I 
110TH CONGRESS 
2D SESSION 
H. R. 7227 
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 
SEPTEMBER 29, 2008 
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 2008’’. 
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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 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 102(b) 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 REPORTING REQUIREMENT. 
(a) IN GENERAL.—For each fiscal year, the Attorney 
General shall collect information regarding the death of 
any person who is detained, under arrest, or is in the proc-
ess of being arrested by Federal authorities, is en route 
to be incarcerated or detained, or is incarcerated or de-
tained at any facility pursuant to a contract with the fed-
eral government (including any immigration or juvenile fa-
cility), any State or local government facility used by a 
Federal agency, and any Federal correctional facility or 
Federal pre-trial detention facility. 
(b) INFORMATION REQUIRED.—The report required 
by this section shall include, at a minimum, the informa-
tion required by section 2(b). 
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(c) STUDY.—Information gathered pursuant to sub-
section (a) shall be analyzed and included in the study 
required by section 2(f). 
Æ 
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