I 
119TH CONGRESS 
2D SESSION 
H. R. 7278 
To require Federal, State, and local law enforcement agencies to report 
information related to allegations of misconduct of law enforcement offi-
cers to the Attorney General, and for other purposes. 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
JANUARY 30, 2026 
Mr. BEYER (for himself, Ms. MCCLELLAN, and Ms. NORTON) introduced the 
following bill; which was referred to the Committee on the Judiciary 
A BILL 
To require Federal, State, and local law enforcement agencies 
to report information related to allegations of misconduct 
of law enforcement officers to the Attorney General, 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 ‘‘Cost of Police Mis-
conduct Act of 2026’’. 
SEC. 2. REPORTING REQUIREMENT. 
(a) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 
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(1) ALLEGATION OF MISCONDUCT.—The term 
‘‘allegation of misconduct’’ means an allegation by a 
member of the community, a fellow law enforcement 
officer, or other individual that a law enforcement 
officer took an unlawful under State or Federal law, 
tortious, or otherwise inappropriate action in connec-
tion with the official duties of the officer. 
(2) BYRNE JAG PROGRAM.—The term ‘‘Byrne 
JAG program’’ means any grant program under 
subpart 1 of part E of title I of the Omnibus Crime 
Control and Safe Streets Act of 1968 (34 U.S.C. 
10151 et seq.). 
(3) CIVIL
RIGHTS
ORGANIZATION.—The term 
‘‘civil rights organization’’ means an organization 
that monitors the equitable enforcement of and 
treatment under the law and that has a national 
presence and membership. 
(4) JUDGMENT.—The term ‘‘judgment’’ means 
the final court order in a civil action that resolves 
all issues in dispute and settles the parties’ rights 
with respect to those issues. 
(5) LAW
ENFORCEMENT
AGENCY.—The term 
‘‘law enforcement agency’’ means an agency engaged 
in the prevention, detection, investigation, prosecu-
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tion, or adjudication of violations of the law in the 
United States. 
(6) MISCONDUCT.—The term ‘‘misconduct’’ 
means an instance in which a law enforcement offi-
cer took an unlawful under State or Federal law, 
tortious, or otherwise inappropriate action in connec-
tion with the official duties of the officer. 
(7) PROFESSIONAL LAW ENFORCEMENT ASSO-
CIATION.—The term ‘‘professional law enforcement 
association’’ means a law enforcement membership 
association that works for the needs of Federal, 
State, local, or Indian Tribal law enforcement agen-
cies and with the civilian community on matters of 
common interest, such as the Hispanic American 
Police Command Officers Association (HAPCOA), 
the National Asian Pacific Officers Association 
(NAPOA), the National Black Police Association 
(NBPA), the National Latino Peace Officers Asso-
ciation (NLPOA), the National Organization of 
Black Law Enforcement Executives (NOBLE), 
Women in Law Enforcement, the Native American 
Law Enforcement Association (NALEA), the Inter-
national Association of Chiefs of Police (IACP), the 
National Sheriffs’ Association (NSA), the Fraternal 
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Order of Police (FOP), or the National Association 
of School Resource Officers. 
(8) SETTLEMENT.—The term ‘‘settlement’’ 
means an agreement that resolves— 
(A) a civil action prior to the entry of 
judgment; or 
(B) a legal dispute prior to the filing of a 
complaint or petition. 
(b) IDENTIFICATION REQUIREMENT.— 
(1) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 90 days after 
the date of enactment of this Act, and annually 
thereafter, the Attorney General shall identify— 
(A) the total number of Federal law en-
forcement agencies in the Federal Government; 
and 
(B) the name of each Federal law enforce-
ment agency in the Federal Government. 
(2) PUBLICATION.—Not later than 120 days 
after the date of enactment of this Act, and annually 
thereafter, the Attorney General shall make publicly 
available on the internet website of the Department 
of Justice the information under paragraph (1). 
(c) 
FEDERAL
LAW
ENFORCEMENT
REQUIRE-
MENTS.— 
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(iii) The year in which the allegation 
was reported. 
(iv) The type of allegation, which may 
include a body camera violation (whether a 
failure to wear or record), use of force (in-
cluding the type of force), a collision, racial 
profiling, negligence, property damage, sex-
ual harassment or assault, false testimony, 
wrongful death, failure of a duty to inter-
vene, or wrongful imprisonment. 
(v) Any personnel action taken by the 
officer involved, which may include res-
ignation or retirement. 
(vi) Any personnel action taken by the 
Federal law enforcement agency involved, 
which may include termination, demotion, 
or relocation of the officer involved. 
(vii) The total amount paid to satisfy 
the judgment or settlement (and related 
court fees), regardless of the source of the 
payment. 
