IB 

Union Calendar No. 207 

117TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION H. R. 3359 

[Report No. 117–280] 

To provide for a system for reviewing the case files of cold case murders 

at the instance of certain persons, and for other purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

MAY 19, 2021 

Mr. SWALWELL (for himself and Mr. MCCAUL) introduced the following bill; 

which was referred to the Committee on the Judiciary 

MARCH 28, 2022 

Additional sponsors: Ms. ESHOO, Mr. LIEU, Ms. ESCOBAR, Mr. GALLEGO, 

Mrs. DEMINGS, Ms. SEWELL, Ms. PRESSLEY, Mr. STANTON, Mr. COSTA, 

Ms. ROSS, Ms. SHERRILL, Ms. GARCIA of Texas, Ms. JACKSON LEE, Mr. 

CORREA, Mr. FITZPATRICK, and Ms. WILLIAMS of Georgia 

MARCH 28, 2022 

Reported with an amendment, committed to the Committee of the Whole 

House on the State of the Union, and ordered to be printed 

[Strike out all after the enacting clause and insert the part printed in italic] 

[For text of introduced bill, see copy of bill as introduced on May 19, 2021] 


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A BILL 

To provide for a system for reviewing the case files of cold 

case murders at the instance of certain persons, and 

for other purposes. 


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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 ‘‘Homicide Victims’ Fam5 ilies’ Rights Act of 2021’’. 

6 SEC. 2. CASE FILE REVIEW. 

7 (a) IN GENERAL.—The head of an agency shall review 

8 the case file regarding a cold case murder upon written ap9 plication by one designated person to determine if a full 

10 reinvestigation would result in either the identification of 

11 probative investigative leads or a likely perpetrator. 

12 (b) REVIEW.—The review under subsection (a) shall 

13 include— 

14 (1) an analysis of what investigative steps or fol15 low-up steps may have been missed in the initial in16 vestigation; 

17 (2) an assessment of whether witnesses should be 

18 interviewed or reinterviewed; 

19 (3) an examination of physical evidence to see if 

20 all appropriate forensic testing and analysis was per21 formed in the first instance or if additional testing 

22 might produce information relevant to the investiga23 tion; and 

24 (4) an update of the case file using the most cur25 rent investigative standards as of the date of the reVerDate Sep 11 2014 18:28 Mar 28, 2022 Jkt 029200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6203 E:\BILLS\H3359.RH H3359

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1 view to the extent it would help develop probative 

2 leads. 

3 (c) CERTIFICATION IN LIEU OF REVIEW.—In any case 

4 in which a written application for review has been received 

5 under this Act by the agency, review shall be unnecessary 

6 where the case does not satisfy the criteria for a cold case 

7 murder. In such a case, the head of the agency shall issue 

8 a written certification, with a copy provided to the des9 ignated person that made the application under subsection 

10 (a), stating that final review is not necessary because all 

11 probative investigative leads have been exhausted or that 

12 a likely perpetrator will not be identified. 

13 (d) REVIEWER.—A review required under subsection 

14 (a) shall not be conducted by a person who previously inves15 tigated the murder at issue. 

16 (e) ACKNOWLEDGMENT.—The agency shall provide in 

17 writing to the applicant as soon as reasonably possible— 

18 (1) confirmation of the agency’s receipt of the 

19 application under subsection (a); and 

20 (2) notice of the applicant’s rights under this 

21 Act. 

22 (f) PROHIBITION ON MULTIPLE CONCURRENT RE23 VIEWS.—Only one case review shall be undertaken at any 

24 one time with respect to the same cold case murder victim. 


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1 (g) TIME LIMIT.—Not later than 6 months after the 

2 receipt of the written application submitted pursuant to 

3 subsection (a), the agency shall conclude its case file review 

4 and reach a conclusion about whether or not a full reinves5 tigation under section 4 is warranted. 

