Title: Preservation of Public Evidence Act of 2019
Policy area: Crime and Law Enforcement

Summary:
Preservation of Public Evidence Act of 2019
This bill reduces certain federal funding for law enforcement activities to jurisdictions that do not require their law enforcement agencies to provide the Department of Justice with relevant records and evidence concerning any investigation of a death or injury of an individual that was caused by a law enforcement officer or occurred in law enforcement custody.

[Congressional Bills 116th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 4799 Introduced in House (IH)]

<DOC>






116th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                H. R. 4799

     To require State and local law enforcement agencies to submit 
   information about law enforcement investigations to the Attorney 
                    General, and for other purposes.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                            October 22, 2019

  Mr. Veasey introduced the following bill; which was referred to the 
                       Committee on the Judiciary

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
     To require State and local law enforcement agencies to submit 
   information about law enforcement investigations to the Attorney 
                    General, and for other purposes.

    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 ``Preservation of Public Evidence Act 
of 2019''.

SEC. 2. REQUIREMENT TO SUBMIT INFORMATION ABOUT INVESTIGATIONS TO THE 
              ATTORNEY GENERAL.

    (a) Requirement.--A State receiving any amount under a grant 
program covered by section 3(a) shall require each law enforcement 
agency of that State, and of each unit of local government of that 
State, to submit to the Attorney General, for any incident being 
investigated by such law enforcement agency wherein a person was 
injured or killed by a law enforcement officer or while in the custody 
of a law enforcement agency, copies or records of any of the following 
that pertains to the incident:
            (1) Any record or information.
            (2) Any item of evidence.
            (3) Any photographs.
            (4) Any videos, including footage from dashboard cameras 
        and body-worn cameras.
            (5) Any witness statements.
            (6) Any other tangible documents.
    (b) Publication.--The Attorney General--
            (1) shall preserve materials submitted under subsection 
        (a); and
            (2) may, at the request of an attorney, a court, or such 
        other person as may be deemed appropriate by the Attorney 
        General, publish such materials or descriptions thereof, 
        subject to any applicable limitation under law.

SEC. 3. ELIGIBILITY FOR FEDERAL FUNDS.

    (a) Covered Programs.--
            (1) In general.--For purposes of this Act, a grant program 
        is covered by this section if--
                    (A) the program is carried out by or under the 
                authority of the Attorney General; and
                    (B) the program provides amounts to States for law 
                enforcement purposes.
            (2) List.--For each fiscal year after the date of enactment 
        of this Act, the Attorney General shall prepare a list 
        identifying each program that meets the criteria of paragraph 
        (1) and provide that list to each State.
    (b) Compliance.--For each fiscal year after the date of enactment 
of this Act, any amount that a State would otherwise receive for that 
fiscal year under a grant program covered by this section shall be 
reduced by 10 percent, unless the chief executive of the State submits 
to the Attorney General--
            (1) a certification that each law enforcement agency of the 
        State, and of each unit of local government of the State, is in 
        compliance with the requirements of section 2; or
            (2) an assurance that not less than 5 percent of such 
        amount shall be used only for the purpose of enabling each law 
        enforcement agency of the State, and of each unit of local 
        government of the State to comply with the requirements of 
        section 2, so as to ensure that a certification under paragraph 
        (1) may be submitted not later than 90 days after such 
        assurance.
    (c) Report on Noncompliance.--Not later than the last day of each 
fiscal year after the date of enactment of this Act, the Attorney 
General shall publish a report listing each State wherein a law 
enforcement agency of the State, or of a unit of local government of 
the State, has not complied with the requirements of section 2 for that 
fiscal year.
    (d) Redistribution of Amounts.--Amounts not allocated to a State 
under a program as the result of a reduction under subsection (b) shall 
be reallocated under such program to a State that is in compliance with 
this section, subject to the limitations under such program.
    (e) Effective Date.--The first grants to which subsection (b) 
applies are grants for the fiscal year beginning October 1, 2020.

SEC. 4. ENHANCED FUNDING FOR BODY CAMERA GRANTS.

    For fiscal year 2021, out of any money in the Treasury not 
otherwise appropriated, there is authorized to be appropriated an 
additional amount of $10,000,000, to be used for grants under part Q of 
the Omnibus Crime Control and Safe Streets Act of 1968, for the 
acquisition and use of body-worn cameras by law enforcement officers.
                                 <all>