Title: Confidential Informant Accountability Act of 2017
Policy area: Crime and Law Enforcement

Summary:


Confidential Informant Accountability Act of 2017
This bill directs the Department of Justice, the Department of Homeland Security, and the Department of the Treasury to report to Congress on: (1) serious crimes committed by informants maintained by their law enforcement agencies, (2) amounts paid to the informants, and (3) amounts received through information from or cooperation by the informants.
The bill defines the term "serious crime."

[Congressional Bills 115th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 1857 Introduced in House (IH)]

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115th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                H. R. 1857

   To require Federal law enforcement agencies to report to Congress 
serious crimes, authorized as well as unauthorized, committed by their 
                        confidential informants.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                             April 3, 2017

Mr. Lynch (for himself and Mr. Cummings) introduced the following bill; 
          which was referred to the Committee on the Judiciary

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
   To require Federal law enforcement agencies to report to Congress 
serious crimes, authorized as well as unauthorized, committed by their 
                        confidential informants.

    Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the 
United States of America in Congress assembled,

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

    This Act may be cited as the ``Confidential Informant 
Accountability Act of 2017''.

SEC. 2. REPORT.

    (a) In General.--Not later than March 1 and September 1 of each 
year, the head of each department that contains a law enforcement 
agency shall, with respect to each law enforcement agency within that 
Department, fully report to the House Committee on Oversight and 
Government Reform, the House Committee on the Judiciary, the Senate 
Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs, and the Senate 
Committee on the Judiciary--
            (1) all serious crimes, authorized and unauthorized, 
        committed by informants maintained by the law enforcement 
        agency;
            (2) the amounts expended by the law enforcement agency on 
        payments to such informants; and
            (3) the amounts received by the law enforcement agency 
        through the information from or cooperation by the informant.
    (b) Period Covered.--Each report due on March 1 of a year shall 
cover serious crimes that took place during the 6-month period 
beginning July 1 and ending December 31 of the preceding year. Each 
report due on September 1 of a year shall cover serious crimes that 
took place beginning January 1 and ending June 30 of that year.
    (c) Contents.--
            (1) Required.--Each report under subsection (a) shall 
        include a description of the total number of each type and 
        category of crime; the amount of drugs involved if the crime is 
        a drug crime; the amount of money involved if the crime is a 
        theft or bribery crime; whether the crime was authorized or 
        unauthorized; the State in which each crime took place; and any 
        amounts expended from sources other than appropriated amounts, 
        including from assets seized and forfeited by offenders and any 
        tangible benefits, including relocation costs, rent, travel 
        expenses, or other transfers in kind.
            (2) Prohibited.--The report shall not contain individual 
        informant names, informant control numbers, or other personal 
        identification information that could reveal the identity of an 
        individual informant.
    (d) Arrest or Charge of Informant Not To Affect Duty To Report.--
The duty to report crimes under this section exists regardless of 
whether the informant has or has not been arrested or charged with the 
reportable crime in any jurisdiction.
    (e) Disclaimer.--Nothing in this section limits the authority and 
responsibility of the appropriate committees of each House of Congress 
to obtain such information as they may need to carry out their 
respective functions and duties.
    (f) Definitions.--In this section--
            (1) the term ``department that contains a law enforcement 
        agency'' means the Department of Justice, the Department of 
        Homeland Security, and the Department of the Treasury;
            (2) the term ``law enforcement agency'' means the Federal 
        Bureau of Investigation, the Drug Enforcement Administration, 
        the United States Secret Service, United States Immigration and 
        Customs Enforcement, and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, 
        Firearms and Explosives;
            (3) the term ``informant'' means any individual who is 
        believed to be providing useful and credible information to the 
        law enforcement agency for any authorized information 
        collection activity, and from whom the law enforcement agency 
        expects or intends to obtain additional useful and credible 
        information in the future, and whose identity, information, or 
        relationship with the law enforcement agency warrants 
        confidential handling; and
            (4) the term ``serious crime'' means--
                    (A) any serious violent felony as that term is 
                defined in section 3559(c)(2)(F) of title 18, United 
                States Code;
                    (B) any serious drug offense as that term is 
                defined in section 3559(c)(2)(H) of title 18, United 
                States Code;
                    (C) an offense involving the theft of $500,000 or 
                greater; or
                    (D) an offense consisting of racketeering, bribery, 
                child pornography, obstruction of justice, or perjury,
        that an agent or employee of the relevant law enforcement 
        agency has reasonable grounds to believe that an informant has 
        committed.
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