6 (h) EXTENSIONS.— 

7 (1) IN GENERAL.—The agency may extend the 

8 time limit under subsection (g) once for a period of 

9 time not to exceed 6 months if the agency makes a 

10 finding that the number of case files to be reviewed 

11 make it impracticable to comply with such limit 

12 without unreasonably taking resources from other law 

13 enforcement activities. 

14 (2) ACTIONS SUBSEQUENT TO WAIVER.—For 

15 cases for which the time limit in subsection (g) is ex16 tended, the agency shall provide notice and an expla17 nation of its reasoning to one designated person who 

18 filed the written application pursuant to this section. 

19 SEC. 3. APPLICATION. 

20 Each agency shall develop a written application to be 

21 used for designated persons to request a case file review 

22 under section 2. 

23 SEC. 4. FULL REINVESTIGATION. 

24 (a) IN GENERAL.—The agency shall conduct a full re25 investigation of the cold case murder at issue if the review 


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1 of the case file required by section 2 concludes that a full 

2 reinvestigation of such cold case murder would result in 

3 probative investigative leads. 

4 (b) REINVESTIGATION.—A full reinvestigation shall 

5 include analyzing all evidence regarding the cold case mur6 der at issue for the purpose of developing probative inves7 tigative leads or a likely perpetrator. 

8 (c) REVIEWER.—A reinvestigation required under sub9 section (a) shall not be conducted by a person who pre10 viously investigated the murder at issue. 

11 (d) PROHIBITION ON MULTIPLE CONCURRENT RE12 VIEWS.—Only one full reinvestigation shall be undertaken 

13 at any one time with respect to the same cold case murder 

14 victim. 

15 SEC. 5. CONSULTATION AND UPDATES. 

16 (a) IN GENERAL.—The agency shall consult with the 

17 designated person who filed the written application pursu18 ant to section 2 and provide him or her with periodic up19 dates during the case file review and full reinvestigation. 

20 (b) EXPLANATION OF CONCLUSION.—The agency shall 

21 meet with the designated person and discuss the evidence 

22 to explain to the designated person who filed the written 

23 application pursuant to section 2 its decision whether or 

24 not to engage in the full reinvestigation provided for under 

25 section 4 at the conclusion of the case file review. 


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1 SEC. 6. SUBSEQUENT REVIEWS. 

2 (a) CASE FILE REVIEW.—If a review under subsection 

3 (a) case file regarding a cold case murder is conducted and 

4 a conclusion is reached not to conduct a full reinvestigation, 

5 no additional case file review shall be required to be under6 taken under this Act with respect to that cold case murder 

7 for a period of five years, unless there is newly discovered, 

8 materially significant evidence. An agency may continue 

9 an investigation absent a designated person’s application. 

10 (b) FULL REINVESTIGATION.—If a full reinvestigation 

11 of a cold case murder is completed and a suspect is not 

12 identified at its conclusion, no additional case file review 

13 or full reinvestigation shall be undertaken with regard to 

14 that cold case murder for a period of five years beginning 

15 on the date of the conclusion of the reinvestigation, unless 

16 there is newly discovered, materially significant evidence. 

17 SEC. 7. DATA COLLECTION. 

18 (a) IN GENERAL.—Beginning on the date that is three 

19 years after the date of enactment of this Act, and annually 

20 thereafter, the Director of the National Institute of Justice 

21 shall publish statistics on the number of cold case murders. 

22 (b) MANNER OF PUBLICATION.—The statistics pub23 lished pursuant to subsection (a) shall, at a minimum, be 

24 disaggregated by the circumstances of the cold case murder, 

25 including the classification of the offense, and by agency. 


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1 SEC. 8. PROCEDURES TO PROMOTE COMPLIANCE. 

2 (a) REGULATIONS.—Not later than one year after the 

3 date of enactment of this Act, the head of each agency shall 

4 promulgate regulations to enforce the right of a designated 

5 person to request a review under this Act and to ensure 

6 compliance by the agency with the obligations described in 

7 this Act. 

