I 

115TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION H. R. 5983 

To amend the Communications Act of 1934 to require providers of a covered 

service to provide location information concerning the telecommunications 

device of a user of such service to an investigative or law enforcement 

officer or an employee or other agent of a public safety answering 

point in an emergency situation involving risk of death or serious physical 

harm or in order to respond to the user’s call for emergency services. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

MAY 25, 2018 

Mr. YODER (for himself, Ms. JENKINS of Kansas, and Mr. ESTES of Kansas) 

introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Energy and Commerce 

A BILL 

To amend the Communications Act of 1934 to require providers of a covered service to provide location information 

concerning the telecommunications device of a user of 

such service to an investigative or law enforcement officer 

or an employee or other agent of a public safety answering point in an emergency situation involving risk of 

death or serious physical harm or in order to respond 

to the user’s call for emergency services. 

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 ‘‘Kelsey Smith Act’’. 

3 SEC. 2. REQUIRED EMERGENCY DISCLOSURE OF LOCATION 

4 INFORMATION TO LAW ENFORCEMENT OR 

5 PUBLIC SAFETY ANSWERING POINT. 

6 Section 222 of the Communications Act of 1934 (47 

7 U.S.C. 222) is amended— 

8 (1) in subsection (d)— 

9 (A) in paragraph (4), by redesignating 

10 subparagraphs (A), (B), and (C) as clauses (i), 

11 (ii), and (iii), respectively, and adjusting the 

12 margins accordingly; 

13 (B) by redesignating paragraphs (1) 

14 through (4) as subparagraphs (A) through (D), 

15 respectively, and adjusting the margins accord16 ingly; 

17 (C) in the matter preceding subparagraph 

18 (A), as so redesignated, by striking ‘‘Nothing in 

19 this section’’ and inserting the following: 

20 ‘‘(1) PERMITTED DISCLOSURES.—Nothing in 

21 this section’’; and 

22 (D) by adding at the end the following: 

23 ‘‘(2) REQUIRED EMERGENCY DISCLOSURE OF

24 LOCATION INFORMATION TO LAW ENFORCEMENT OR

25 PUBLIC SAFETY ANSWERING POINT.— 


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1 ‘‘(A) LOCATION INFORMATION RE2 QUESTS.—Notwithstanding subsections (a), (b), 

3 and (c), at the request of an investigative or 

4 law enforcement officer or an employee or other 

5 agent of a public safety answering point acting 

6 on behalf of such an officer, who is acting in 

7 the course of the official duties of the officer or 

8 agent, a provider of a covered service shall pro9 vide to the officer or agent the available loca10 tion information of a telecommunications device 

11 without delay if the officer or agent asserts— 

12 ‘‘(i) that the device was used to place 

13 a 9–1–1 call requesting emergency assist14 ance during the preceding 48-hour period; 

15 or 

16 ‘‘(ii) reasonable suspicion that the de17 vice is in the possession of an individual 

18 who is involved in an emergency situation 

19 that involves the risk of death or serious 

20 physical harm. 

21 ‘‘(B) RECORDS OF DISCLOSED RECORDS.— 

22 If an investigative or law enforcement officer, 

23 or an employee or other agent of a public safety 

24 answering point acting on behalf of such an of25 ficer, submits a request for location information 


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1 to a provider of a covered service under sub2 paragraph (A), the investigative or law enforce3 ment agency employing the officer shall main4 tain a record of the request that includes each 

5 of the following: 

6 ‘‘(i) The name of the officer or agent 

7 making the request (and, in the case of a 

8 request made by an agent, the name of the 

9 officer on whose behalf the agent is act10 ing). 

11 ‘‘(ii) A description of the request that 

12 explains the need for disclosure of location 

13 information. 

14 ‘‘(iii) A declaration that disclosure of 

15 location information is needed based on the 

16 conditions described in clause (i) or (ii) of 

17 subparagraph (A). 

18 ‘‘(C) HOLD HARMLESS.—No cause of ac19 tion shall lie in any court, nor shall any civil or 

20 administrative proceeding be commenced by any 

21 person or entity, against a provider of a covered 

22 service, or its directors, officers, employees, 

23 agents, or vendors, for providing location infor24 mation or assistance in accordance with subVerDate Sep 11 2014 18:40 Jun 04, 2018 Jkt 079200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H5983.IH H5983

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1 paragraph (A) and any regulations promulgated 

2 under this paragraph. 

3 ‘‘(D) RELATIONSHIP TO STATE LAW.— 

4 ‘‘(i) IN GENERAL.—Nothing in this 

5 section exempts a telecommunications car6 rier or a provider of a covered service from 

7 complying, in a circumstance described in 

8 clause (ii), with any applicable State law 

9 that requires the carrier or provider to pro10 vide location information of a telecommuni11 cations device to an investigative or law en12 forcement officer or an employee or other 

13 agent of a public safety answering point 

14 acting on behalf of such an officer in re15 sponse to a request by the officer or agent. 

16 ‘‘(ii) APPLICABILITY.—A circumstance 

17 described in this clause is a circumstance 

18 in which the officer or agent— 

19 ‘‘(I) makes the request while act20 ing in the course of the official duties 

21 of the officer or agent; and 

22 ‘‘(II) asserts that the request is 

23 made for the purpose of responding 

24 to— 


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1 ‘‘(aa) a call for emergency 

2 services; or 

3 ‘‘(bb) an emergency situa4 tion that involves the risk of 

5 death or serious physical harm.’’; 

6 (2) in subsection (f)(1), by striking ‘‘subsection 

7 (d)(4)’’ and inserting ‘‘subsection (d)(1)(D)’’; and 

8 (3) in subsection (h), by adding at the end the 

9 following: 

10 ‘‘(8) COVERED SERVICE.—The term ‘covered 

11 service’ means— 

12 ‘‘(A) a commercial mobile service (as de13 fined in section 332(d)); or 

14 ‘‘(B) an IP-enabled voice service (as de15 fined in section 7 of the Wireless Communica16 tions and Public Safety Act of 1999 (47 U.S.C. 

17 615b)). 

18 ‘‘(9) INVESTIGATIVE OR LAW ENFORCEMENT

19 OFFICER.—The term ‘investigative or law enforce20 ment officer’ has the meaning given the term ‘Inves21 tigative or law enforcement officer’ in section 2510 

22 of title 18, United States Code.’’. 

Æ 


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