I 

117TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 1481 

To require Federal, State, and local law enforcement agencies to report 

information related to allegations of misconduct of law enforcement officers to the Attorney General, and for other purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

MARCH 2, 2021 

Mr. BEYER introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee 

on the Judiciary 

A BILL 

To require Federal, State, and local law enforcement agencies 

to report information related to allegations of misconduct 

of law enforcement officers to the Attorney General, 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 ‘‘Cost of Police Mis5 conduct Act of 2021’’. 

6 SEC. 2. REPORTING REQUIREMENT. 

7 (a) IDENTIFICATION REQUIREMENT.— 


pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS
2 

•HR 1481 IH

1 (1) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 90 days after 

2 the date of the enactment of this Act, the Attorney 

3 General shall identify— 

4 (A) the total number of Federal law en5 forcement agencies in the Federal Government; 

6 and 

7 (B) the name of each Federal law enforce8 ment agency in the Federal Government. 

9 (2) PUBLICATION.—The Attorney General shall 

10 make publicly available on the internet website of 

11 the Department of Justice the information under 

12 paragraph (1), and update such identification infor13 mation on an annual basis. 

14 (b) FEDERAL LAW ENFORCEMENT REQUIRE15 MENTS.— 

16 (1) DATA COLLECTION.—On and after the date 

17 that is 120 days after the date of the enactment of 

18 this Act, a Federal law enforcement agency identi19 fied under subsection (a)(1) shall collect the infor20 mation described in paragraph (3) of this subsection 

21 relating to allegations of misconduct by any Federal 

22 law enforcement officer employed by the agency and 

23 any judgments or settlements with respect to such 

24 allegations of misconduct. 

25 (2) DATA REPORTING.— 


pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS
3 

•HR 1481 IH

1 (A) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 60 days 

2 after the last day of each year that begins after 

3 the date of the enactment of this Act, a Federal 

4 law enforcement agency identified under sub5 section (a)(1) shall report to the Attorney Gen6 eral, pursuant to guidelines established by the 

7 Attorney General, for the preceding year and 

8 with respect to the Federal law enforcement 

9 agency, the information described in paragraph 

10 (3). 

11 (B) EXTENSION.—The Attorney General 

12 may extend the deadline under subparagraph 

13 (A) by 60 days for a Federal law enforcement 

14 agency that is making good faith efforts to 

15 comply with the requirement under that sub16 paragraph. 

17 (C) SCOPE OF INITIAL REPORT.—The first 

18 report submitted by a Federal law enforcement 

19 agency under subparagraph (A) shall include 

20 data collected prior to the year covered by the 

21 report, if the data collection requirement under 

22 paragraph (1) applies to any period prior to 

23 that year. 

24 (3) INFORMATION REQUIRED.—The information 

25 described in this paragraph, for a particular year 


pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS
4 

•HR 1481 IH

1 and with respect to a Federal law enforcement agen2 cy, is the following: 

3 (A) The total number of allegations of mis4 conduct by a Federal law enforcement officer 

5 made during the year. 

6 (B) The total number of judgments en7 tered or settlements entered into during the 

8 year with respect to allegations of misconduct 

9 by a Federal law enforcement officer. 

10 (C) For each allegation of misconduct 

11 identified in subparagraph (A) or judgment or 

12 settlement with respect to allegations of mis13 conduct identified in subparagraph (B): 

14 (i) The race, ethnicity, sex, and age of 

15 each officer and civilian involved. 

16 (ii) The year in which the alleged mis17 conduct took place. 

18 (iii) The year in which the allegation 

19 was reported. 

20 (iv) The type of allegation, which may 

21 include a body camera violation (whether a 

22 failure to wear or record), use of force (in23 cluding the type of force), a collision, racial 

24 profiling, negligence, property damage, sex25 ual harassment or assault, false testimony, 


pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS
5 

•HR 1481 IH

1 wrongful death, failure of a duty to inter2 vene, or wrongful imprisonment. 

3 (v) Any personnel action taken by the 

4 officer involved, which may include res5 ignation or retirement. 

6 (vi) Any personnel action taken by the 

7 Federal law enforcement agency involved, 

8 which may include termination, demotion, 

9 or relocation of the officer involved. 

10 (vii) In the case of a judgment or set11 tlement, the total amount paid to satisfy 

12 the judgment or settlement (and related 

13 court fees), regardless of the source of the 

14 payment. 

15 (viii) In the case of a judgment or set16 tlement, the source of money used to pay 

17 the judgment or settlement (and related 

18 court fees), including whether the money 

19 came from amounts appropriated under 

20 section 1304 of title 31, United States 

21 Code (commonly known as the ‘‘Judgment 

22 Fund’’), amounts appropriated to the Fed23 eral law enforcement agency, or another 

24 source. 


pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS
6 

•HR 1481 IH

1 (D) The total amount paid pursuant to 

2 such judgments and settlements (and related 

3 court fees) by the Federal law enforcement 

4 agency. 

5 (c) STATE AND LOCAL LAW ENFORCEMENT RE6 QUIREMENTS.— 

7 (1) DEFINITION.—In this subsection, the term 

8 ‘‘Byrne JAG program’’ means any grant program 

9 under subpart 1 of part E of title I of the Omnibus 

10 Crime Control and Safe Streets Act of 1968 (34 

11 U.S.C. 10151 et seq.). 

12 (2) REQUIREMENTS.— 

13 (A) DATA COLLECTION.—On and after the 

14 date that is 120 days after the date of the en15 actment of this Act, a State or unit of local 

16 government that receives funds under the 

17 Byrne JAG program shall collect information 

18 relating to allegations of misconduct by any law 

19 enforcement officer employed by a law enforce20 ment agency of the State or unit of local gov21 ernment, respectively, and any judgments or 

22 settlements with respect to such allegations of 

23 misconduct that is substantially similar to the 

24 information described in subsection (b)(3). 

25 (B) DATA REPORTING.— 


pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS
7 

•HR 1481 IH

1 (i) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 60 

2 days after the last day of each year that 

3 begins after the date of the enactment of 

4 this Act, a State or unit of local govern5 ment that receives funds under the Byrne 

6 JAG program shall submit to the Attorney 

7 General, pursuant to guidelines established 

8 by the Attorney General, for the preceding 

9 year and with respect to each law enforce10 ment agency of the State or unit of local 

11 government, respectively, the information 

12 collected under subparagraph (A). 

13 (ii) EXTENSION.—The Attorney Gen14 eral may extend the deadline under clause 

15 (i) by 60 days for a State or local govern16 ment that is making good faith efforts to 

17 comply with the requirement under that 

18 clause. 

19 (iii) SOURCE OF MONEY FOR JUDG20 MENTS AND SETTLEMENTS.—For purposes 

21 of clause (i), in reporting the source of 

22 money used to pay a judgment or settle23 ment (and related court fees), as described 

24 in subsection (b)(3)(C)(viii), a State or 

25 unit of local government shall disclose 


pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS
8 

•HR 1481 IH

1 whether the money came from a general 

2 operating budget, State or local law en3 forcement agency budget, bonds, liability 

4 insurance, a central risk management fund 

5 or pool, or other source. 

6 (iv) SCOPE OF INITIAL REPORT.—The 

7 first report submitted by a State or local 

8 government under clause (i) shall include 

9 data collected prior to the year covered by 

10 the report, if the data collection require11 ment under subparagraph (A) applies to 

12 any period prior to that year. 

13 (3) INELIGIBILITY FOR FUNDS.— 

14 (A) IN GENERAL.—A State or unit of local 

15 government that fails to comply with the re16 quirements under paragraph (2) shall be sub17 ject to not more than a 10-percent reduction of 

18 the funds that would otherwise be allocated to 

19 the State or unit of local government under the 

20 Byrne JAG program for— 

21 (i) the fiscal year in which the failure 

22 to comply occurs; or 

23 (ii) the subsequent fiscal year. 

24 (B) REALLOCATION.—Amounts not allo25 cated under the Byrne JAG program to a State 


pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS
9 

•HR 1481 IH

1 or unit of local government for failure to fully 

2 comply with paragraph (2) shall be reallocated 

3 under that program to States or units of local 

4 government that have complied with such para5 graph. 

6 (4) OPEN-SOURCE DATA.—Not later than 30 

7 days after each date on which the Attorney General 

8 receives information reported under paragraph (2) 

9 from a State or unit of local government, the Attor10 ney General shall verify such information reported 

11 using open-source data, as practicable, including 

12 using data from newspaper and court records. 

13 (d) STUDY AND REPORTS REQUIRED.— 

14 (1) GAO STUDY AND REPORT.— 

15 (A) STUDY.—After data has been collected 

16 under subsections (b) and (c) for 2 full years, 

17 the Comptroller General of the United States 

18 shall carry out a study on such data, includ19 ing— 

20 (i) the number of Federal, State, and 

21 local law enforcement agencies reporting 

22 such data to the Attorney General; 

23 (ii) a determination of the leading 

24 cause of judgments and settlements 


pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS
10 

•HR 1481 IH

1 against Federal, State, and local law en2 forcement agencies; 

3 (iii) an analysis of any relationship 

4 between the number of judgments and set5 tlements and the actions taken by Federal, 

6 State, or local law enforcement agencies, 

7 including the agency’s process of enforcing 

8 the law, such agency’s culture, and any 

9 new programs established by the agency to 

10 enforce the law; 

11 (iv) recommendations with respect to 

12 how a Federal, State, or local law enforce13 ment agency may reduce misconduct lead14 ing to judgments or settlements; 

15 (v) identification of Federal, State, 

16 local law enforcement agencies that have 

17 spent the most money with respect to judg18 ments and settlements (and related court 

19 fees); 

20 (vi) the total amount of money spent 

21 by Federal, State, and local law enforce22 ment agencies on judgments or settlements 

23 (and related court fees), disaggregated by 

24 State; and 


pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS
11 

•HR 1481 IH

1 (vii) the average amount of money 

2 spent on judgments or settlements (and re3 lated court fees) by— 

4 (I) Federal law enforcement 

5 agencies; 

6 (II) State law enforcement agen7 cies; and 

8 (III) local law enforcement agen9 cies. 

10 (B) REPORT AND PRESS RELEASE.—Not 

11 later than 120 days after the last day of the 

12 third year that begins after the date of the en13 actment of this Act, the Comptroller General, in 

14 consultation with the Attorney General, shall— 

15 (i) prepare and submit to Congress a 

16 report that contains the findings of the 

17 study under subparagraph (A); 

18 (ii) make the report described in 

19 clause (i) publicly available through the 

20 internet website of the Government Ac21 countability Office; and 

22 (iii) release a press release with re23 spect to the study under paragraph (A). 

24 (2) DOJ PRESS RELEASE.—Not later than 180 

25 days after the last day of the first year that begins 


pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS
12 

•HR 1481 IH

1 after the date of the enactment of this Act, and an2 nually thereafter, the Attorney General shall issue a 

3 press release summarizing the data collected under 

4 subsections (b) and (c) for the year prior to the re5 lease of such press release. 

6 (3) DATABASE.— 

7 (A) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 1 year 

8 after the date of the enactment of this Act, the 

9 Attorney General shall create and maintain on10 line a public, searchable database containing all 

11 data reported under subsections (b) and (c), 

12 subject to any otherwise applicable confiden13 tiality requirements. Such publication shall not 

14 include any personally identifiable information 

15 of any law enforcement officer. 

16 (B) DATABASE UPDATES.—The Attorney 

17 General shall update the database created 

18 under subparagraph (A) on an annual basis 

19 with data reported under subsections (b) and 

20 (c). 

21 (e) RULE OF CONSTRUCTION.—Nothing in this sec22 tion shall be construed to supersede the requirements or 

23 limitations under section 552a of title 5, United States 

24 Code (commonly known as the ‘‘Privacy Act of 1974’’). 

25 (f) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 


pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS
13 

•HR 1481 IH

1 (1) ALLEGATION OF MISCONDUCT.—The term 

2 ‘‘allegation of misconduct’’ means an allegation by a 

3 member of the community or other individual that a 

4 law enforcement officer took illegal, tortious, or oth5 erwise inappropriate action in connection with the 

6 official duties of the officer. 

7 (2) JUDGMENT.—The term ‘‘judgment’’ means 

8 the final court order in a civil action that resolves 

9 all issues in dispute and settles the parties’ rights 

10 with respect to those issues. 

11 (3) LAW ENFORCEMENT AGENCY.—The term 

12 ‘‘law enforcement agency’’ means a Federal, State, 

13 or local agency engaged in the prevention, detection, 

14 investigation, prosecution, or adjudication of viola15 tions of the law in the United States. 

16 (4) SETTLEMENT.—The term ‘‘settlement’’ 

17 means an agreement that resolves— 

18 (A) a civil action prior to the entry of 

19 judgment; or 

20 (B) a legal dispute prior to the filing of a 

21 complaint or petition. 

Æ 


pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS