2 able objectives for the grant funds; 

3 (B) describes how the State intends to use 

4 the grant funds to pursue, implement, and en5 force pattern or practice investigations and 

6 cases under section 210401 of the Violent 

7 Crime Control and Law Enforcement Act of 

8 1994 (34 U.S.C. 12601); 

9 (C) outlines the qualifications and training 

10 of the attorneys, staff, and other personnel who 

11 are, or who may be, assigned to lead or assist 

12 pattern or practice investigations and cases; 

13 and 

14 (D) demonstrates how the State will rem15 edy patterns or practices of unlawful law en16 forcement conduct through the creation of com17 munity-based programs designed to address un18 derlying challenges leading to law enforcement 

19 interaction. 

20 (5) REQUIRED REPORTING.— 

21 (A) GRANTEE REPORTING.—Not later than 

22 5 business days after the last day of each quar23 ter of each fiscal year for which a State receives 

24 a grant under this subsection, the State shall 


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1 submit to the Attorney General a report detail2 ing, for that quarter— 

3 (i) how the grant funds were used; 

4 and 

5 (ii) the progress made towards ad6 dressing patterns and practices identified 

7 under section 210401 of the Violent Crime 

8 Control and Law Enforcement Act of 1994 

9 (34 U.S.C. 12601). 

10 (B) REPORTS TO CONGRESS.—Not later 

11 than 18 months after the date of enactment of 

12 this Act, and annually thereafter, the Attorney 

13 General shall submit to the Committee on the 

14 Judiciary of the Senate and the Committee on 

15 the Judiciary of the House of Representatives a 

16 report on the grant program established under 

17 this subsection, which shall include— 

18 (i) a detailed summary of how grant 

19 funds awarded under the grant program 

20 were used; and 

21 (ii) recommendations, if any, for im22 provements needed for the grant program. 

23 (6) ACCOUNTABILITY MECHANISMS.— 

24 (A) MONITORING & EVALUATION.— 


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1 (i) IN GENERAL.—Pursuant to rules 

2 promulgated by the Attorney General, the 

3 Attorney General shall— 

4 (I) monitor the use of grant 

5 funds by each recipient of a grant 

6 under this subsection; and 

7 (II) evaluate the results of pat8 tern or practice investigations carried 

9 out using grants awarded under this 

10 subsection. 

11 (ii) TYPES OF EVALUATIONS.—An 

12 evaluation conducted under clause (i) may 

13 include an independent audit or assess14 ment of— 

15 (I) the behavior of law enforce16 ment officers; 

17 (II) the performance of a pattern 

18 or practice investigation; or 

19 (III) the implementation of rem20 edies following a pattern or practice 

21 investigation. 

22 (iii) DATA COLLECTION.—The Attor23 ney General may require 1 or more recipi24 ents of grants under this subsection to col25 lect data on the race, gender, socioVerDate Sep 11 2014 18:45 Jul 05, 2024 Jkt 049200 PO 00000 Frm 00012 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H8509.IH H8509

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1 economic status, and other demographic 

2 characteristics of individuals subject to 

3 deprivations of the rights, privileges, or im4 munities secured or protected by the Con5 stitution or laws of the United States. 

6 (B) REVOCATION OF GRANT.—If the At7 torney General finds, based on reporting under 

8 paragraph (5), monitoring and evaluation under 

9 subparagraph (A) of this paragraph, or other 

10 information, that grant funds awarded under 

11 this subsection are being diverted to law en12 forcement operations or another purpose other 

13 than pattern or practice investigations— 

14 (i) the Attorney General shall revoke 

15 the grant; and 

16 (ii) the grantee shall repay to the 

17 Federal Government any amounts that the 

18 grantee— 

19 (I) received through the grant; 

20 and 

21 (II) has not obligated or ex22 pended. 

23 (7) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.— 

24 There are authorized to be appropriated to the AtVerDate Sep 11 2014 18:45 Jul 05, 2024 Jkt 049200 PO 00000 Frm 00013 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H8509.IH H8509

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1 torney General $150,000,000 for each of fiscal years 

2 2025 through 2034 to carry out this subsection. 

Æ 


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