I 
116TH CONGRESS 
2D SESSION 
H. R. 8597 
To improve the collection and retention of disciplinary records of law 
enforcement officers, and for other purposes. 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
OCTOBER 16, 2020 
Mr. CARTER of Texas introduced the following bill; which was referred to the 
Committee on the Judiciary 
A BILL 
To improve the collection and retention of disciplinary 
records of law enforcement officers, 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 ‘‘Policing Transparency 
Act’’. 
SEC. 2. NATIONAL USE-OF-FORCE DATA COLLECTION. 
Section 501 of title I of the Omnibus Crime Control 
and Safe Streets Act of 1968 (34 U.S.C. 10152) is amend-
ed by adding at the end the following: 
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‘‘(h) NATIONAL
USE-OF-FORCE
DATA
COLLEC-
TION.— 
‘‘(1) DEFINITIONS.—In this section— 
‘‘(A) the term ‘law enforcement officer’— 
‘‘(i) means any officer, agent, or em-
ployee of a State, unit of local government, 
or an Indian tribe authorized by law or by 
a government agency to engage in or su-
pervise the prevention detection, or inves-
tigation of any violation of criminal law, or 
authorized by law to supervise sentenced 
criminal offenders; and 
‘‘(ii) includes an individual described 
in clause (i) who is employed or volunteers 
in a full-time, part-time, or auxiliary ca-
pacity; 
‘‘(B) the term ‘National Use-of-Force Data 
Collection’ means the National Use-of-Force 
Data Collection of the Federal Bureau of Inves-
tigation; and 
‘‘(C) the term ‘serious bodily injury’ means 
bodily injury that results in death, unconscious-
ness, protracted and obvious disfigurement, or 
protracted loss or impairment of the function of 
a bodily member or organ. 
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discharge of a firearm by a civilian, or any 
other means, including whether the law enforce-
ment officer was killed or suffered serious bod-
ily injury as part of an ambush or calculated 
attack. 
‘‘(3) INFORMATION REQUIRED.—For each use- 
of-force event required to be reported under para-
graph (2), the following information shall be pro-
vided, as required by the Federal Bureau of Inves-
tigation: 
‘‘(A) Incident information, including the 
type of incident, the type of force used, and the 
weapon type, if applicable. 
‘‘(B) Subject information, including any 
injuries sustained by the subject and the race of 
the subject. 
‘‘(C) Officer information, including the 
race of each officer involved, the length of serv-
ice of each officer involved, the number of offi-
cers involved, and the size of the law enforce-
ment agency that employs each such officer. 
‘‘(4) COMPLIANCE.— 
‘‘(A) INELIGIBILITY FOR FUNDS.— 
‘‘(i) FIRST FISCAL YEAR.— 
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‘‘(I) STATES.—For the first fis-
cal year beginning after the date of 
enactment of the Policing Trans-
parency Act in which a State fails to 
comply with paragraph (2) with re-
spect to a State law enforcement 
agency, the State shall be subject to a 
20-percent reduction of the funds that 
would otherwise be allocated for reten-
tion by the State under section 505(c) 
for that fiscal year, and if any unit of 
local government within the State fails 
to comply with paragraph (2), the 
State shall be subject to a reduction 
of the funds allocated for retention by 
the State under section 505(c) that is 
equal to the percentage of the popu-
lation of the State represented by the 
unit of local government, not to ex-
ceed 20 percent. 
‘‘(II) LOCAL
GOVERNMENTS.— 
For the first fiscal year beginning 
after the date of enactment of the Po-
licing Transparency Act in which a 
unit of local government fails to com-
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ply with paragraph (2), the unit of 
local government shall be subject to a 
20-percent reduction of the funds that 
would otherwise be allocated to the 
unit of local government for that fis-
cal year under this subpart. 
‘‘(ii) SUBSEQUENT FISCAL YEARS.— 
‘‘(I) STATES.—Beginning in the 
first fiscal year beginning after the 
first fiscal year described in clause 
(i)(I) in which a State fails to comply 
with paragraph (2) with respect to a 
State law enforcement agency, the 
percentage by which the funds de-
scribed in clause (i)(I) are reduced 
shall be increased by 5 percent each 
fiscal year the State fails to comply 
with paragraph (2), except that such 
reduction shall not exceed 25 percent 
in any fiscal year. 
‘‘(II) LOCAL
GOVERNMENTS.— 
Beginning in the first fiscal year be-
ginning after the first fiscal year de-
scribed in clause (i)(II) in which a 
unit of local government fails to com-
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ply with paragraph (2), the percent-
age by which the funds described in 
clause (i)(II) are reduced shall be in-
creased by 5 percent each fiscal year 
the unit of local government fails to 
comply with paragraph (2), except 
that such reduction shall not exceed 
25 percent in any fiscal year. 
‘‘(B) REALLOCATION.—Amounts not allo-
cated under a program referred to in subpara-
graph (A) to a State or unit of local govern-
ment for failure to comply with paragraph (2) 
shall be reallocated to the United States Treas-
ury. 
‘‘(5) PUBLIC
AVAILABILITY
OF
DATA.—Not 
later than 1 year after the date of enactment of this 
Act, and each year thereafter, the Director of the 
Federal Bureau of Investigation shall publish, and 
make available to the public, the National Use-of- 
Force Data Collection. 
‘‘(6) FBI OUTREACH AND TECHNICAL ASSIST-
ANCE.—The Director of the Federal Bureau of In-
vestigation shall provide to a State or unit of local 
government technical assistance and training for the 
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collection and submission of data in accordance with 
this subsection.’’. 
SEC. 3. LAW ENFORCEMENT RECORDS RETENTION. 
(a) IN GENERAL.—Part E of title I of the Omnibus 
Crime Control and Safe Streets Act of 1968 (34 U.S.C. 
10151 et seq.) is amended by adding at the end the fol-
lowing: 
‘‘Subpart 4—Law Enforcement Records Retention 
‘‘SEC. 531. LAW ENFORCEMENT RECORDS RETENTION. 
‘‘(a) DEFINITIONS.—In this section— 
‘‘(1) the term ‘applicable covered system’, with 
respect to a law enforcement agency, means the cov-
ered system of the covered government of which the 
law enforcement agency is part; 
‘‘(2) the term ‘covered government’ means a 
State or unit of local government; 
‘‘(3) the term ‘covered system’ means a system 
maintained by a covered government under sub-
section (b); and 
‘‘(4) the term ‘disciplinary record’— 
‘‘(A) means any written document regard-
ing an allegation of misconduct by a law en-
forcement officer that— 
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‘‘(i) is substantiated and is adju-
dicated by a government agency or court; 
and 
‘‘(ii) results in— 
‘‘(I) resignation, dismissal of em-
ployment, relief of duty status exceed-
ing three days, or another adverse ac-
tion by the employing law enforcement 
agency resulting in the loss of pay or 
demotion; or 
‘‘(II) criminal charges; and 
‘‘(B) does not include a written document 
regarding an allegation described in subpara-
graph (A) if the adjudication described in 
clause (i) of that subparagraph has been over-
turned on appeal. 
‘‘(b) RECORDS RETENTION REQUIREMENTS.— 
‘‘(1) RECORDS RETENTION SYSTEM.—A covered 
government that receives funds under this part shall 
maintain a system for sharing disciplinary records of 
law enforcement officers that meets the require-
ments under paragraph (2). 
‘‘(2) REQUIREMENTS.—In administering a cov-
ered system, a covered government shall— 
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‘‘(A) retain each disciplinary record or in-
ternal investigation record regarding a law en-
forcement officer that is prepared by a law en-
forcement agency of the covered government, 
and retain, for each law enforcement officer 
with respect to whom a record is retained under 
this subparagraph, at the time of the creation 
of the record— 
‘‘(i) the number of official claims 
made against the officer and investigations 
regarding the officer that were based on 
discrimination; 
‘‘(ii) the number of investigations with 
respect to which the complaint was deter-
mined to be unfounded; and 
‘‘(iii) the total number of official civil-
ian interactions (including traffic stops and 
arrests) the officer has had during their 
employment with the law enforcement 
agency; 
‘‘(B) retain a record of each award or com-
mendation regarding a law enforcement officer 
that is prepared by a law enforcement agency 
of the covered government; 
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‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—A covered government may 
not receive funds under section 505, 506, 515, or 
516 unless the covered government is in compliance 
with subsection (b) of this section. 
‘‘(2) REALLOCATION.—Amounts not allocated 
under a section referred to in paragraph (1) to a 
covered government for failure to comply with sub-
section (b) shall be reallocated to the United States 
Treasury. 
‘‘(d) ONE-TIME GRANT.— 
‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—The Attorney General shall 
award a grant to each State, using an apportion-
ment formula that reflects the differences between 
each State, to be used by the State and units of 
local government within the State to establish cov-
ered systems. 
‘‘(2) AMOUNT.—The amount of a grant award-
ed to a State under paragraph (1) shall be not less 
than $1,000,000. 
‘‘(3) DIRECT APPROPRIATIONS.—For the pur-
pose of making grants under this subsection, there 
is authorized to be appropriated $100,000,000, to 
remain available until expended. 
‘‘(e) INDEMNIFICATION.— 
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‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—The United States shall in-
demnify and hold harmless a covered government, 
and any law enforcement agency thereof, against 
any claim (including reasonable expenses of litiga-
tion or settlement) by any person or entity related 
to— 
‘‘(A) the retention of records in a covered 
system as required under subsection (b); or 
‘‘(B) the review of records included in a 
covered system as required under subsection 
(b). 
‘‘(2) LIMITATION.—Paragraph (1) shall not 
apply to the release of a record— 
‘‘(A) to a non-law enforcement entity or in-
dividual; or 
‘‘(B) for a purpose other than making a 
decision to hire a law enforcement officer.’’. 
(b) EFFECTIVE DATE.—Section 531(c) of title I of 
the Omnibus Crime Control and Safe Streets Act of 1968, 
as added by subsection (a), shall take effect on October 
1 of the first fiscal year beginning after the date of enact-
ment of this Act. 
Æ 
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