[Congressional Bills 110th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 7227 Introduced in House (IH)]







110th CONGRESS
  2d Session
                                H. R. 7227

     To encourage States to report to the Attorney General certain 
 information regarding the deaths of individuals in the custody of law 
             enforcement agencies, and for other purposes.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                           September 29, 2008

Mr. Scott of Virginia introduced the following bill; which was referred 
                   to the Committee on the Judiciary

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
     To encourage States to report to the Attorney General certain 
 information regarding the deaths of individuals in the custody of law 
             enforcement agencies, 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 ``Death in Custody Reporting Act of 
2008''.

SEC. 2. STATE INFORMATION REGARDING INDIVIDUALS WHO DIE IN THE CUSTODY 
              OF LAW ENFORCEMENT.

    (a) In General.--For each fiscal year after the expiration of the 
period specified in subsection (c)(1) in which a State receives funds 
for a program referred to in subsection (c)(2), the State shall report 
to the Attorney General, on a quarterly basis and pursuant to 
guidelines established by the Attorney General, information regarding 
the death of any person who is detained, under arrest, or is in the 
process of being arrested, is en route to be incarcerated, or is 
incarcerated at a municipal or county jail, State prison, State-run 
boot camp prison, boot camp prison that is contracted out by the State, 
any State or local contract facility, or other local or State 
correctional facility (including any juvenile facility).
    (b) Information Required.--The report required by this section 
shall contain information that, at a minimum, includes--
            (1) the name, gender, race, ethnicity, and age of the 
        deceased;
            (2) the date, time, and location of death;
            (3) the law enforcement agency that detained, arrested, or 
        was in the process of arresting the deceased; and
            (4) a brief description of the circumstances surrounding 
        the death.
    (c) Compliance and Ineligibility.--
            (1) Compliance date.--Each State shall have not more than 
        120 days from the date of enactment of this Act to comply with 
        subsection (a), except that--
                    (A) the Attorney General may grant an additional 
                120 days to a State that is making good faith efforts 
                to comply with such subsection; and
                    (B) the Attorney General shall waive the 
                requirements of subsection (a) if compliance with such 
                subsection by a State would be unconstitutional under 
                the constitution of such State.
            (2) Ineligibility for funds.--For any fiscal year after the 
        expiration of the period specified in paragraph (1), a State 
        that fails to comply with subsection (a), shall, at the 
        discretion of the Attorney General, be subject to not more than 
        a 10 percent reduction of the funds that would otherwise be 
        allocated for that fiscal year to the State under subpart 1 of 
        part E of title I of the Omnibus Crime Control and Safe Streets 
        Act of 1968 (42 U.S.C. 3750 et seq.), whether characterized as 
        the Edward Byrne Memorial State and Local Law Enforcement 
        Assistance Programs, the Local Government Law Enforcement Block 
        Grants Program, the Edward Byrne Memorial Justice Assistance 
        Grant Program, or otherwise.
    (d) Reallocation.--Amounts not allocated under a program referred 
to in subsection (c)(2) to a State for failure to fully comply with 
subsection (a) shall be reallocated under that program to States that 
have not failed to comply with such subsection.
    (e) Definitions.--In this section the terms ``boot camp prison'' 
and ``State'' have the meaning given those terms, respectively, in 
section 901(a) of the Omnibus Crime Control and Safe Streets Act of 
1968 (42 U.S.C. 3791(a)).
    (f) Study of Information Relating to Deaths in Custody.--
            (1) Study required.--The Attorney General shall carry out a 
        study of the information reported under subsection (b) and 
        section 102(b) to--
                    (A) determine means by which such information can 
                be used to reduce the number of such deaths; and
                    (B) examine the relationship, if any, between the 
                number of such deaths and the actions of management of 
                such jails, prisons, and other specified facilities 
                relating to such deaths.
            (2) Report.--Not later than 2 years after the date of the 
        enactment of this Act, the Attorney General shall prepare and 
        submit to Congress a report that contains the findings of the 
        study required by paragraph (1).

SEC. 3. FEDERAL REPORTING REQUIREMENT.

    (a) In General.--For each fiscal year, the Attorney General shall 
collect information regarding the death of any person who is detained, 
under arrest, or is in the process of being arrested by Federal 
authorities, is en route to be incarcerated or detained, or is 
incarcerated or detained at any facility pursuant to a contract with 
the federal government (including any immigration or juvenile 
facility), any State or local government facility used by a Federal 
agency, and any Federal correctional facility or Federal pre-trial 
detention facility.
    (b) Information Required.--The report required by this section 
shall include, at a minimum, the information required by section 2(b).
    (c) Study.--Information gathered pursuant to subsection (a) shall 
be analyzed and included in the study required by section 2(f).
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