I 
116TH CONGRESS 
1ST SESSION H. R. 4799 
To require State and local law enforcement agencies to submit information 
about law enforcement investigations to the Attorney General, and for 
other purposes. 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
OCTOBER 22, 2019 
Mr. VEASEY introduced the following bill; which was referred to the 
Committee on the Judiciary 
A BILL 
To require State and local law enforcement agencies to sub-
mit information about law enforcement investigations to 
the Attorney General, and for other purposes. 
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-
tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 
This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Preservation of Public 
Evidence Act of 2019’’. 
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SEC. 2. REQUIREMENT TO SUBMIT INFORMATION ABOUT 
INVESTIGATIONS TO THE ATTORNEY GEN-
ERAL. 
(a) REQUIREMENT.—A State receiving any amount 
under a grant program covered by section 3(a) shall re-
quire each law enforcement agency of that State, and of 
each unit of local government of that State, to submit to 
the Attorney General, for any incident being investigated 
by such law enforcement agency wherein a person was in-
jured or killed by a law enforcement officer or while in 
the custody of a law enforcement agency, copies or records 
of any of the following that pertains to the incident: 
(1) Any record or information. 
(2) Any item of evidence. 
(3) Any photographs. 
(4) Any videos, including footage from dash-
board cameras and body-worn cameras. 
(5) Any witness statements. 
(6) Any other tangible documents. 
(b) PUBLICATION.—The Attorney General— 
(1) shall preserve materials submitted under 
subsection (a); and 
(2) may, at the request of an attorney, a court, 
or such other person as may be deemed appropriate 
by the Attorney General, publish such materials or 
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descriptions thereof, subject to any applicable limita-
tion under law. 
SEC. 3. ELIGIBILITY FOR FEDERAL FUNDS. 
(a) COVERED PROGRAMS.— 
(1) IN GENERAL.—For purposes of this Act, a 
grant program is covered by this section if— 
(A) the program is carried out by or under 
the authority of the Attorney General; and 
(B) the program provides amounts to 
States for law enforcement purposes. 
(2) LIST.—For each fiscal year after the date 
of enactment of this Act, the Attorney General shall 
prepare a list identifying each program that meets 
the criteria of paragraph (1) and provide that list to 
each State. 
(b) COMPLIANCE.—For each fiscal year after the 
date of enactment of this Act, any amount that a State 
would otherwise receive for that fiscal year under a grant 
program covered by this section shall be reduced by 10 
percent, unless the chief executive of the State submits 
to the Attorney General— 
(1) a certification that each law enforcement 
agency of the State, and of each unit of local govern-
ment of the State, is in compliance with the require-
ments of section 2; or 
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(2) an assurance that not less than 5 percent 
of such amount shall be used only for the purpose 
of enabling each law enforcement agency of the 
State, and of each unit of local government of the 
State to comply with the requirements of section 2, 
so as to ensure that a certification under paragraph 
(1) may be submitted not later than 90 days after 
such assurance. 
(c) REPORT ON NONCOMPLIANCE.—Not later than 
the last day of each fiscal year after the date of enactment 
of this Act, the Attorney General shall publish a report 
listing each State wherein a law enforcement agency of 
the State, or of a unit of local government of the State, 
has not complied with the requirements of section 2 for 
that fiscal year. 
(d) REDISTRIBUTION OF AMOUNTS.—Amounts not 
allocated to a State under a program as the result of a 
reduction under subsection (b) shall be reallocated under 
such program to a State that is in compliance with this 
section, subject to the limitations under such program. 
(e) EFFECTIVE DATE.—The first grants to which 
subsection (b) applies are grants for the fiscal year begin-
ning October 1, 2020. 
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SEC. 4. ENHANCED FUNDING FOR BODY CAMERA GRANTS. 
For fiscal year 2021, out of any money in the Treas-
ury not otherwise appropriated, there is authorized to be 
appropriated an additional amount of $10,000,000, to be 
used for grants under part Q of the Omnibus Crime Con-
trol and Safe Streets Act of 1968, for the acquisition and 
use of body-worn cameras by law enforcement officers. 
Æ 
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