8 (b) PROCEDURES.—The regulations promulgated 

9 under subsection (a) shall— 

10 (1) designate an administrative authority within 

11 the agency to receive and investigate complaints relat12 ing to a review initiated under section 2 or a reinves13 tigation initiated under section 4; 

14 (2) require a course of training for appropriate 

15 employees and officers within the agency regarding 

16 the procedures, responsibilities, and obligations re17 quired under this Act; 

18 (3) contain disciplinary sanctions, which may 

19 include suspension or termination from employment, 

20 for employees of the agency who are shown to have 

21 willfully or wantonly failed to comply with this Act; 

22 (4) provide a procedure for the resolution of com23 plaints filed by the designated person concerning the 

24 agency’s handling of a cold case murder investigation 

25 or the case file evaluation; and 


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1 (5) provide that the head of the agency, or the 

2 designee thereof, shall be the final arbiter of the com3 plaint, and that there shall be no judicial review of 

4 the final decision of the head of the agency by a com5 plainant. 

6 SEC. 9. WITHHOLDING INFORMATION. 

7 Nothing in this Act shall require an agency to provide 

8 information that would endanger the safety of any person, 

9 unreasonably impede an ongoing investigation, violate a 

10 court order, or violate legal obligations regarding privacy. 

11 SEC. 10. MULTIPLE AGENCIES. 

12 In the case that more than one agency conducted the 

13 initial investigation of a cold case murder, each agency 

14 shall coordinate their case file review or full reinvestigation 

15 such that there is only one joint case file review or full re16 investigation occurring at a time in compliance with sec17 tion 2(f) or 4(d), as applicable. 

18 SEC. 11. APPLICABILITY. 

19 This Act applies in the case of any cold case murder 

20 occurring on or after January 1, 1970. 

21 SEC. 12. DEFINITIONS. 

22 In this Act: 

23 (1) The term ‘‘designated person’’ means an im24 mediate family member or someone similarly situ25 ated, as defined by the Attorney General. 


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1 (2) The term ‘‘immediate family member’’ means 

2 a parent, parent-in-law, grandparent, grandparent3 in-law, sibling, spouse, child, or step-child of a mur4 der victim. 

5 (3) The term ‘‘victim’’ means a natural person 

6 who died as a result of a cold case murder. 

7 (4) The term ‘‘murder’’ means any criminal of8 fense under section 1111(a) of title 18, United States 

9 Code, or any offense the elements of which are sub10 stantially identical to such section. 

11 (5) The term ‘‘agency’’ means a Federal law en12 forcement entity with jurisdiction to engage in the de13 tection, investigation, or prosecution of a cold case 

14 murder. 

15 (6) The term ‘‘cold case murder’’ means a mur16 der— 

17 (A) committed more than three years prior 

18 to the date of an application by a designated 

19 person under section 2(a); 

20 (B) previously investigated by a Federal 

21 law enforcement entity; 

22 (C) for which all probative investigative 

23 leads have been exhausted; and 

24 (D) for which no likely perpetrator has been 

25 identified. 


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1 SEC. 13. ANNUAL REPORT. 

2 (a) IN GENERAL.—Each agency shall submit an an3 nual report to the Committees on the Judiciary of the House 

4 of Representatives and of the Senate describing actions 

5 taken and results achieved under this Act during the pre6 vious year. 

7 (b) REPORT DESCRIBED.—The report described in 

8 subsection (a) shall include— 

9 (1) the number of written applications filed with 

10 the agency pursuant to section 2(a); 

11 (2) the number of extensions granted, and an ex12 planation of reasons provided under section 2(h); 

13 (3) the number of full reinvestigations initiated 

14 and closed pursuant to section 4; and 

15 (4) statistics and individualized information on 

16 topics that include identified suspects, arrests, 

17 charges, and convictions for reviews under section 2 

18 and reinvestigations under section 4. 


pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS
Union Calendar No. 207 

117TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION H. R. 3359 

[Report No. 117–280] 

A BILL 

To provide for a system for reviewing the case files 

persons, and for other purposes. of cold case murders at the instance of certain 

MARCH 28, 2022 

Reported with an amendment, committed to the Comand ordered to be printed mittee of the Whole House on the State of the Union, 


pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS