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105TH CONGRESS

1ST SESSION H. R. 715

To amend the Higher Education Act of 1965 to revise the campus security

reporting provisions to provide for a more complete, timely, and accurate

disclosure of crime reports and statistics, and to provide for specific

methods of enforcement of the campus security provisions of such Act.

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

FEBRUARY 12, 1997

Mr. DUNCAN (for himself, Mr. SCHUMER, Mr. SHAYS, Mr. MEEHAN, Mr.

QUINN, Mr. GREENWOOD, Mr. HILLEARY, Mr. FOLEY, Mr. FATTAH, Mr.

KLUG, Mr. MARKEY, Mr. FOX of Pennsylvania, Mr. MCHALE, Mr. LIPINSKI, Mr. HASTINGS of Florida, Mr. MATSUI, Mr. PAYNE, and Mr. ANDREWS) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Education and Workforce

A BILL

To amend the Higher Education Act of 1965 to revise the

campus security reporting provisions to provide for a

more complete, timely, and accurate disclosure of crime

reports and statistics, and to provide for specific methods

of enforcement of the campus security provisions of such

Act.

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; REFERENCES.

2 (a) SHORT TITLE.—This Act may be cited as the

3 ‘‘Accuracy in Campus Crime Reporting Act of 1997’’.

4 (b) REFERENCES.—Except as otherwise provided

5 therein, whenever in this Act an amendment or repeal is

6 expressed in terms of a section or other provision, such

7 amendment or repeal shall be considered to be made to

8 a section or other provision of the Higher Education Act

9 of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 1001 et seq.).

10 SEC. 2. DISCLOSURE OF CRIMES REPORTED AND DAILY

11 CRIME LOG.

12 (a) ANNUAL STATISTICS.—Section 485(f)(1)(F) (20

13 U.S.C. 1092(f)(1)(F)) is amended—

14 (1) by striking ‘‘campus security authorities or

15 local police agencies’’ and inserting ‘‘campus security

16 or law enforcement; other campus officials (including

17 administrators, deans, disciplinary officers, athletic

18 department officials, housing officials, and coun19 selors) to whom crimes are reported; or local law en20 forcement’’;

21 (2) by striking clauses (i) through (vi) and in22 serting the following:

23 ‘‘(i) homicide, including—

24 ‘‘(I) murder or nonnegligent man25 slaughter; or

26 ‘‘(II) negligent manslaughter;
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1 ‘‘(ii) sex offenses, forcible or nonforcible;

2 ‘‘(iii) robbery;

3 ‘‘(iv) aggravated assault;

4 ‘‘(v) burglary;

5 ‘‘(vi) larceny;

6 ‘‘(vii) motor vehicle theft;

7 ‘‘(viii) arson;

8 ‘‘(ix) simple assault; and

9 ‘‘(x) vandalism.’’.

10 (b) ANNUAL STATISTICS.—Section 485(f)(1)(H) (20

11 U.S.C. 1092(f)(1)(H)) is amended by striking ‘‘arrests

12 for’’ and inserting ‘‘incidents of’’.

13 (c) ANNUAL SUBMISSION.—Paragraph (4) of section

14 485(f) (20 U.S.C. 1092(f)(4)) is amended to read as fol15 lows:

16 ‘‘(4)(A) Each institution participating in any pro17 gram under this title shall annually submit to the Sec18 retary a copy of the statistics required to be made avail19 able pursuant to paragraphs (1)(F) and (1)(H).

20 ‘‘(B) The Secretary shall collect such statistics and

21 report each set in its entirety, with each institution and

22 campus clearly identified, to the Committee on Education

23 and the Workforce of the House of Representatives, the

24 Committee on Labor and Human Resources of the Senate,

25 each participating institution, and the public via printed
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1 and electronic means as the Secretary shall determine.

2 This report shall be issued on or before February 1 of

3 each year.’’.

4 (d) COMPILATION METHOD.—Paragraph (6) of sec5 tion 485(f) (20 U.S.C. 1092(f)(6)) is amended to read as

6 follows:

7 ‘‘(6)(A) The statistics described in paragraphs (1)(F)

8 and (1)(H) shall be compiled in accordance with the stand9 ards and definitions used in the uniform crime reporting

10 system of the Department of Justice, Federal Bureau of

11 Investigation, and the modifications in such standards and

12 definitions as implemented pursuant to the Hate Crime

13 Statistics Act (28 U.S.C. 534, note).

14 ‘‘(B) The accuracy of the statistics described in para15 graphs (1)(F) and (1)(H) shall be certified by each official

16 charged with compiling statistics for inclusion.’’.

