I 
111TH CONGRESS 
1ST SESSION 
H. R. 738 
To encourage States to report to the Attorney General certain information 
regarding the deaths of individuals in the custody of law enforcement 
agencies, and for other purposes. 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
JANUARY 28, 2009 
Mr. SCOTT of Virginia introduced the following bill; which was referred to the 
Committee on the Judiciary 
A BILL 
To encourage States to report to the Attorney General cer-
tain information regarding the deaths of individuals in 
the custody of law enforcement agencies, 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 ‘‘Death in Custody Re-
porting Act of 2009’’. 
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SEC. 2. STATE INFORMATION REGARDING INDIVIDUALS 
WHO DIE IN THE CUSTODY OF LAW ENFORCE-
MENT. 
(a) IN GENERAL.—For each fiscal year after the ex-
piration of the period specified in subsection (c)(1) in 
which a State receives funds for a program referred to 
in subsection (c)(2), the State shall report to the Attorney 
General, on a quarterly basis and pursuant to guidelines 
established by the Attorney General, information regard-
ing the death of any person who is detained, under arrest, 
or is in the process of being arrested, is en route to be 
incarcerated, or is incarcerated at a municipal or county 
jail, State prison, State-run boot camp prison, boot camp 
prison that is contracted out by the State, any State or 
local contract facility, or other local or State correctional 
facility (including any juvenile facility). 
(b) INFORMATION REQUIRED.—The report required 
by this section shall contain information that, at a min-
imum, includes— 
(1) the name, gender, race, ethnicity, and age 
of the deceased; 
(2) the date, time, and location of death; 
(3) the law enforcement agency that detained, 
arrested, or was in the process of arresting the de-
ceased; and 
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(4) a brief description of the circumstances sur-
rounding the death. 
(c) COMPLIANCE AND INELIGIBILITY.— 
(1) COMPLIANCE DATE.—Each State shall have 
not more than 120 days from the date of enactment 
of this Act to comply with subsection (a), except 
that— 
(A) the Attorney General may grant an ad-
ditional 120 days to a State that is making 
good faith efforts to comply with such sub-
section; and 
(B) the Attorney General shall waive the 
requirements of subsection (a) if compliance 
with such subsection by a State would be un-
constitutional under the constitution of such 
State. 
(2) INELIGIBILITY FOR FUNDS.—For any fiscal 
year after the expiration of the period specified in 
paragraph (1), a State that fails to comply with sub-
section (a), shall, at the discretion of the Attorney 
General, be subject to not more than a 10 percent 
reduction of the funds that would otherwise be allo-
cated for that fiscal year to the State under subpart 
1 of part E of title I of the Omnibus Crime Control 
and Safe Streets Act of 1968 (42 U.S.C. 3750 et 
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seq.), whether characterized as the Edward Byrne 
Memorial State and Local Law Enforcement Assist-
ance Programs, the Local Government Law Enforce-
ment Block Grants Program, the Edward Byrne Me-
morial Justice Assistance Grant Program, or other-
wise. 
(d) REALLOCATION.—Amounts not allocated under a 
program referred to in subsection (c)(2) to a State for fail-
ure to fully comply with subsection (a) shall be reallocated 
under that program to States that have not failed to com-
ply with such subsection. 
(e) DEFINITIONS.—In this section the terms ‘‘boot 
camp prison’’ and ‘‘State’’ have the meaning given those 
terms, respectively, in section 901(a) of the Omnibus 
Crime Control and Safe Streets Act of 1968 (42 U.S.C. 
3791(a)). 
(f) STUDY AND REPORT OF INFORMATION RELATING 
TO DEATHS IN CUSTODY.— 
(1) STUDY REQUIRED.—The Attorney General 
shall carry out a study of the information reported 
under subsection (b) and section 3(a) to— 
(A) determine means by which such infor-
mation can be used to reduce the number of 
such deaths; and 
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(B) examine the relationship, if any, be-
tween the number of such deaths and the ac-
tions of management of such jails, prisons, and 
other specified facilities relating to such deaths. 
(2) REPORT.—Not later than 2 years after the 
date of the enactment of this Act, the Attorney Gen-
eral shall prepare and submit to Congress a report 
that contains the findings of the study required by 
paragraph (1). 
SEC. 3. FEDERAL LAW ENFORCEMENT DEATH IN CUSTODY 
REPORTING REQUIREMENT. 
(a) IN GENERAL.—For each fiscal year (beginning 
after the date that is 120 days after the date of the enact-
ment of this Act), the head of each Federal law enforce-
ment agency shall submit to the Attorney General a report 
(in such form and manner specified by the Attorney Gen-
eral) that contains information regarding the death of any 
person who is— 
(1) detained, under arrest, or is in the process 
of being arrested by any officer of such Federal law 
enforcement agency (or by any State or local law en-
forcement officer while participating in and for pur-
poses of a Federal law enforcement operation, task 
force, or any other Federal law enforcement capacity 
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carried out by such Federal law enforcement agen-
cy); or 
(2) en route to be incarcerated or detained, or 
is incarcerated or detained at— 
(A) any facility (including any immigration 
or juvenile facility) pursuant to a contract with 
such Federal law enforcement agency; 
(B) any State or local government facility 
used by such Federal law enforcement agency; 
or 
(C) any Federal correctional facility or 
Federal pre-trial detention facility located with-
in the United States. 
(b) INFORMATION REQUIRED.—Each report required 
by this section shall include, at a minimum, the informa-
tion required by section 2(b). 
(c) STUDY
AND
REPORT.—Information reported 
under subsection (a) shall be analyzed and included in the 
study and report required by section 2(f). 
Æ 
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