I 

112TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 498 

To amend section 1502 of title 5, United States Code, to permit law 

enforcement officers to be candidates for sheriff, and for other purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

JANUARY 26, 2011 

Mr. LATTA (for himself, Mr. HOLDEN, Mr. CONNOLLY of Virginia, Mr. AUSTRIA, Mr. ROONEY, Mr. PASCRELL, Mrs. LUMMIS, Mr. LEE of New York, 

Mr. WESTMORELAND, and Mr. DENT) introduced the following bill; which 

was referred to the Committee on Oversight and Government Reform 

A BILL 

To amend section 1502 of title 5, United States Code, to 

permit law enforcement officers to be candidates for 

sheriff, 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 ‘‘State and Local Law 

5 Enforcement Hatch Act Reform Act of 2011’’. 

6 SEC. 2. HATCH ACT REFORM. 

7 (a) PERMITTING LAW ENFORCEMENT OFFICERS TO

8 BE CANDIDATES FOR SHERIFF.—Section 1502(c) of title 

9 5, United States Code, is amended— 


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1 (1) in paragraph (3), by striking ‘‘or’’ after the 

2 semicolon; 

3 (2) in paragraph (4), by striking the period and 

4 inserting ‘‘; or’’; and 

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

6 ‘‘(5) a law enforcement officer who is a can7 didate for sheriff.’’. 

8 (b) POLITICAL ACTIVITIES.—Section 1502 of title 5, 

9 United States Code, is amended by adding at the end the 

10 following: 

11 ‘‘(d) Subsection (a)(1) of this section does not pro12 hibit a sheriff from participating in political campaigns 

13 for, or endorsing, political candidates running for elective 

14 office by— 

15 ‘‘(1) attending or speaking at political cam16 paign rallies or events; 

17 ‘‘(2) holding or sponsoring political fundraisers; 

18 or 

19 ‘‘(3) appearing on political advertisements, in20 cluding print, radio, television, or any other form of 

21 advertising.’’. 

22 (c) AMENDMENT TO DEFINITIONS.—Section 1501 of 

23 title 5, United States Code, is amended— 

24 (1) in paragraph (3), by striking ‘‘and’’ after 

25 the semicolon; 


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1 (2) in paragraph (4), by striking the period and 

2 inserting a semicolon; and 

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

4 ‘‘(5) ‘law enforcement officer’ means a State or 

5 local officer or employee whose duties are primarily 

6 the investigation, apprehension, or detention of indi7 viduals suspected or convicted of offenses against 

8 the criminal laws of a State or local jurisdiction, in9 cluding an officer or employee engaged in this activ10 ity who is transferred to a supervisory or adminis11 trative position; and 

12 ‘‘(6) ‘sheriff’ means an individual who holds the 

13 elected Office of Sheriff, as defined by State con14 stitution or State statute, of a county, town, town15 ship, parish, village, or other general purpose polit16 ical subdivision of a State.’’. 

17 SEC. 3. STATUTE OF LIMITATIONS. 

18 Section 1504 of title 5, United States Code, is 

19 amended— 

20 (1) by inserting ‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—’’ before 

21 ‘‘When’’; and 

22 (2) by adding at the end the following: 

23 ‘‘(b) STATUTE OF LIMITATIONS FOR LAW ENFORCE24 MENT OFFICERS.—With respect to paragraphs (1) and 

25 (3) of section 1502(a), the Special Counsel may not 


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1 present any charges against a law enforcement officer 

2 under subsection (a) after the end of the 6-month period 

3 beginning on the later of— 

4 ‘‘(1) the date of the alleged violation of para5 graph (1) or (3) of section 1502(a), as the case may 

6 be; or 

7 ‘‘(2) the date of the enactment of the State and 

8 Local Law Enforcement Hatch Act Reform Act of 

9 2011.’’. 

Æ 


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