17 (e) CRIME LOGS.—Section 485(f) is further amend18 ed—

19 (1) by redesignating paragraphs (4) through

20 (7) as paragraphs (5) through (8), respectively; and

21 (2) by inserting after paragraph (3) the follow22 ing new paragraph:

23 ‘‘(4)(A) Each institution participating in any pro24 gram under this title which maintains either a police or

25 security department of any kind shall make, keep, and
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1 maintain a daily log, written in a form that can be easily

2 understood, recording in chronological order all crimes re3 ported to such police or security department, including—

4 ‘‘(i) the nature, date, time, and general location

5 of each crime;

6 ‘‘(ii) the disposition of the complaint, if known;

7 ‘‘(iii) if citations have been issued or charges

8 made, the names and addresses of all persons cited

9 or charged, and the charges against them; and

10 ‘‘(iv) if an arrest has been made, the names and

11 addresses of all persons arrested and the charges

12 against such persons arrested.

13 ‘‘(B) Unless otherwise required by law, each institu14 tion may, but is not required to, identify in its log the

15 alleged victim or victims, witnesses, or suspects who have

16 not been arrested or cited, relating to any investigation

17 of a crime.

18 ‘‘(C)(i) All entries which are required pursuant to

19 this paragraph shall, except where disclosure of such infor20 mation is prohibited by law, be open to public inspection

21 within 24 hours of the initial report being made to the

22 department, a campus security authority, or other campus

23 official.

24 ‘‘(ii) Where there is clear and convincing evidence

25 that the release of such information would jeopardize an
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1 ongoing criminal investigation or the safety of an individ2 ual, cause a suspect to flee or evade detection, or result

3 in the destruction of evidence, such information may be

4 withheld until that damage is no longer likely to occur

5 from the release of such information. Under no cir6 cumstances, however, shall this exception permit the non7 reporting of the nature, date, time, and general location

8 of a reported crime.

9 ‘‘(iii) All exceptions to the reporting provisions of this

10 paragraph are to be construed as narrowly as possible.

11 Only that information which is protected from release by

12 law shall remain confidential. All other information relat13 ing to each report shall be public.

14 ‘‘(D) Reports may be disseminated by electronic

15 media, including computer networks, where it is reason16 ably assured the information will reach most of the cam17 pus population in a timely fashion.’’.

18 (f) VICTIMS’ RIGHTS.—Paragraph (8) of section

19 485(f) (as redesignated by subsection (e) of this section)

20 is amended by striking subparagraph (C).

21 (g) DISCIPLINARY PROCEEDINGS.—Section 485(f) is

22 further amended by adding at the end the following new

23 paragraph:

24 ‘‘(9)(A) Each institution of higher education partici25 pating in any program under this title shall develop and
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1 distribute as part of the report described in paragraph (1)

2 a statement of policy regarding—

3 ‘‘(i) such institution’s on-campus disciplinary

4 practices in cases of alleged infractions of the insti5 tution’s code of conduct, or other policies, resulting

6 from an act or series of acts that would constitute

7 a crime or crimes within the meaning of local, State,

8 or Federal law, whether or not those acts have actu9 ally resulted in criminal charges, prosecution, or

10 conviction; and

11 ‘‘(ii) the procedures followed once a crime has

12 occurred.

13 ‘‘(B) The policy described in subparagraph (A) shall

14 include a clear statement that—

15 ‘‘(i) all students reporting an offense shall be

16 informed of their options to notify proper law en17 forcement, including on-campus and local police;

18 ‘‘(ii) the accuser and the accused are entitled to

19 the same opportunities to have others present during

20 a campus disciplinary proceeding;

21 ‘‘(iii) both the accuser and the accused shall be

22 informed of the outcome of any campus disciplinary

23 proceeding brought alleging criminal misconduct;
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1 ‘‘(iv) any campus disciplinary proceeding

2 brought alleging criminal misconduct shall be open;

3 and

4 ‘‘(v) all records of any such campus disciplinary

5 proceeding brought alleging criminal misconduct

6 shall be open to public inspection during the regular

7 business hours of the custodian of such records, ex8 cept for previously created education records not re9 lated to criminal allegations which are used during

10 the course of the proceeding.’’.

11 (h) EFFECTIVE DATE.—The amendments made by

12 this section shall take effect on January 1, 1998.

13 SEC. 3. EXEMPTION OF ALLEGATIONS OF CRIMINAL ACTIV14 ITY FROM EDUCATION RECORDS DEFINITION.

15 (a) AMENDMENT.—Section 444(a)(4)(B) of the Gen16 eral Education Provisions Act (20 U.S.C. 1232g(a)(4)(B))

17 is amended—

18 (1) by redesignating clauses (iii) and (iv) as

19 clauses (iv) and (v), respectively; and

20 (2) by inserting after clause (ii) the following

21 new clause:

22 ‘‘(iii) records which are made or maintained by

23 any officer, office, department, or individual em24 ployee of an educational agency or institution

25 about—
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1 ‘‘(I) individuals accused of committing or

2 participating in any criminal activity as defined

3 in local, State, or Federal law alleged to have

4 occurred while the individual was a student in

5 attendance, including audit or noncredit, at an

6 educational agency or institution, whether or

7 not those acts have actually resulted in criminal

8 charges, prosecution, or conviction which are

9 relative to the alleged misconduct;

10 ‘‘(II) the accused in subsequent internal

11 disciplinary proceedings of any kind resulting

12 from, or related to, the alleged activity, regard13 less of the terminology or nature of the institu14 tional infraction or policy violation alleged;

15 ‘‘(III) the time, duration, attendance pol16 icy, and location or locations of any such dis17 ciplinary proceedings;

18 ‘‘(IV) the findings relative to the accused

19 of any such disciplinary proceedings;

20 ‘‘(V) the current disposition or status of

21 the case, the sanctions incurred (if any), and

22 any subsequent findings or amendments to such

23 sanctions;
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1 ‘‘(VI) accusations of criminal misconduct

2 and related sanctions from any previously at3 tended educational agencies or institutions

4 where such records were created on or after

5 September 1, 1998, and which are maintained

6 by the institution currently or most recently at7 tended by the individual; and

8 ‘‘(VII) any criminal acts required to be re9 ported under paragraph (1)(F), (1)(H), or (4)

10 of section 485(f) of the Higher Education Act

11 of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 1092(f)).’’.

12 (b) EFFECTIVE DATE.—The amendments made by

13 this section shall take effect on September 1, 1998.

14 SEC. 4. ENFORCEMENT.

15 (a) ENFORCEMENT.—Section 485(f) (20 U.S.C.

16 1092(f)) (as amended by section 2) is further amended

17 by adding at the end the following new paragraph:

18 ‘‘(10)(A) If any participating institution of higher

19 education fails or refuses to comply with any provision of

20 this subsection, the Secretary shall forthwith terminate all

21 assistance to the institution under the applicable program

22 affected, or issue such other orders as specified below as

23 the Secretary may deem appropriate to achieve such com24 pliance.
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1 ‘‘(B) For each separate count of noncompliance

2 found, the Secretary shall suspend not less than 1 percent

3 of the financial assistance provided by the Department to

4 such institution.’’.

5 (b) RETALIATION.—Section 485(f) (as amended by

6 subsection (a)) is further amended by adding at the end

7 the following new paragraph:

8 ‘‘(11) No participating institution or other person

9 shall intimidate, threaten, coerce, or otherwise discrimi10 nate against any individual for the purpose of interfering

11 with the implementation of any provision of this sub12 section, or any rights or privileges accorded under this

13 subsection, or because the individual has complained, tes14 tified, assisted, or otherwise participated in any aspect of

15 an investigation, proceeding, or hearing.’’.

16 (c) PROGRAM PARTICIPATION AGREEMENT RE17 QUIREMENTS.—Section 487(a)(12) (20 U.S.C.

18 1094(a)(12)) is amended—

19 (1) by striking ‘‘and’’ at the end of subpara20 graph (A);

21 (2) by striking the period at the end of sub22 paragraph (B) and inserting ‘‘; and’’; and

23 (3) by adding at the end the following new sub24 paragraph:
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1 ‘‘(C) the policies and crime statistics dis2 closed under section 485(f) are comprehensive

3 and accurate.’’.

4 (d) EFFECTIVE DATE.—The amendments made by

5 this section shall take effect on September 1, 1998.

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