I 
116TH CONGRESS 
1ST SESSION H. R. 5227 
To establish the Office of Digital Law Enforcement within the Office of 
Justice Programs, and to establish grant programs to improve the digital 
evidence capacity of law enforcement personnel, and for other purposes. 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
NOVEMBER 21, 2019 
Mrs. DEMINGS (for herself, Mr. LAMB, Mr. RUTHERFORD, and Mr. BABIN) 
introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on the 
Judiciary, and in addition to the Committee on Homeland Security, for 
a period to be subsequently determined by the Speaker, in each case for 
consideration of such provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the com-
mittee concerned 
A BILL 
To establish the Office of Digital Law Enforcement within 
the Office of Justice Programs, and to establish grant 
programs to improve the digital evidence capacity of 
law enforcement personnel, 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 ‘‘Technology in Criminal 
Justice Act of 2019’’. 
VerDate Sep 11 2014 
02:17 Dec 04, 2019
Jkt 099200
PO 00000
Frm 00001
Fmt 6652
Sfmt 6201
E:\BILLS\H5227.IH
H5227
kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS
SEC. 2. OFFICE OF DIGITAL LAW ENFORCEMENT. 
Part A of title I of the Omnibus Crime Control and 
Safe Streets Act of 1968 (34 U.S.C. 10101 et seq.) is 
amended by adding at the end the following: 
‘‘SEC. 110. OFFICE OF DIGITAL LAW ENFORCEMENT. 
‘‘(a) ESTABLISHMENT.—There is established within 
the Office an Office of Digital Law Enforcement, which 
shall headed by a Director appointed by the Attorney Gen-
eral. In carrying out the functions of the Office of Digital 
Law Enforcement, the Director shall be subject to the au-
thority, direction, and control of the Attorney General. 
Such authority, direction, and control may be delegated 
only to the Assistant Attorney General. 
‘‘(b) PURPOSE.—The purpose of the Office of Digital 
Law Enforcement shall be to support Federal, State, and 
local law enforcement in training, preparing, and sup-
porting criminal justice personnel in the conduct of crimi-
nal justice activities utilizing digital evidence. 
‘‘(c) GRANTS.— 
‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—In carrying out the purpose 
described under subsection (b), the Director may 
make grants to eligible recipients. 
‘‘(2) USES.—Grants awarded under this sub-
section shall be used to support the provision of 
training, education, and technical assistance to 
criminal justice personnel for the purpose of improv-
VerDate Sep 11 2014 
02:17 Dec 04, 2019
Jkt 099200
PO 00000
Frm 00002
Fmt 6652
Sfmt 6201
E:\BILLS\H5227.IH
H5227
kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS
ing the digital evidence capacity (as such term is de-
fined in section 7 of the Technology in Criminal Jus-
tice Act of 2019) of law enforcement personnel (as 
such term is defined in section 7 of the Technology 
in Criminal Justice Act of 2019). 
‘‘(3) DISTRIBUTION.—In making grants under 
this subsection, the Director shall ensure that, to the 
extent practicable, distribution of such grants en-
sures equitable access to relevant training, edu-
cation, and technical assistance across geographic 
areas and across urban and rural areas of varying 
population and area. 
‘‘(4) ELIGIBLE
RECIPIENTS.—The Director 
may award grants under this subsection to the fol-
lowing eligible recipients: 
‘‘(A) The National Domestic Communica-
tions Assistance Center (NDCAC). 
‘‘(B) The National Computer Forensics In-
stitute (NCFI). 
‘‘(C) The Law Enforcement Cyber Center. 
‘‘(D) The National White Collar Crime 
Center (NW3C). 
‘‘(E) The National Cyber-Forensics and 
Training Alliance (NCFTA). 
VerDate Sep 11 2014 
02:17 Dec 04, 2019
Jkt 099200
PO 00000
Frm 00003
Fmt 6652
Sfmt 6201
E:\BILLS\H5227.IH
H5227
kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS
‘‘(F) Regional Computer Forensics Lab-
oratories. 
‘‘(G) Such other entities as the Director 
deems appropriate. 
‘‘(d) STANDARDIZATION OF TRAINING CURRICULA.— 
The Director shall— 
‘‘(1) on an ongoing basis, review curricula used 
for training and education programs supported by 
grants under subsection (c); 
‘‘(2) identify opportunities for standardization 
of such curricula; and 
‘‘(3) in awarding grants under subsection (c), 
establish requirements or processes, as appropriate, 
to promote standardization of such curricula. 
‘‘(e) BEST PRACTICES.—The Director shall— 
‘‘(1) identify best practices relevant to digital 
evidence capacity; and 
‘‘(2) develop mechanisms to inform Federal, 
State, and local criminal justice personnel of such 
best practices and promote their adoption. 
‘‘(f) DATA ON LAW ENFORCEMENT ACCESS TO DIG-
ITAL EVIDENCE.—The Director shall— 
‘‘(1) maintain data relevant to digital evidence 
capacity, including challenges to accessing and uti-
VerDate Sep 11 2014 
02:17 Dec 04, 2019
Jkt 099200
PO 00000
Frm 00004
Fmt 6652
Sfmt 6201
E:\BILLS\H5227.IH
H5227
kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS
lizing digital evidence and digital forensic laboratory 
backlogs; and 
‘‘(2) no later than January 31 of each calendar 
year, submit to Congress a report summarizing data 
collected under paragraph (f)(1) of this section dur-
ing the preceding calendar year and identifying key 
trends, gaps, and challenges associated with the 
data. The report shall be submitted in unclassified 
format.’’. 
SEC. 3. REVIEW OF FEDERAL SUPPORT FOR DIGITAL LAW 
ENFORCEMENT TRAINING AND ASSISTANCE. 
(a) REVIEW REQUIRED.—The Attorney General and 
the Secretary of Homeland Security shall jointly conduct 
a review of existing United States Government programs 
that provide training, education, and technical assistance 
to criminal justice personnel for the purpose of improving 
digital evidence capacity. 
(b) ELEMENTS OF REVIEW.—The review required 
under subsection (a) shall examine the following matters: 
(1) Identification of existing programs that pro-
vide training, education, and technical assistance to 
criminal justice personnel, and the sources and 
amounts of U.S. Government funding supporting 
such programs, for the purpose of improving the 
VerDate Sep 11 2014 
02:17 Dec 04, 2019
Jkt 099200
PO 00000
Frm 00005
Fmt 6652
Sfmt 6201
E:\BILLS\H5227.IH
H5227
kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS
digital evidence capacity of law enforcement per-
sonnel. 
(2) Examination of the purposes, organizational 
models, target audiences, and effectiveness of these 
programs. 
(3) Identification of gaps in these programs, 
and assessment of whether these programs are suffi-
cient to meet the needs of Federal, State, and local 
criminal justice personnel. 
(4) Recommendations for opportunities, if any, 
to improve these programs in order to achieve great-
er efficiency, coherence, or effectiveness in the deliv-
ery of such training, education, and technical assist-
ance, including through expansion, consolidation, or 
reorganization. 
(c) REPORT TO CONGRESS.—Upon completion of the 
review required in subsection (a), and not later than 360 
days after the enactment of this Act, the Attorney General 
and the Secretary of Homeland Security shall submit to 
Congress a joint report summarizing the conclusions of 
the review and providing any recommendations to Con-
gress for legislative action. 
SEC. 4. CENTER OF EXCELLENCE FOR DIGITAL FORENSICS. 
(a) DESIGNATION.—Not later than 360 days after 
the enactment of this Act, the Attorney General, in con-
VerDate Sep 11 2014 
02:17 Dec 04, 2019
Jkt 099200
PO 00000
Frm 00006
Fmt 6652
Sfmt 6201
E:\BILLS\H5227.IH
H5227
kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS
sultation with the Secretary of Homeland Security, shall 
designate an entity of the Federal Government as the Cen-
ter of Excellence for Digital Forensics (hereafter, the 
‘‘Center’’). 
(b) MISSION.—The Center shall be a clearinghouse 
for training, technical expertise, and legal assistance relat-
ing to accessing digital evidence in support of criminal in-
vestigations, including by— 
(1) serving as a central repository of knowledge 
and expertise regarding common types of data rel-
evant to law enforcement investigations, common 
technical systems for storing and transmitting such 
data, formulation of lawful requests for such data, 
and procedures for submitting such requests; 
(2) building and maintaining a library of ana-
lytic and forensic tools, along with technical exper-
tise on the use of such tools, to be available to sup-
port Federal, State, and local law enforcement inves-
tigations; 
(3) developing and maintaining technical sup-
port tools to facilitate, standardize, and authenticate 
law enforcement requests for digital evidence; 
(4) providing training to Federal, State, and 
local law enforcement organizations on procedures 
and techniques for the acquisition, exploitation, pres-
VerDate Sep 11 2014 
02:17 Dec 04, 2019
Jkt 099200
PO 00000
Frm 00007
Fmt 6652
Sfmt 6201
E:\BILLS\H5227.IH
H5227
kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS