I 
117TH CONGRESS 
1ST SESSION H. R. 1481 
To require Federal, State, and local law enforcement agencies to report 
information related to allegations of misconduct of law enforcement offi-
cers to the Attorney General, and for other purposes. 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
MARCH 2, 2021 
Mr. BEYER introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee 
on the Judiciary 
A BILL 
To require Federal, State, and local law enforcement agencies 
to report information related to allegations of misconduct 
of law enforcement officers 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 ‘‘Cost of Police Mis-
conduct Act of 2021’’. 
SEC. 2. REPORTING REQUIREMENT. 
(a) IDENTIFICATION REQUIREMENT.— 
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and with respect to a Federal law enforcement agen-
cy, is the following: 
(A) The total number of allegations of mis-
conduct by a Federal law enforcement officer 
made during the year. 
(B) The total number of judgments en-
tered or settlements entered into during the 
year with respect to allegations of misconduct 
by a Federal law enforcement officer. 
(C) For each allegation of misconduct 
identified in subparagraph (A) or judgment or 
settlement with respect to allegations of mis-
conduct identified in subparagraph (B): 
(i) The race, ethnicity, sex, and age of 
each officer and civilian involved. 
(ii) The year in which the alleged mis-
conduct took place. 
(iii) The year in which the allegation 
was reported. 
(iv) The type of allegation, which may 
include a body camera violation (whether a 
failure to wear or record), use of force (in-
cluding the type of force), a collision, racial 
profiling, negligence, property damage, sex-
ual harassment or assault, false testimony, 
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wrongful death, failure of a duty to inter-
vene, or wrongful imprisonment. 
(v) Any personnel action taken by the 
officer involved, which may include res-
ignation or retirement. 
(vi) Any personnel action taken by the 
Federal law enforcement agency involved, 
which may include termination, demotion, 
or relocation of the officer involved. 
(vii) In the case of a judgment or set-
tlement, the total amount paid to satisfy 
the judgment or settlement (and related 
court fees), regardless of the source of the 
payment. 
(viii) In the case of a judgment or set-
tlement, the source of money used to pay 
the judgment or settlement (and related 
court fees), including whether the money 
came from amounts appropriated under 
section 1304 of title 31, United States 
Code (commonly known as the ‘‘Judgment 
Fund’’), amounts appropriated to the Fed-
eral law enforcement agency, or another 
source. 
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(D) The total amount paid pursuant to 
such judgments and settlements (and related 
court fees) by the Federal law enforcement 
agency. 
(c) STATE
AND LOCAL LAW ENFORCEMENT RE-
QUIREMENTS.— 
(1) DEFINITION.—In this subsection, the term 
‘‘Byrne JAG program’’ means any grant program 
under subpart 1 of part E of title I of the Omnibus 
Crime Control and Safe Streets Act of 1968 (34 
U.S.C. 10151 et seq.). 
(2) REQUIREMENTS.— 
(A) DATA COLLECTION.—On and after the 
date that is 120 days after the date of the en-
actment of this Act, a State or unit of local 
government that receives funds under the 
Byrne JAG program shall collect information 
relating to allegations of misconduct by any law 
enforcement officer employed by a law enforce-
ment agency of the State or unit of local gov-
ernment, respectively, and any judgments or 
settlements with respect to such allegations of 
misconduct that is substantially similar to the 
information described in subsection (b)(3). 
(B) DATA REPORTING.— 
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(i) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 60 
days after the last day of each year that 
begins after the date of the enactment of 
this Act, a State or unit of local govern-
ment that receives funds under the Byrne 
JAG program shall submit to the Attorney 
General, pursuant to guidelines established 
by the Attorney General, for the preceding 
year and with respect to each law enforce-
ment agency of the State or unit of local 
government, respectively, the information 
collected under subparagraph (A). 
(ii) EXTENSION.—The Attorney Gen-
eral may extend the deadline under clause 
(i) by 60 days for a State or local govern-
ment that is making good faith efforts to 
comply with the requirement under that 
clause. 
(iii) SOURCE OF MONEY FOR JUDG-
MENTS AND SETTLEMENTS.—For purposes 
of clause (i), in reporting the source of 
money used to pay a judgment or settle-
ment (and related court fees), as described 
in subsection (b)(3)(C)(viii), a State or 
unit of local government shall disclose 
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whether the money came from a general 
operating budget, State or local law en-
forcement agency budget, bonds, liability 
insurance, a central risk management fund 
or pool, or other source. 
(iv) SCOPE OF INITIAL REPORT.—The 
first report submitted by a State or local 
government under clause (i) shall include 
data collected prior to the year covered by 
the report, if the data collection require-
ment under subparagraph (A) applies to 
any period prior to that year. 
