I 

115TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 4332 

To provide that in the case of a law enforcement officer who uses deadly 

force against a person, and thereby causes the death of that person, 

a hearing shall be conducted before a judge to determine whether there 

is probable cause for the State to bring criminal charges against the 

law enforcement officer relating to the death of the person, and for 

other purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

NOVEMBER 9, 2017 

Mr. JOHNSON of Georgia (for himself, Mr. COHEN, Ms. NORTON, Ms. 

MICHELLE LUJAN GRISHAM of New Mexico, Mr. CONNOLLY, Mrs. WATSON COLEMAN, Mr. HASTINGS, Mr. DAVID SCOTT of Georgia, Mr. CLAY, 

Mr. ELLISON, Ms. EDDIE BERNICE JOHNSON of Texas, Mr. CICILLINE, 

Mr. CONYERS, and Ms. MOORE) introduced the following bill; which was 

referred to the Committee on the Judiciary 

A BILL 

To provide that in the case of a law enforcement officer 

who uses deadly force against a person, and thereby 

causes the death of that person, a hearing shall be conducted before a judge to determine whether there is 

probable cause for the State to bring criminal charges 

against the law enforcement officer relating to the death 

of the person, 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, 


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1 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

2 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Grand Jury Reform 

3 Act of 2017’’. 

4 SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 

5 The Congress finds the following: 

6 (1) Grand juries are typically used as the proc7 ess by which allegations of police misconduct are 

8 prosecuted. 

9 (2) There exists a symbiotic relationship be10 tween local prosecutors and the law enforcement of11 ficers who regularly testify in routine grand jury in12 vestigations. 

13 (3) The closeness of this relationship creates 

14 public suspicion that accused police officers receive 

15 preferential consideration from grand juries when 

16 they are subject to grand jury investigations. 

17 (4) Police officers have the right to appear be18 fore the grand jury investigating allegations of 

19 wrongdoing by said officer, and give testimony not 

20 subject to a thorough cross examination. 

21 (5) Grand jury proceedings are by law secret 

22 proceedings. 

23 (6) The secret grand jury process has histori24 cally resulted in a refusal to indict when the subject 

25 of their investigation is a local law enforcement offi26 cer. 


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1 (7) The recent grand jury proceedings following 

2 the deaths of Michael Brown and Eric Garner have 

3 followed historical tradition, ending with a refusal to 

4 indict the law enforcement officers involved in their 

5 deaths. 

6 (8) The American people have lost confidence in 

7 the secretive grand jury process when it is used to 

8 evaluate allegations of police misconduct. 

9 (9) The loss of confidence in our system of jus10 tice leads to the undermining of the principles of 

11 equality and justice upon which this country was 

12 founded. 

13 (10) Preliminary hearings are often replaced 

14 with direct presentments, whereby the prosecutor 

15 may send a case directly to the grand jury without 

16 a public preliminary hearing. 

17 SEC. 3. HEARING BEFORE A JUDGE REQUIRED. 

18 (a) RECEIPT OF GRANT FUNDS.—In order for a 

19 State or unit of local government in a State to be eligible 

20 to receive Federal funding under subpart 1 of part E of 

21 title I of the Omnibus Crime Control and Safe Streets Act 

22 of 1968 (34 U.S.C. 10151 et seq.), the State shall comply 

23 with the requirements of this section. 

24 (b) NOTIFICATION REQUIREMENTS.— 


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1 (1) NOTIFICATION TO PROSECUTOR.—In the 

2 case of a law enforcement officer of a local law en3 forcement agency who uses deadly force against a 

4 person in the course of the officer’s employment, 

5 and thereby causes the death of that person, not 

6 later than 24 hours after the death occurs, the chief 

7 officer of the law enforcement agency of the locality 

8 in which the death occurred shall report the death 

9 to the elected prosecutor of that locality. 

