I 

113TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION H. R. 5830 

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 

DECEMBER 10, 2014 

Mr. JOHNSON of Georgia (for himself, Mr. ELLISON, Ms. JACKSON LEE, Mr. 

GRAYSON, Ms. NORTON, Mr. RANGEL, Mr. CUMMINGS, Mr. CLAY, Ms. 

LEE of California, and Mr. CONYERS) 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 2014’’. 

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 SEC. 3. HEARING BEFORE A JUDGE REQUIRED. 

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

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

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

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

18 of 1968 (42 U.S.C. 3750 et seq.), the State shall comply 

19 with the requirements of this section. 

20 (b) HEARING REQUIREMENT; APPOINTMENT OF SPE21 CIAL PROSECUTOR.—In the case of a law enforcement of22 ficer who uses deadly force against a person, and thereby 

23 causes the death of that person, the Governor of the State 

24 in which the death occurred shall appoint a special pros25 ecutor to present evidence on behalf of the State at a hearVerDate Sep 11 2014 04:56 Dec 18, 2014 Jkt 049200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H5830.IH H5830

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1 ing before a judge in the appropriate court, in order to 

2 determine whether probable cause exists for the State to 

3 bring criminal charges against the law enforcement officer 

4 relating to the death of the person, which determination 

5 shall be made by the judge. The Governor shall use a ran6 dom process to select the special prosecutor from among 

7 the prosecutors in the State, excluding the prosecutors of 

8 the locality in which the death took place. 

9 (c) WRITTEN DETERMINATION OF PROBABLE

10 CAUSE.—The judge presiding over a hearing described in 

11 subsection (b) shall issue the determination described in 

12 subsection (b) in writing, and shall submit such deter13 mination to the chief prosecutor of the locality in which 

14 the death took place. 

15 (d) RECOMMENDATIONS OF THE SPECIAL PROS16 ECUTOR.—Upon the conclusion of a hearing described in 

17 subsection (b), the special prosecutor shall submit written 

18 recommendations to the chief prosecutor of the locality in 

19 which the death took place, including a recommendation 

20 regarding whether criminal charges should be brought 

21 against the law enforcement officer relating to the death 

22 of the person. 

23 (e) COURT TO REMAIN OPEN TO THE PUBLIC.—In 

24 a hearing described in subsection (a), the court shall reVerDate Sep 11 2014 04:56 Dec 18, 2014 Jkt 049200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H5830.IH H5830

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1 main open to the public, except as determined appropriate 

2 by the presiding judge. 

Æ 


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