(3) INELIGIBILITY FOR FUNDS.— 
(A) IN GENERAL.—A State or unit of local 
government that fails to comply with the re-
quirements under paragraph (2) shall be sub-
ject to not more than a 10-percent reduction of 
the funds that would otherwise be allocated to 
the State or unit of local government under the 
Byrne JAG program for— 
(i) the fiscal year in which the failure 
to comply occurs; or 
(ii) the subsequent fiscal year. 
(B) REALLOCATION.—Amounts not allo-
cated under the Byrne JAG program to a State 
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or unit of local government for failure to fully 
comply with paragraph (2) shall be reallocated 
under that program to States or units of local 
government that have complied with such para-
graph. 
(4) OPEN-SOURCE DATA.—Not later than 30 
days after each date on which the Attorney General 
receives information reported under paragraph (2) 
from a State or unit of local government, the Attor-
ney General shall verify such information reported 
using open-source data, as practicable, including 
using data from newspaper and court records. 
(d) STUDY AND REPORTS REQUIRED.— 
(1) GAO STUDY AND REPORT.— 
(A) STUDY.—After data has been collected 
under subsections (b) and (c) for 2 full years, 
the Comptroller General of the United States 
shall carry out a study on such data, includ-
ing— 
(i) the number of Federal, State, and 
local law enforcement agencies reporting 
such data to the Attorney General; 
(ii) a determination of the leading 
cause 
of 
judgments 
and 
settlements 
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against Federal, State, and local law en-
forcement agencies; 
(iii) an analysis of any relationship 
between the number of judgments and set-
tlements and the actions taken by Federal, 
State, or local law enforcement agencies, 
including the agency’s process of enforcing 
the law, such agency’s culture, and any 
new programs established by the agency to 
enforce the law; 
(iv) recommendations with respect to 
how a Federal, State, or local law enforce-
ment agency may reduce misconduct lead-
ing to judgments or settlements; 
(v) identification of Federal, State, 
local law enforcement agencies that have 
spent the most money with respect to judg-
ments and settlements (and related court 
fees); 
(vi) the total amount of money spent 
by Federal, State, and local law enforce-
ment agencies on judgments or settlements 
(and related court fees), disaggregated by 
State; and 
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(vii) the average amount of money 
spent on judgments or settlements (and re-
lated court fees) by— 
(I) 
Federal 
law 
enforcement 
agencies; 
(II) State law enforcement agen-
cies; and 
(III) local law enforcement agen-
cies. 
(B) REPORT AND PRESS RELEASE.—Not 
later than 120 days after the last day of the 
third year that begins after the date of the en-
actment of this Act, the Comptroller General, in 
consultation with the Attorney General, shall— 
(i) prepare and submit to Congress a 
report that contains the findings of the 
study under subparagraph (A); 
(ii) make the report described in 
clause (i) publicly available through the 
internet website of the Government Ac-
countability Office; and 
(iii) release a press release with re-
spect to the study under paragraph (A). 
(2) DOJ PRESS RELEASE.—Not later than 180 
days after the last day of the first year that begins 
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after the date of the enactment of this Act, and an-
nually thereafter, the Attorney General shall issue a 
press release summarizing the data collected under 
subsections (b) and (c) for the year prior to the re-
lease of such press release. 
(3) DATABASE.— 
(A) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 1 year 
after the date of the enactment of this Act, the 
Attorney General shall create and maintain on-
line a public, searchable database containing all 
data reported under subsections (b) and (c), 
subject to any otherwise applicable confiden-
tiality requirements. Such publication shall not 
include any personally identifiable information 
of any law enforcement officer. 
(B) DATABASE
UPDATES.—The Attorney 
General shall update the database created 
under subparagraph (A) on an annual basis 
with data reported under subsections (b) and 
(c). 
(e) RULE OF CONSTRUCTION.—Nothing in this sec-
tion shall be construed to supersede the requirements or 
limitations under section 552a of title 5, United States 
Code (commonly known as the ‘‘Privacy Act of 1974’’). 
(f) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 
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(1) ALLEGATION OF MISCONDUCT.—The term 
‘‘allegation of misconduct’’ means an allegation by a 
member of the community or other individual that a 
law enforcement officer took illegal, tortious, or oth-
erwise inappropriate action in connection with the 
official duties of the officer. 
(2) JUDGMENT.—The term ‘‘judgment’’ means 
the final court order in a civil action that resolves 
all issues in dispute and settles the parties’ rights 
with respect to those issues. 
(3) LAW
ENFORCEMENT
AGENCY.—The term 
‘‘law enforcement agency’’ means a Federal, State, 
or local agency engaged in the prevention, detection, 
investigation, prosecution, or adjudication of viola-
tions of the law in the United States. 
(4) SETTLEMENT.—The term ‘‘settlement’’ 
means an agreement that resolves— 
(A) a civil action prior to the entry of 
judgment; or 
(B) a legal dispute prior to the filing of a 
complaint or petition. 
Æ 
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