II

105TH CONGRESS

2D SESSION S. 2100

To amend the Higher Education Act of 1965 to increase public awareness

concerning crime on college and university campuses.

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

MAY 20, 1998

Mr. SPECTER (for himself, Mr. MACK, and Mr. FAIRCLOTH) introduced the

following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on

Labor and Human Resources

A BILL

To amend the Higher Education Act of 1965 to increase

public awareness concerning crime on college and university campuses.

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 ‘‘Campus Crime Disclo5 sure Act of 1998’’.

6 SEC. 2. FINDINGS.

7 Congress makes the following findings:

8 (1) According to the General Accounting Office,

9 63 institutions of higher education were in violation
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1 of the amendments made by the Crime Awareness

2 and Campus Security Act of 1990 since the enact3 ment of such Act in 1990. The Department of Edu4 cation has not taken punitive action against these

5 institutions.

6 (2) The Department of Education’s interpreta7 tion of the statutory definition of campus has en8 abled institutions of higher education to underreport

9 the instances of crimes committed against students.

10 (3) In order to improve public awareness of

11 crimes committed on college and university cam12 puses, it is essential that Congress act to clarify ex13 isting law and to discourage underreporting of of14 fenses covered by the amendments made by the

15 Crime Awareness and Campus Security Act of 1990.

16 SEC. 3. ADDITIONAL CRIME CATEGORIES.

17 (a) IN GENERAL.—Section 485(f)(1) of the Higher

18 Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 1092(f)(1)) is amend19 ed—

20 (1) by amending subparagraph (F) to read as

21 follows:

22 ‘‘(F) Statistics concerning the occurrence

23 on campus, during the most recent calendar

24 year, and during the 2 preceding calendar years

25 for which data are available, of criminal of-
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1 fenses reported to campus security authorities

2 or local police agencies, and of referrals of per3 sons for campus disciplinary action, for the fol4 lowing:

5 ‘‘(i) Murder.

6 ‘‘(ii) Sex offenses, forcible or nonforc7 ible.

8 ‘‘(iii) Robbery.

9 ‘‘(iv) Aggravated assault.

10 ‘‘(v) Burglary.

11 ‘‘(vi) Motor vehicle theft.

12 ‘‘(vii) Manslaughter.

13 ‘‘(viii) Larceny.

14 ‘‘(ix) Arson.

15 ‘‘(x) Liquor law violations, drug-relat16 ed violations, and weapons violations.’’;

17 (2) by striking subparagraph (H); and

18 (3) by redesignating subparagraph (I) as sub19 paragraph (H).

20 (b) CONFORMING AMENDMENTS.—Section 485(f) of

21 the Higher Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 1092(f))

22 is amended—

23 (1) in the matter preceding subparagraph (A)

24 of paragraph (4), by striking ‘‘paragraphs (1)(F)

25 and (1)(H)’’ and inserting ‘‘paragraph (1)(F)’’; and
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1 (2) in paragraph (6), by striking ‘‘paragraphs

2 (1)(F) and (1)(H)’’ and inserting ‘‘paragraph

3 (1)(F)’’.

4 SEC. 4. TIMELY MANNER.

5 Section 485(f)(3) of the Higher Education Act of

6 1965 (20 U.S.C. 1092(f)(3)) is amended by adding at the

7 end the following: ‘‘Such reports shall be readily available

8 to students and employees through various mediums such

9 as resident advisors, electronic mail, school newspapers,

10 and announcement postings throughout the campus.’’.

11 SEC. 5. DEFINITION OF CAMPUS.

12 Subparagraph (A) of section 485(f)(5) of the Higher

13 Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 1092(f)(5)) is amended

14 to read as follows: ‘‘(A) For purposes of this section the

15 term ‘campus’ means—

16 ‘‘(i) any building or property owned or con17 trolled by an institution of higher education

18 within the same reasonably contiguous geo19 graphic area of the institution, including a

20 building or property owned by the institution,

21 but controlled by another person, such as a food

22 or other retail vendor;

23 ‘‘(ii) any building or property owned or

24 controlled by a student organization recognized

25 by the institution;
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1 ‘‘(iii) all public property that is within the

2 same reasonably contiguous geographic area of

3 the institution, such as a sidewalk, a street,

4 other thoroughfare, or parking facility, that

5 provides immediate access to facilities owned or

6 controlled by the institution;

7 ‘‘(iv) any building or property owned, con8 trolled, or used by an institution of higher edu9 cation in direct support of, or related to the in10 stitution’s educational purposes, that is used by

11 students, and that is not within the same rea12 sonably contiguous geographic area of the insti13 tution; and

14 ‘‘(v) all dormitories or other student resi15 dential facilities owned or controlled by the in16 stitution.’’.

17 SEC. 6. REPORTING REQUIREMENTS.

18 Section 485(f) of the Higher Education Act of 1965

19 (20 U.S.C. 1092) is amended further by adding at the

20 end the following:

21 ‘‘(8)(A) The Secretary shall report to the ap22 propriate committees of Congress each institution of

23 higher education that the Secretary determines is

24 not in compliance with the reporting requirements of

25 this subsection.
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1 ‘‘(B) The Secretary shall provide to an institu2 tion of higher education that the Secretary deter3 mines is having difficulty, or is not in compliance,

4 with the reporting requirements of this subsection—

5 ‘‘(i) data and analysis regarding successful

6 practices employed by institutions of higher

7 education to reduce campus crime; and

8 ‘‘(ii) technical assistance.

9 ‘‘(9) For purposes of reporting the statistics de10 scribed in paragraph (1)(F), an institution of higher

11 education shall distinguish, by means of a separate

12 category, any criminal offenses, and any referrals for

13 campus disciplinary actions, that occur—

14 ‘‘(A) on publicly owned sidewalks, streets,

15 or other thoroughfares, or in parking facilities,

16 that provide immediate access to facilities

17 owned by the institution and are within the

18 same reasonably contiguous geographic area of

19 the institution; and

20 ‘‘(B) in dormitories or other residential fa21 cilities for students, or in other facilities affili22 ated with the institution.’’.
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1 SEC. 7. FINES.

2 Section 485(f) of the Higher Education Act of 1965

3 (20 U.S.C. 1092(f)) is amended further by adding after

4 paragraph (9) (as added by section 6) the following:

5 ‘‘(10)(A) Upon determination, after reasonable

6 notice and opportunity for a hearing, that an institu7 tion of higher education—

8 ‘‘(i) has violated or failed to carry out any

9 provision of this subsection or any regulation

10 prescribed under this subsection; or

11 ‘‘(ii) has engaged in substantial misrepre12 sentation of the nature of the institution’s ac13 tivities under this subsection,

14 the Secretary shall impose a civil penalty upon the

15 institution of not to exceed $25,000 for each viola16 tion, failure, or misrepresentation.

17 ‘‘(B) Any civil penalty may be compromised by

18 the Secretary. In determining the amount of such

19 penalty, or the amount agreed upon in compromise,

20 the appropriateness of the penalty to the size of the

21 institution of higher education subject to the deter22 mination, and the gravity of the violation, failure, or

23 misrepresentation shall be considered. The amount

24 of such penalty, when finally determined, or the

25 amount agreed upon in compromise, may be de-
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1 ducted from any sums owing by the United States

2 to the institution charged.’’.

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