H. R. 3359 

One Hundred Seventeenth Congress 

of the 

United States of America 

AT THE SECOND SESSION 

Begun and held at the City of Washington on Monday, 

the third day of January, two thousand and twenty-two 

An Act 

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

instance of certain persons, and for other purposes. 

Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of 

the United States of America in Congress assembled, 

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Homicide Victims’ Families’ 

Rights Act of 2021’’. 

SEC. 2. CASE FILE REVIEW. 

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

case file regarding a cold case murder upon written application 

by one designated person to determine if a full reinvestigation 

would result in either the identification of probative investigative 

leads or a likely perpetrator. 

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

(1) an analysis of what investigative steps or follow-up 

steps may have been missed in the initial investigation; 

(2) an assessment of whether witnesses should be interviewed or reinterviewed; 

(3) an examination of physical evidence to see if all appropriate forensic testing and analysis was performed in the first 

instance or if additional testing might produce information 

relevant to the investigation; and 

(4) an update of the case file using the most current investigative standards as of the date of the review to the extent 

it would help develop probative leads. 

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

a written application for review has been received under this Act 

by the agency, review shall be unnecessary where the case does 

not satisfy the criteria for a cold case murder. In such a case, 

the head of the agency shall issue a written certification, with 

a copy provided to the designated person that made the application 

under subsection (a), stating that final review is not necessary 

because all probative investigative leads have been exhausted or 

that a likely perpetrator will not be identified. 

(d) REVIEWER.—A review required under subsection (a) shall 

not be conducted by a person who previously investigated the 

murder at issue. 

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

to the applicant as soon as reasonably possible— 

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

under subsection (a); and 

(2) notice of the applicant’s rights under this Act. 
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(f) PROHIBITION ON MULTIPLE CONCURRENT REVIEWS.—Only 

one case review shall be undertaken at any one time with respect 

to the same cold case murder victim. 

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

of the written application submitted pursuant to subsection (a), 

the agency shall conclude its case file review and reach a conclusion 

about whether or not a full reinvestigation under section 4 is 

warranted. 

(h) EXTENSIONS.— 

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

under subsection (g) once for a period of time not to exceed 

6 months if the agency makes a finding that the number 

of case files to be reviewed make it impracticable to comply 

with such limit without unreasonably taking resources from 

other law enforcement activities. 

(2) ACTIONS SUBSEQUENT TO WAIVER.—For cases for which 

the time limit in subsection (g) is extended, the agency shall 

provide notice and an explanation of its reasoning to one designated person who filed the written application pursuant to 

this section. 

SEC. 3. APPLICATION. 

Each agency shall develop a written application to be used 

for designated persons to request a case file review under section 

2. 

SEC. 4. FULL REINVESTIGATION. 

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

file required by section 2 concludes that a full reinvestigation of 

such cold case murder would result in probative investigative leads. 

(b) REINVESTIGATION.—A full reinvestigation shall include analyzing all evidence regarding the cold case murder at issue for 

the purpose of developing probative investigative leads or a likely 

perpetrator. 

(c) REVIEWER.—A reinvestigation required under subsection (a) 

shall not be conducted by a person who previously investigated 

the murder at issue. 

(d) PROHIBITION ON MULTIPLE CONCURRENT REVIEWS.—Only 

one full reinvestigation shall be undertaken at any one time with 

respect to the same cold case murder victim. 

SEC. 5. CONSULTATION AND UPDATES. 

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

person who filed the written application pursuant to section 2 

and provide him or her with periodic updates during the case 

file review and full reinvestigation. 

(b) EXPLANATION OF CONCLUSION.—The agency shall meet with 

the designated person and discuss the evidence to explain to the 

designated person who filed the written application pursuant to 

section 2 its decision whether or not to engage in the full reinvestigation provided for under section 4 at the conclusion of the case 

file review. 

SEC. 6. SUBSEQUENT REVIEWS. 

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

file regarding a cold case murder is conducted and a conclusion 

is reached not to conduct a full reinvestigation, no additional case 
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file review shall be required to be undertaken under this Act 

with respect to that cold case murder for a period of five years, 

unless there is newly discovered, materially significant evidence. 

An agency may continue an investigation absent a designated person’s application. 

(b) FULL REINVESTIGATION.—If a full reinvestigation of a cold 

case murder is completed and a suspect is not identified at its 

conclusion, no additional case file review or full reinvestigation 

shall be undertaken with regard to that cold case murder for 

a period of five years beginning on the date of the conclusion 

of the reinvestigation, unless there is newly discovered, materially 

significant evidence. 

SEC. 7. DATA COLLECTION. 

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

after the date of enactment of this Act, and annually thereafter, 

the Director of the National Institute of Justice shall publish statistics on the number of cold case murders. 

(b) MANNER OF PUBLICATION.—The statistics published pursuant to subsection (a) shall, at a minimum, be disaggregated by 

the circumstances of the cold case murder, including the classification of the offense, and by agency. 

SEC. 8. PROCEDURES TO PROMOTE COMPLIANCE. 

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

enactment of this Act, the head of each agency shall promulgate 

regulations to enforce the right of a designated person to request 

a review under this Act and to ensure compliance by the agency 

with the obligations described in this Act. 

(b) PROCEDURES.—The regulations promulgated under subsection (a) shall— 

(1) designate an administrative authority within the agency 

to receive and investigate complaints relating to a review initiated under section 2 or a reinvestigation initiated under section 

4; 

(2) require a course of training for appropriate employees 

and officers within the agency regarding the procedures, responsibilities, and obligations required under this Act; 

(3) contain disciplinary sanctions, which may include 

suspension or termination from employment, for employees of 

the agency who are shown to have willfully or wantonly failed 

to comply with this Act; 

(4) provide a procedure for the resolution of complaints 

filed by the designated person concerning the agency’s handling 

of a cold case murder investigation or the case file evaluation; 

and 

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

thereof, shall be the final arbiter of the complaint, and that 

there shall be no judicial review of the final decision of the 

head of the agency by a complainant. 

SEC. 9. WITHHOLDING INFORMATION. 

Nothing in this Act shall require an agency to provide information that would endanger the safety of any person, unreasonably 

impede an ongoing investigation, violate a court order, or violate 

legal obligations regarding privacy. 
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SEC. 10. MULTIPLE AGENCIES. 

In the case that more than one agency conducted the initial 

investigation of a cold case murder, each agency shall coordinate 

their case file review or full reinvestigation such that there is 

only one joint case file review or full reinvestigation occurring 

at a time in compliance with section 2(f) or 4(d), as applicable. 

SEC. 11. APPLICABILITY. 

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

on or after January 1, 1970. 

SEC. 12. DEFINITIONS. 

In this Act: 

(1) The term ‘‘designated person’’ means an immediate 

family member or someone similarly situated, as defined by 

the Attorney General. 

(2) The term ‘‘immediate family member’’ means a parent, 

parent-in-law, grandparent, grandparent-in-law, sibling, 

spouse, child, or step-child of a murder victim. 

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

as a result of a cold case murder. 

(4) The term ‘‘murder’’ means any criminal offense under 

section 1111(a) of title 18, United States Code, or any offense 

the elements of which are substantially identical to such section. 

(5) The term ‘‘agency’’ means a Federal law enforcement 

entity with jurisdiction to engage in the detection, investigation, 

or prosecution of a cold case murder. 

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

(A) committed more than three years prior to the date 

of an application by a designated person under section 

2(a); 

(B) previously investigated by a Federal law enforcement entity; 

(C) for which all probative investigative leads have 

been exhausted; and 

(D) for which no likely perpetrator has been identified. 

SEC. 13. ANNUAL REPORT. 

(a) IN GENERAL.—Each agency shall submit an annual report 

to the Committees on the Judiciary of the House of Representatives 

and of the Senate describing actions taken and results achieved 

under this Act during the previous year. 

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

(a) shall include— 

(1) the number of written applications filed with the agency 

pursuant to section 2(a); 

(2) the number of extensions granted, and an explanation 

of reasons provided under section 2(h); 

(3) the number of full reinvestigations initiated and closed 

pursuant to section 4; and 

(4) statistics and individualized information on topics that 

include identified suspects, arrests, charges, and convictions 
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for reviews under section 2 and reinvestigations under section 

4. 

Speaker of the House of Representatives. 

Vice President of the United States and

President of the Senate.