II

103D CONGRESS

2D SESSION S. 1965

To amend the Omnibus Crime Control and Safe Streets Act of 1968 to

establish a national clearinghouse to assist in background checks of

law enforcement applicants.

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

MARCH 24 (legislative day, FEBRUARY 22), 1994

Mr. GRAHAM introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred

to the Committee on the Judiciary

A BILL

To amend the Omnibus Crime Control and Safe Streets

Act of 1968 to establish a national clearinghouse to

assist in background checks of law enforcement applicants.

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 ‘‘Law Enforcement and

5 Correctional Officers Employment Registration Act of

6 1994’’.

7 SEC. 2. FINDINGS.

8 The Congress finds that—
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1 (1) law enforcement officials, including mem2 bers of the International Association of Chiefs of Po3 lice recognize that violent crime represents the

4 greatest threat to the safety and security of citizens

5 and that dedicated, ethical law enforcement profes6 sionals and lawful community initiatives with partici7 pation by members of the community represent the

8 best hope of responding to the challenges of violent

9 crime;

10 (2) the International Association of Chiefs of

11 Police acknowledges that a few officers choose to

12 violate the public trust by abusing their authority or

13 by breaking the law. Such officers should not be able

14 to seek police employment in another state or juris15 diction with the expectation that they will be able to

16 conceal their history of misconduct;

17 (3) there have been numerous documented

18 cases of officers who have obtained officer employ19 ment and certification in a state after revocation of

20 officer certification or dishonorable discharge in an21 other state;

22 (4) a national clearinghouse of officer employ23 ment histories would enable each criminal justice

24 agency to conduct thorough background checks on
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1 officer applicants and to assure that only honest eth2 ical officers are permitted to serve; and

3 (5) Federal legislation is needed that would re4 quire Federal registration of employment termi5 nation data of law enforcement officers and correc6 tional officers.

7 SEC. 3. REGISTRATION.

8 Subpart 1 of part E of the Omnibus Crime Control

9 and Safe Streets Act of 1968 (42 U.S.C. 3781 et seq.)

10 is amended by adding at the end thereof the following:

11 ‘‘REGISTRATION OF EMPLOYMENT DATA OF LAW

12 ENFORCEMENT AND CORRECTIONAL OFFICERS.

13 ‘‘SEC. 509a. a(1) The Governor of each State, or

14 chief executive of each territory of the United States, the

15 District of Columbia or a Native American Indian tribe

16 or band that receives funds under section 506 in a fiscal

17 year shall designate the state peace officer standards

18 board or its equivalent which shall submit a list, main19 tained electronically, of all law enforcement and correc20 tional officers who held such office in such State or terri21 tory, the District of Columbia or a Native American In22 dian tribe or band on or since January 1, 1994, in accord23 ance with paragraph (2). The list shall be submitted to

24 an officer or agency designated by the Attorney General

25 of the United States. The head of each department, agen26 cy, or other entity in the executive branch of the United
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1 States Government that employs law enforcement or cor2 rectional officers shall submit a list of all such personnel

3 employed on or after January 1, 1994. Such list shall be

4 updated and supplemented by agencies or officials respon5 sible for submission of employment data in accordance

6 with subsection (b).

7 ‘‘(2) Such list shall include the names (and any

8 former names), dates of birth, social security numbers,

9 Federal Bureau of Investigation fingerprint identification

10 numbers if known, the dates of appointment as officers

11 if known, the names and addresses or National Crime In12 formation Center numbers of the appointing or employing

13 agencies, and if applicable, the dates such service ended

14 for such officers.

15 ‘‘(b) The agency or official responsible for submission

16 of such employment data shall, not later than 90 days

17 after an officer’s employment, appointment, or separation

18 from employment or appointment, notify the agency or of19 ficer designated by the Attorney General of the United

20 States to receive such employment data, that a law en21 forcement officer or correctional officer has been ap22 pointed or employed as an officer, or that a registered offi23 cer is no longer empowered or employed as such. If the

24 former officer has had officer certification revoked for

25 cause, that fact shall be reported.
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1 ‘‘(c) For purposes of the section:

2 ‘‘(1) The term ‘law enforcement officer’ means

3 a federal law enforcement officer, or an individual

4 who is elected or appointed by a State or territory,

5 or a political subdivision thereof, by the District of

6 Columbia or by a Native American Indian tribe or

7 band, to conserve the peace, or to make arrests or

8 serve warrants, or to otherwise possess or exercise

9 the authority of a peace officer. In the case of law

10 enforcement officers elected or appointed by a State

11 or a political subdivision thereof, ‘law enforcement

12 officer’ only includes those required by the applicable

13 law of the State to be licensed or certified.

14 ‘‘(2) The term ‘correctional officer’ means a

15 federal correctional officer, or an individual who is

16 elected or appointed by a State or territory, or a po17 litical subdivision thereof, by the District of Colum18 bia or by a Native American Indian tribe or band to

19 guard or supervise prisoners or inmates of jails or

20 other detention, penal or correctional facilities. In

21 the case of correctional officers elected or appointed

22 by a State or a political subdivision thereof, ‘correc23 tional officer’ only includes those required by the ap24 plicable law of the state to be licensed or certified.
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1 (3) ‘‘The term ‘certification revoked for cause’

2 means cancellation or revocation of an individual’s

3 law enforcement officer or correctional officer state

4 professional license by a state peace officer stand5 ards board or its equivalent after administrative due

6 process has been afforded the officer.’’

7 A ‘law enforcement officer’ or ‘correctional officer’ in8 cludes an individual whether compensated for services or

9 not, whether full- or part-time, and whether appointment,

10 election or term of office is temporary or permanent. Such

11 terms do not include citizens who are called to assist an

12 officer in the performance of the officer’s duties, unless

13 such citizen received a deputation or commission of ap14 pointment lasting longer than 30 days.

15 ‘‘(d)(1) As a condition of employment, each State,

16 territory, or political subdivision thereof, the District of

17 Columbia, each Native American Indian tribe or band and

18 each federal agency that employs law enforcement officers

19 or correctional officers shall require all applicants for ap20 pointment to or employment in such positions before be21 ginning employment—

22 ‘‘(A) to disclose all prior service or employment

23 as a law enforcement or correctional officer, and
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1 ‘‘(B) to submit a written authorization and re2 quest for release of information, on a form pre3 scribed by the Attorney General or designee.

4 ‘‘(2) When a prospective law enforcement or correc5 tional employer obtains an officer’s required written au6 thorization and request for release of information, the At7 torney General (or designee) is directed to release all data

8 collected under subsections (a) and (b) of this section to

9 such prospective employer.

10 ‘‘(3) Upon receipt of completed written authorization

11 and request for release of information, and not later than

12 30 days after such officer is first appointed or employed

13 or at any time prior to the appointment or employment

14 of an applicant, each State, territory, and political subdivi15 sion thereof, the District of Columbia, each Native Amer16 ican Indian tribe or band and each federal agency that

17 employs law enforcement or correctional officers shall no18 tify the Attorney General (or designee).

19 ‘‘(e) The Attorney General shall issue regulations for

20 the implementation of this section and the operation of

21 the employment data clearinghouse.

22 ‘‘(f) Agencies or agency administrators who submit

23 employment or officer certification data pursuant to this

24 section are presumed to be acting in good faith and, unless

25 lack of good faith is shown by clear and convincing evi-
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1 dence, are immune from civil liability for such disclosure

2 or its consequences. The presumption of good faith is re3 butted upon a showing that the data was submitted with

4 knowledge of its falsity or was submitted with the mali5 cious intent to deliberately mislead.’’.

6 SEC. 4. EFFECTIVE DATE.

7 (a) IN GENERAL.—This Act shall take effect October

8 1, 1994.

9 (b) INFORMATION COMPLIANCE.—Lists required

10 under section 509a (a) of the Omnibus Crime Control and

11 Safe Streets Act of 1968 shall be submitted not later than

12 180 days after the enactment of this Act. Not later than

13 180 days after the date of the enactment of this Act, each

14 State, territory, or political subdivision thereof, the Dis15 trict of Columbia, each Native American Indian tribe or

16 band and each federal agency employing law enforcement

17 and correctional officers shall comply with the require18 ments described in subsection (d) of section 509a of the

19 Omnibus Crime Control and Safe Streets Act of 1968.

20 The Director of the Bureau of Justice Assistance may au21 thorize grants to agencies to assist in their compliance

22 with Subsection (1) of this Act.

23 SEC. 5. REPORTS.

24 Not later than 2 years after the date of the enact25 ment of this Act, the Attorney General, upon consultation
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1 with the Director of the Bureau of Justice Assistance,

2 shall submit a report to the Committees on the Judiciary

3 of the House of Representatives and the Senate evaluating

4 the compliance with the requirements of section 509a of

5 the Omnibus Crime Control and Safe Streets Act of 1968,

6 and listing each State, territory, or political subdivision

7 thereof, the District of Columbia, each Native American

8 Indian tribe or band and each federal agency employing

9 law enforcement or correctional officers that has failed

10 materially to comply with the requirements of this section.

11 Such subsequent reports shall be presented as are deemed

12 appropriate by the Attorney General.

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