I
106TH CONGRESS
2D SESSION
H. R. 4954
To ensure that law enforcement agencies determine, before the release or
transfer of a person, whether that person has an outstanding charge
or warrant, and for other purposes
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
JULY 25, 2000
Ms. MCCARTHY of Missouri (for herself, Ms. DANNER, Mr. MOORE, and Mr.
SKELTON) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Com-
mittee on the Judiciary
A BILL
To ensure that law enforcement agencies determine, before
the release or transfer of a person, whether that person
has an outstanding charge or warrant, 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 ‘‘Justice through As-
sured Knowledge and Enforcement Act’’.
SEC. 2. PRE-RELEASE RECORDS CHECKS.
(a) IN GENERAL.—The Attorney General shall estab-
lish guidelines for pre-release records check programs car-
ried out by States.
(b) REQUIRED ELEMENTS.—A pre-release records
check program established under this section shall contain
the following elements:
(1) CHECK BEFORE EACH RELEASE OR TRANS-
FER.—A law enforcement agency shall not release a
person from custody, or transfer a person in custody
to the custody of another such agency, unless that
agency first carries out a pre-release records check
on that person.
(2) NOTIFICATIONS.—If that check indicates an
unresolved warrant or charge, that agency shall not
release or transfer that person unless that agency
first—
(A) provides notice that the person is in
custody to the law enforcement agency initi-
ating that warrant or charge, and provides that
agency with a reasonable opportunity to resolve
that warrant or charge; and
(B) provides notice of that warrant or
charge to the law enforcement agency to which
the person is to be transferred, if applicable.
(3) PENALTIES.—If an official is responsible
for a violation of a requirement of this subsection,
that official shall be subject to administrative dis-
cipline by that agency.
(c) COMPLIANCE.—
(1) COMPLIANCE DATE.—Each State shall have
not more than 3 years from the date of enactment
of this Act in which to implement this section, ex-
cept that the Attorney General may grant an addi-
tional 2 years to a State that is making good faith
efforts to implement this section.
(2) INELIGIBILITY FOR FUNDS.—
(A) A State that fails to implement the
program as described in this section shall not
receive 10 percent of the funds that would oth-
erwise be allocated to the State under section
506 of the Omnibus Crime Control and Safe
Streets Act of 1968 (42 U.S.C. 3765).
(B) Any funds that are not allocated for
failure to comply with this section shall be re-
allocated to States that comply with this sec-
tion.
(d) DEFINITIONS.—For purposes of this Act:
(1) The term ‘‘pre-release records check’’
means an inquiry to determine whether an unre-
solved warrant or charge is indicated in criminal his-
tory records databases prescribed by the Attorney
General in accordance with subsection (a), which
may include—
(A) the database of the National Crime In-
formation Center of the Department of Justice,
or any comparable Federal database; and
(B) any comparable database maintained
by the State, or in which the State participates.
(2) The term ‘‘law enforcement agency’’ in-
cludes jails and correctional institutions.
(3) The term ‘‘custody’’ includes detention on
suspicion of charges and incarceration.
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