II 

117TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION S. 3943 

To establish due process requirements for the investigation of intercollegiate 

athletics, and for other purposes. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

MARCH 29, 2022 

Mrs. BLACKBURN (for herself and Mr. BOOKER) introduced the following bill; 

which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Commerce, 

Science, and Transportation 

A BILL 

To establish due process requirements for the investigation 

of intercollegiate athletics, 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 ‘‘NCAA Accountability 

5 Act of 2022’’. 

6 SEC. 2. DUE PROCESS REQUIREMENTS. 

7 (a) IN GENERAL.—Each covered athletic association 

8 shall establish and administer due process requirements 

9 for the investigation of any member institution, student 

10 athlete enrolled in such member institution, or other indiVerDate Sep 11 2014 17:05 Mar 30, 2022 Jkt 029200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S3943.IS S3943

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1 vidual for any alleged infraction of the covered athletic as2 sociation’s bylaws or failure to meet the conditions and 

3 obligations of membership if the matter cannot be resolved 

4 without a formal investigation, consistent with the fol5 lowing: 

6 (1) If the covered athletic association initiates 

7 an investigation into a member institution, the cov8 ered athletic association shall provide written notice 

9 to the member institution detailing the nature of the 

10 inquiry by not later than 60 days after the covered 

11 athletic association receives information indicating 

12 that a bylaw violation may have occurred, and that 

13 the covered athletic association has determined that 

14 an investigation is warranted. The notice shall in15 clude, to the extent such information is available, the 

16 following: 

17 (A) Each program under investigation. 

18 (B) All persons under investigation. 

19 (C) The specific alleged violations under 

20 investigation. 

21 (D) Each date or time period an alleged 

22 violation may have occurred. 

23 (E) The rights and resources available to 

24 the accused. 


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1 (2) The notice under paragraph (1)(C) shall be 

2 limited to possible violations occurring not earlier 

3 than 2 years before the date the notice is provided 

4 to the member institution. The covered athletic asso5 ciation shall thereafter promptly notify the member 

6 institution of any other relevant information discov7 ered in the course of the investigation. 

8 (3) Prior to commencing any enforcement pro9 ceeding, the covered athletic association shall provide 

10 the member institution with a notice of allegations 

11 not later than 8 months after the notice of inquiry 

12 is received under paragraph (1), which shall include 

13 the following: 

14 (A) Details about each allegation. 

15 (B) The potential penalties for each allega16 tion. 

17 (C) The information and factors the cov18 ered athletic association considered in its deter19 mination to file charges. 

20 (D) The rights and resources available to 

21 the member institution and involved individuals. 

22 (4) Not earlier than 60 days after the notice of 

23 allegations is received, there shall be a hearing be24 fore the covered athletic association’s infractions 

25 committee or body with authorization to hear cases 


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1 and prescribe punishments to member institutions 

2 which shall conform to the following requirements: 

3 (A) The hearing shall commence not later 

4 than 1 year after the notice is provided under 

5 paragraph (1). 

6 (B) No information from confidential 

7 sources may be offered into evidence or form 

8 the basis for any decision. 

9 (5) In the event that there is any dispute re10 garding the covered athletic association’s punish11 ment of a member institution, the member institu12 tion may compel entry into arbitration conducted in 

13 accordance with the standard commercial arbitration 

14 rules of an established major national provider of ar15 bitration and mediation services based in the United 

16 States, which will provide an independent review and 

17 binding decision. The arbitration shall be conducted 

18 by a three-person panel. The covered athletic asso19 ciation and member institution shall each appoint 

20 one arbitrator of their respective choosing. The third 

21 arbitrator shall be appointed in agreement by the 

22 two arbitrators appointed by each party. 

23 (6) The covered athletic association shall con24 duct its enforcement proceedings and investigations 

25 in a fair and consistent manner, and the penalties 


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1 issued against member institutions for bylaw infrac2 tions shall be equitable with respect to severity of 

3 the infraction and the member institution’s history 

4 of infractions. 

5 (7) The covered athletic association shall not 

6 disclose information relating to an ongoing investiga7 tion into a member institution until formal charges 

8 are filed in the notice of allegations submitted under 

9 paragraph (3). The member institution shall have 

10 discretionary authority to disclose any information 

11 relating to an ongoing investigation, and no informa12 tion relating to an ongoing investigation shall be 

13 subject to any disclosure requirement under State 

14 law. 

15 (b) REPORT.—A covered athletic association shall 

16 submit an annual report to the Attorney General summa17 rizing its enforcement proceedings, investigations, and 

18 issuance of punishments to member organizations under 

19 this Act over the preceding year. A covered athletic asso20 ciation shall submit an annual report to each State Attor21 ney General (and the Attorney General for the District 

22 of Columbia) summarizing its enforcement proceedings, 

23 investigations, and issuance of punishments to member in24 stitutions headquartered in the State. 


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1 SEC. 3. LIMITATION. 

2 The privileges of membership of any member institu3 tion in the covered athletic association may not be im4 paired as a consequence of any rights granted under this 

5 Act. 

6 SEC. 4. ENFORCEMENT. 

7 (a) PROCEDURES.—The Attorney General shall es8 tablish procedures— 

9 (1) for individuals and entities to file written, 

10 signed complaints respecting potential violations of 

11 this Act by a covered athletic association or any per12 son acting as an agent thereof; 

13 (2) for the investigation of those complaints 

14 which have a substantial probability of validity; 

15 (3) for the investigation of such other violations 

16 of this Act as the Attorney General determines to be 

17 appropriate; and 

18 (4) for the evaluation of a covered athletic asso19 ciation’s annual report to determine compliance with 

20 this Act. 

21 (b) INVESTIGATIONS AND HEARINGS.—In conducting 

22 investigations and hearings pursuant to this section, the 

23 following shall apply: 

24 (1) Any hearing so requested shall be conducted 

25 before an administrative law judge of the Depart26 ment of Justice determined by the Attorney General. 


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1 The hearing shall be conducted in accordance with 

2 the requirements of section 554 of title 5, United 

3 States Code. The hearing shall be held at the near4 est practicable place to the place where the person 

5 or covered athletic association resides or of the place 

6 where the alleged violation occurred. If no hearing is 

7 so requested, the Attorney General’s imposition of 

8 the order shall constitute a final and unappealable 

9 order. 

10 (2) Officers and employees of the Department 

11 of Justice (including the administrative law judges 

12 referred to in paragraph (1)) shall have reasonable 

13 access to examine evidence of any person or covered 

14 athletic association being investigated. 

15 (3) If the administrative law judge determines, 

16 upon the preponderance of the evidence received, 

17 that a person or covered athletic association named 

18 in the complaint has violated the statute, the admin19 istrative law judge shall state his findings of fact 

20 and issue and cause to be served on such person or 

21 covered athletic association an order as follows: 

22 (A) The administrative law judge shall 

23 order the person or covered athletic association 

24 to cease and desist from such violations and to 


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1 pay a civil penalty in an amount of not less 

2 than $10,000 and not more than $15,000,000. 

3 (B) In determining the amount of the pen4 alty, due consideration shall be given to the 

5 good faith of the covered athletic association or 

6 person, the seriousness of the violation, and the 

7 history of previous violations. 

8 (C) The administrative law judge may 

9 order the permanent removal of any member of 

10 the covered athletic association’s governing 

11 body in the case of a violation. 

12 (4) The Attorney General may, not earlier than 

13 30 days after providing notice thereof to the person 

14 or covered athletic association, commence a hearing 

15 before an administrative law judge of the Depart16 ment of Justice for any alleged violation of this Act 

17 by that person or covered athletic association. The 

18 administrative law judge may impose a civil penalty 

19 for any violation determined to have occurred. 

20 (5) Administrative law judges may, if necessary, 

21 compel by subpoena the attendance of witnesses and 

22 the production of evidence at any designated place 

23 or hearing case of contumacy or refusal to obey a 

24 subpoena lawfully issued under this paragraph and 

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1 priate district court of the United States may issue 

2 an order requiring compliance with such subpoena 

3 and any failure to obey such order may be punished 

4 by such court as a contempt thereof. 

5 (6) The decision and order of an administrative 

6 law judge shall become the final agency decision and 

7 order of the Attorney General unless, within 30 days 

8 after the administrative law judge issues such order, 

9 the Attorney General modifies or vacates the deci10 sion and order, in which case the decision and order 

11 of the Attorney General shall become a final order 

12 under this subsection. 

13 (7) A person or covered athletic association ad14 versely affected by a final order (including an order 

15 for assessment of a civil penalty) under this section 

16 may, within 45 days after the date the final order 

17 is issued, file a petition in the Court of Appeals for 

18 the appropriate circuit for review of the order. 

19 SEC. 5. DEFINITIONS. 

20 In this Act: 

21 (1) COVERED ATHLETIC ASSOCIATION.—The 

22 term ‘‘covered athletic association’’ means an inter23 state athletic association, conference, or other orga24 nization with authority over intercollegiate athletics 


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1 or that administers intercollegiate athletics, with at 

2 least 900 member institutions. 

3 (2) MEMBER INSTITUTION.—The term ‘‘mem4 ber institution’’ means an institution of higher edu5 cation that maintains at least one intercollegiate 

6 athletic program that is a member of a covered ath7 letic association. 

8 (3) INSTITUTION OF HIGHER EDUCATION.—The 

9 term ‘‘institution of higher education’’ has the 

10 meaning given the term ‘‘college’’ or ‘‘university’’ in 

11 section 1404 of the National Agricultural Research, 

12 Extension, and Teaching Policy Act of 1977 (7 

13 U.S.C. 3103). 

14 SEC. 6. EFFECTIVE DATE. 

15 A covered athletic association shall carry out the re16 quirements of this Act by not later than 1 year after the 

17 date of enactment of this Act. 

Æ 


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