(viii) The source of money used to pay 
the judgment or settlement (and related 
court fees), including whether the money 
came from amounts appropriated under 
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section 1304 of title 31, United States 
Code (commonly known as the ‘‘Judgment 
Fund’’), amounts appropriated to the Fed-
eral law enforcement agency, or another 
source. 
(ix) Any injunctive or declaratory re-
lief awarded, or any comparable terms in 
any settlement agreement. 
(C) The total amount paid pursuant to 
such judgments and settlements (and related 
court fees) by the Federal law enforcement 
agency. 
(3) REPORTS REQUIRED.— 
(A) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 60 days 
after the last day of each year that begins after 
the date of enactment of this Act, a Federal law 
enforcement agency identified under subsection 
(b)(1) shall report to the Attorney General, 
pursuant to guidelines established by the Attor-
ney General, the information collected pursuant 
to paragraph (1) for the preceding year. 
(B) EXTENSION.—The Attorney General 
may extend the deadline under subparagraph 
(A) by not more than 60 days for a Federal law 
enforcement agency that the Attorney General 
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determines is making good faith efforts to com-
ply with the requirement under such subpara-
graph. 
(C) SCOPE OF INITIAL REPORT.—The first 
report submitted by a Federal law enforcement 
agency under subparagraph (A) shall include 
data collected prior to the year covered by the 
report, if the data collection requirement under 
paragraph (1) applies to any period prior to 
that year. 
(d) STATE
AND LOCAL LAW ENFORCEMENT RE-
QUIREMENTS.— 
(1) REQUIREMENTS.— 
(A) NOTIFICATION.—Not later than 30 
days after the date of enactment of this Act, 
the Attorney General shall notify each State or 
unit of local government that receives funds 
under the Byrne JAG program of the require-
ment under subparagraph (B). 
(B) DATA COLLECTION.—On and after the 
date that is 120 days after the date of enact-
ment of this Act, each State or unit of local 
government that receives funds under the 
Byrne JAG program shall collect information 
relating to any judgments or settlements with 
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respect to any allegations of misconduct that is 
substantially similar to the information de-
scribed in subsection (c)(2). 
(C) DATA REPORTING.— 
(i) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 60 
days after the last day of each year that 
begins after the date of enactment of this 
Act, a State or unit of local government 
that receives funds under the Byrne JAG 
program shall submit to the Attorney Gen-
eral, pursuant to guidelines established by 
the Attorney General, for the preceding 
year and with respect to each law enforce-
ment agency of the State or unit of local 
government, respectively, the information 
collected under subparagraph (B). 
(ii) EXTENSION.—The Attorney Gen-
eral may extend the deadline under clause 
(i) by 60 days for a State or local govern-
ment that is making good faith efforts to 
comply with the requirement under that 
clause. 
(iii) SOURCE OF MONEY FOR JUDG-
MENTS AND SETTLEMENTS.—For purposes 
of clause (i), in reporting the source of 
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money used to pay a judgment or settle-
ment (and related court fees), as described 
in subsection (c)(2)(C)(viii), a State or 
unit of local government shall disclose the 
portion of the judgment or settlement pay-
ment that came from a general operating 
budget, State or local law enforcement 
agency budget, bonds, liability insurance, a 
central risk management fund or pool, or 
other source. 
(iv) INSURANCE, BONDS, AND
RISK 
MANAGEMENT
FUNDS.—For purposes of 
clause (i), a State or unit of local govern-
ment shall disclose— 
(I) the total amount, if any, 
spent on any insurance premiums 
paid by the State or unit of local gov-
ernment for insurance against law en-
forcement misconduct; 
(II) if any portion of a settlement 
is paid with bonds, the amount of the 
bond, as well as the total future cost 
of the bond, including any interest 
and fees; and 
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(III) the total amount, if any, 
that the State or unit of local govern-
ment contributed to any central risk 
management fund or pool toward the 
settlement of law enforcement mis-
conduct claims. 
(v) SCOPE OF INITIAL REPORT.—The 
first report submitted by a State or local 
government under clause (i) shall include 
data collected prior to the year covered by 
the report, if the data collection require-
ment under subparagraph (B) applies to 
any period prior to that year. 
(vi) PUBLICATION.—Not later than 30 
days after the date on which a State or 
unit of local government submits to the At-
torney General the information collected 
under subparagraph (B) in accordance 
with the requirements of this subpara-
graph, the State or unit of local govern-
ment shall publish such information on the 
respective website of the State or unit of 
local government. 
(2) INELIGIBILITY FOR FUNDS.— 
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States or units of local government that have 
complied with such paragraph. 
(3) OPEN-SOURCE DATA.—Not later than 30 
days after each date on which the Attorney General 
receives information reported under paragraph (1) 
from a State or unit of local government, the Attor-
ney General shall verify such information reported 
using open-source data, as practicable, including 
using data from newspaper and court records. 
(e) STUDY AND REPORTS REQUIRED.— 
(1) GAO STUDY AND REPORT.— 
(A) STUDY.—After data has been collected 
and reported under subsections (c) and (d) for 
2 full years, the Comptroller General of the 
United States shall carry out a study on such 
data, including— 
(i) the number of Federal, State, and 
local law enforcement agencies reporting 
such data to the Attorney General; 
(ii) a determination of the leading 
cause 
of 
judgments 
and 
settlements 
against Federal, State, and local law en-
forcement agencies; 
(iii) an analysis of any relationship 
between the number of judgments and set-
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tlements and the actions taken by Federal, 
State, or local law enforcement agencies, 
including the process of the agency to en-
force the law, the culture of the agency, 
and any new programs established by the 
Federal, State, or local law enforcement 
agency to enforce the law; 
(iv) recommendations with respect to 
how a Federal, State, or local law enforce-
ment agency may reduce misconduct lead-
ing to judgments or settlements; 
(v) identification of Federal, State, 
local law enforcement agencies that have 
spent the most money with respect to judg-
ments and settlements (and related court 
fees); 
(vi) the total amount of money spent 
by Federal, State, and local law enforce-
ment agencies on judgments or settlements 
(and related court fees), disaggregated by 
State; 
(vii) the average amount of money 
spent on judgments or settlements (and re-
lated court fees) by— 
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(I) 
Federal 
law 
enforcement 
agencies; 
(II) State law enforcement agen-
cies; and 
(III) local law enforcement agen-
cies; 
(viii) an assessment of— 
(I) how efficiently and effectively 
the Attorney General collects and dis-
seminates data collected under sub-
sections (c) and (d); and 
(II) how the Attorney General 
may improve coordination with State 
and local law enforcement agencies re-
garding any review process for allega-
tions of misconduct, including how the 
agencies implement consent decrees 
and initiate pattern and practice in-
vestigations relating to allegations of 
misconduct; and 
(ix) a review by the Attorney General 
of the data collection practices carried out 
pursuant to subsections (c) and (d) and 
recommendations relating to how such 
practices may be improved. 
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(B) REPORT.—Not later than 120 days 
after the last day of the third year that begins 
after the date of enactment of this Act, the 
Comptroller General, in consultation with the 
Attorney General, shall— 
(i) prepare and submit to the Com-
mittee on the Judiciary of the Senate and 
the Committee on the Judiciary of the 
House of Representatives a report that 
contains the findings of the study under 
subparagraph (A); and 
(ii) make the report described in 
clause (i) available to the public. 
(2) DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE REPORT.— 
(A) IN
GENERAL.—Not later than 120 
days after the last day of the third year that 
begins after the date of enactment of this Act, 
and annually thereafter, the Attorney General 
shall— 
(i) prepare and submit to the Com-
mittee on the Judiciary of the Senate and 
the Committee on the Judiciary of the 
House of Representatives a report that in-
cludes the information described in sub-
paragraph (B); and 
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(ii) subject to subsection (f) and not-
withstanding any other provision of Fed-
eral law relating to privacy, make the re-
port described in clause (i) available to the 
public. 
(B) CONTENTS.—The report submitted 
under subparagraph (A) shall include— 
(i) recommendations for law enforce-
ment agencies relating to the use of force; 
(ii) best practices, created in consulta-
tion with law enforcement organizations, 
professional law enforcement associations, 
and civil rights organizations, for methods 
by which law enforcement agencies may re-
duce instances of misconduct; 
(iii) an analysis of data relating to 
judgments and settlements reported by 
State and local law enforcement agencies 
under subsection (d); and 
(iv) any other relevant information re-
lating to data and information collected 
under subsections (c) and (d). 
(3) DATABASE.— 
(A) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 1 year 
after the date of enactment of this Act, the At-
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torney General shall create and maintain on the 
internet website of the Department of Justice a 
public, searchable database containing all data 
reported under subsections (c) and (d), subject 
to any otherwise applicable confidentiality re-
quirements. Such publication shall not include 
any personally identifiable information of any 
law enforcement officer. 
(B) DATABASE
UPDATES.—The Attorney 
General shall update the database created 
under subparagraph (A) on an annual basis 
with data reported under subsections (c) and 
(d). 
(f) RULE OF CONSTRUCTION.—Nothing in this sec-
tion shall be construed to supersede the requirements or 
limitations under section 552a of title 5, United States 
Code (commonly known as the ‘‘Privacy Act of 1974’’). 
Æ 
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