I 

114TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 2797 

To amend the Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention Act of 1974 

to establish the Office of School Discipline Policy, and for other purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

JUNE 16, 2015 

Mr. RICHMOND introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Education and the Workforce, and in addition to the Committee on the Judiciary, 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 amend the Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention 

Act of 1974 to establish the Office of School Discipline 

Policy, 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 ‘‘Student Disciplinary 

5 Fairness Act of 2015’’. 

6 SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 

7 Congress finds the following: 


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1 (1) Too many juveniles are introduced to the 

2 formal criminal justice system for minor behavioral 

3 infractions at school. 

4 (2) Common behavioral infractions at school 

5 often result in suspension, expulsion, or incarcer6 ation of the juvenile students involved. 

7 (3) Zero-tolerance school discipline policies in8 crease the number of incarcerated juveniles. 

9 (4) Research shows that juveniles who are in10 carcerated are significantly less likely to complete 

11 secondary school, experience less human capital de12 velopment and diminished earnings potential, and 

13 are more likely to recidivate and be incarcerated as 

14 adults. 

15 SEC. 3. SCHOOL DISCIPLINE POLICY. 

16 The Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention Act 

17 of 1974 (42 U.S.C. 5601 et seq.) is amended by inserting 

18 after title V the following new title: 

19 ‘‘TITLE VI—SCHOOL DISCIPLINE 

20 POLICY 

21 ‘‘SEC. 601. ESTABLISHMENT OF OFFICE. 

22 ‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—There is hereby established with23 in the Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Preven24 tion an Office of School and Discipline Policy (referred 

25 to in this title as the ‘Office’), headed by a Director apVerDate Sep 11 2014 05:09 Jun 19, 2015 Jkt 049200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2797.IH H2797

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1 pointed by the Administrator of the Office of Juvenile Jus2 tice and Delinquency Prevention. 

3 ‘‘(b) PURPOSE.—The purpose of the Office shall be 

4 to reduce the number of juveniles who are incarcerated 

5 and develop a criminal record based on activity that occurs 

6 while the juvenile is at school. 

7 ‘‘SEC. 602. DUTIES. 

8 ‘‘The Office shall— 

9 ‘‘(1) collect and publish data, in collaboration 

10 with the Office for Civil Rights of the Department 

11 of Education, relating to the arrest and incarcer12 ation of juvenile students for violations of school 

13 rules or policies; 

14 ‘‘(2) work with States, units of local govern15 ment, local educational agencies, and non-govern16 mental organizations in order to expand the use of 

17 alternatives to detention and incarceration program18 ming in schools in order to reduce the number of ju19 venile students who are arrested and incarcerated 

20 for violating school rules or policies; and 

21 ‘‘(3) collect and publish data, in collaboration 

22 with the Office of Justice Programs, relating to the 

23 relationship between the presence of a school re24 source officer at a school and the rate of juvenile 


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1 students who are arrested and incarcerated for viola2 tions of school rules or policies. 

3 ‘‘SEC. 603. SCHOOL DISCIPLINE POLICY GRANT PROGRAM. 

4 ‘‘(a) GRANTS AUTHORIZED.—The Director may 

5 make grants to States, units of local government, and local 

6 educational agencies in order to further the purpose de7 scribed in section 601(b). 

8 ‘‘(b) APPLICATION.—A State, unit of local govern9 ment, or local educational agency seeking a grant under 

10 this section shall submit an application to the Director at 

11 such time, in such manner, and containing such informa12 tion as the Director may reasonably require. 

13 ‘‘(c) PREFERENCE.—The Director shall give pref14 erence in awarding grants to an applicant that dem15 onstrates that it has, at the time of submitting an applica16 tion, begun to take steps to further the purpose described 

17 in section 601(b). 

18 ‘‘(d) USES OF FUNDS.—A State, unit of local govern19 ment or local educational agency that receives a grant 

20 under this section shall use such funds for programs that 

21 reduce the rate of juvenile students who are arrested and 

22 incarcerated for violations of school rules or policies, and 

23 any other activity that the Director determines will further 

24 the purpose described in section 601(b). 


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1 ‘‘SEC. 604. DEFINITIONS. 

2 ‘‘In this title: 

3 ‘‘(1) The term ‘school’ means an elementary 

4 school or a secondary school as such terms are de5 fined in section 9101 of the Elementary and Sec6 ondary Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 7801). 

7 ‘‘(2) The term ‘school resource officer’ has the 

8 meaning given such term in section 1709 of the Om9 nibus Crime Control and Safe Streets Act of 1968 

10 (42 U.S.C. 3796dd–8). 

11 ‘‘(3) The term ‘local educational agency’ has 

12 the meaning given such term in section 9101 of the 

13 Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965 

14 (20 U.S.C. 7801). 

15 ‘‘(4) The term ‘juvenile student’ means a juve16 nile who is enrolled in school. 

17 ‘‘SEC. 605. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS. 

18 ‘‘There is authorized to be appropriated such sums 

19 as may be necessary for fiscal years 2014 and 2015 to 

20 carry out this title.’’. 