10 (2) NOTIFICATION TO GOVERNOR.—Not later 

11 than 24 hours after receiving notice under para12 graph (1), the elected prosecutor of the locality in 

13 which the death occurred shall report the death to 

14 the Governor of that State. 

15 (c) HEARING REQUIREMENT; APPOINTMENT OF SPE16 CIAL PROSECUTOR.— 

17 (1) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 3 days after 

18 receiving notice under subsection (b)(2), the Gov19 ernor of the State in which the death occurred shall 

20 appoint a special prosecutor to present evidence on 

21 behalf of the State at a hearing before a judge in 

22 the appropriate court, in order to determine whether 

23 probable cause exists for the State to bring criminal 

24 charges against the law enforcement officer relating 

25 to the death of the person, which determination shall 


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1 be made by the judge. The Governor shall use a ran2 dom process to select the special prosecutor from 

3 among all of the elected prosecutors in the State, ex4 cluding the elected prosecutor of the locality in 

5 which the death occurred. 

6 (2) TIMING.—The hearing described in para7 graph (1) shall be held not later than 90 days after 

8 the appointment of the special prosecutor, unless the 

9 judge determines that good cause exists to delay the 

10 hearing. 

11 (3) COURT TO REMAIN OPEN TO THE PUB12 LIC.—Except as determined appropriate by the pre13 siding judge, in a hearing described in paragraph 

14 (1), the court shall remain open to the public, and 

15 upon scheduling the hearing the judge shall provide 

16 notice to the public of the date, time, and location 

17 of the hearing. 

18 (d) STATE LAW ENFORCEMENT AGENCY TO HAVE

19 EXCLUSIVE AUTHORITY OVER INVESTIGATION.— 

20 (1) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 24 hours 

21 after receiving notice under subsection (b)(2), the 

22 Governor shall report the death to the chief officer 

23 of the State law enforcement agency of the State in 

24 which the death occurred, and the State law enforce25 ment agency shall assume exclusive control of the inVerDate Sep 11 2014 23:04 Nov 15, 2017 Jkt 079200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H4332.IH H4332

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1 vestigation of the death during the pendency of the 

2 probable cause hearing. 

3 (2) COOPERATION OF LOCAL LAW ENFORCE4 MENT AGENCY.—The chief officer of the law enforce5 ment agency of the locality in which the death oc6 curred shall cooperate with the special prosecutor 

7 and the chief officer of the State law enforcement 

8 agency by responding promptly to requests for infor9 mation related to the death. 

10 (e) WRITTEN DETERMINATION OF PROBABLE

11 CAUSE.—Not later than 5 days after the conclusion of a 

12 hearing described in subsection (c), the judge presiding 

13 over the hearing shall issue the determination described 

14 in subsection (c) in writing, and shall submit such deter15 mination to the elected prosecutor of the locality in which 

16 the death occurred. Such determination shall be made 

17 available to the public. 

18 (f) RECOMMENDATIONS OF THE SPECIAL PROS19 ECUTOR.—Upon the conclusion of a hearing described in 

20 subsection (c), the special prosecutor shall submit written 

21 recommendations to the elected prosecutor of the locality 

22 in which the death occurred, including a recommendation 

23 regarding whether criminal charges should be brought 

24 against the law enforcement officer relating to the death 

25 of the person. 


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1 (g) TOLLING OF PROCEDURAL DEADLINES.—Any 

2 applicable filing or other procedural deadlines are tolled 

3 during the pendency of the hearing described in subsection 

4 (c). 

5 (h) PRESERVATION OF PROSECUTORIAL DISCRE6 TION.—The hearing described in subsection (c) shall be 

7 purely advisory, and shall have no binding effect on the 

8 elected prosecutor of the locality in which the death oc9 curred. After the conclusion of the hearing described in 

10 subsection (c), the elected prosecutor of the locality in 

11 which the death occurred shall retain prosecutorial discre12 tion as to whether to bring charges against the law en13 forcement officer, including whether to hold a grand jury 

14 proceeding in the appropriate court. 

Æ 


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