21 SEC. 4. CONDITIONS FOR STATES TO RECEIVE ‘‘COPS ON 

22 THE BEAT’’ GRANTS. 

23 Section 1702(c) of the Omnibus Crime Control and 

24 Safe Streets Act of 1968 is amended— 

25 (1) in paragraph (10), by striking ‘‘and’’ at the 

26 end; 


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1 (2) in paragraph (11), by striking the period at 

2 the end and inserting ‘‘; and’’; and 

3 (3) by inserting after paragraph (11), the fol4 lowing new paragraph: 

5 ‘‘(12) in the case of an applicant that is a State 

6 or unit of local government, provide assurances 

7 that— 

8 ‘‘(A) the administration of juvenile justice 

9 in the applicant’s jurisdiction is consistent with 

10 any requirements of the United States Con11 stitution and the 4th, 5th, and 14th amend12 ments to the Constitution, including assurances 

13 that— 

14 ‘‘(i) before a juvenile is arrested, the 

15 arresting law enforcement officer must 

16 have probable cause specific to that juve17 nile; and 

18 ‘‘(ii) juveniles who are arrested must 

19 receive adequate procedural due process, 

20 including— 

21 ‘‘(I) adequate and timely notice 

22 to the juvenile and the juvenile’s 

23 guardian regarding any court pro24 ceedings related to the incident for 

25 which the juvenile was arrested; 


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1 ‘‘(II) representation by an attor2 ney in any court proceeding as a re3 sult of which the juvenile could face 

4 incarceration; 

5 ‘‘(III) protections against self-in6 crimination; and 

7 ‘‘(IV) an opportunity to cross-ex8 amine any witness testifying against 

9 the juvenile; and 

10 ‘‘(B) any contract governing the terms of 

11 probation for a juvenile shall not contain any 

12 clauses that— 

13 ‘‘(i) the juvenile cannot understand; 

14 and 

15 ‘‘(ii) in the case of a juvenile student 

16 (as such term is defined in section 604 of 

17 the Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Pre18 vention Act of 1974), could result in incar19 ceration for violations of school rules or 

20 policies.’’. 


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1 SEC. 5. AUTHORITY FOR THE ATTORNEY GENERAL TO AC2 CESS CERTAIN RECORDS RELATING TO JUVE3 NILE JUSTICE. 

4 Section 210401 of the Violent Crime Control and 

5 Law Enforcement Act of 1994 (42 U.S.C. 14141) is 

6 amended by adding at the end the following: 

7 ‘‘(c) ACCESS TO CERTAIN RECORDS RELATING TO

8 JUVENILE JUSTICE.—The Attorney General may issue 

9 subpoenas requiring the production of any documents re10 lating to any matter which the Attorney General is author11 ized to investigate under subsection (a).’’. 

12 SEC. 6. DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION GRANT PROGRAM. 

13 (a) PROGRAM AUTHORIZED.—From the amounts ap14 propriated to carry out this section, the Secretary of Edu15 cation (acting through the Office of Civil Rights of the 

16 Department of Education) shall make grants to eligible 

17 entities to fund training for school personnel in elementary 

18 schools and secondary schools on de-escalation techniques 

19 to teach the personnel procedures and tactics to mitigate 

20 delinquent student behavior which may avoid a referral to 

21 law enforcement officials. 

22 (b) APPLICATION.—To receive a grant under this sec23 tion, an eligible entity shall submit an application to the 

24 Secretary of Education at such time, in such manner, and 

25 containing such information as the Secretary may require, 


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1 including information that demonstrates that the eligible 

2 entity— 

3 (1) is fully compliant with all applicable Federal 

4 school discipline data reporting requirements, includ5 ing, if applicable, the reporting requirements of sec6 tion 618 of the Individuals with Disabilities Edu7 cation Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 1418(a)); and 

8 (2) has provided complete information to all ap9 plicable data surveys of Department of Education, 

10 including the Office for Civil Rights. 

11 (c) LIMITATION.—An elementary school or secondary 

12 school may only receive assistance under this section dur13 ing a grant period from 1 eligible entity receiving a grant 

14 under this section during the grant period. 

15 (d) DEFINITIONS.—For purposes of this section: 

16 (1) ELIGIBLE ENTITY.—The term ‘‘eligible enti17 ty’’ means a State, unit of general local government, 

18 or juvenile justice agency. 

19 (2) GENERAL ESEA TERMS.—The terms ‘‘ele20 mentary schools’’, ‘‘secondary schools’’, and ‘‘State’’ 

21 have the meanings given the terms in section 9101 

22 of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 

23 1965 (20 U.S.C. 7801). 

24 (3) SCHOOL PERSONNEL.—The term ‘‘school 

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1 tion 4151 of the Elementary and Secondary Edu2 cation Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 7161). 

3 (e) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—There 

4 are authorized to be appropriated such sums as may be 

5 necessary for fiscal years 2014 and 2015 to carry out this 

6 section. 

Æ 


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