[Congressional Bills 112th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 498 Introduced in House (IH)]

112th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                H. R. 498

  To amend section 1502 of title 5, United States Code, to permit law 
   enforcement officers to be candidates for sheriff, and for other 
                               purposes.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                            January 26, 2011

   Mr. Latta (for himself, Mr. Holden, Mr. Connolly of Virginia, Mr. 
 Austria, Mr. Rooney, Mr. Pascrell, Mrs. Lummis, Mr. Lee of New York, 
 Mr. Westmoreland, and Mr. Dent) introduced the following bill; which 
    was referred to the Committee on Oversight and Government Reform

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
  To amend section 1502 of title 5, United States Code, to permit law 
   enforcement officers to be candidates for sheriff, 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 ``State and Local Law Enforcement 
Hatch Act Reform Act of 2011''.

SEC. 2. HATCH ACT REFORM.

    (a) Permitting Law Enforcement Officers To Be Candidates for 
Sheriff.--Section 1502(c) of title 5, United States Code, is amended--
            (1) in paragraph (3), by striking ``or'' after the 
        semicolon;
            (2) in paragraph (4), by striking the period and inserting 
        ``; or''; and
            (3) by adding at the end the following:
            ``(5) a law enforcement officer who is a candidate for 
        sheriff.''.
    (b) Political Activities.--Section 1502 of title 5, United States 
Code, is amended by adding at the end the following:
    ``(d) Subsection (a)(1) of this section does not prohibit a sheriff 
from participating in political campaigns for, or endorsing, political 
candidates running for elective office by--
            ``(1) attending or speaking at political campaign rallies 
        or events;
            ``(2) holding or sponsoring political fundraisers; or
            ``(3) appearing on political advertisements, including 
        print, radio, television, or any other form of advertising.''.
    (c) Amendment to Definitions.--Section 1501 of title 5, United 
States Code, is amended--
            (1) in paragraph (3), by striking ``and'' after the 
        semicolon;
            (2) in paragraph (4), by striking the period and inserting 
        a semicolon; and
            (3) by adding at the end the following:
            ``(5) `law enforcement officer' means a State or local 
        officer or employee whose duties are primarily the 
        investigation, apprehension, or detention of individuals 
        suspected or convicted of offenses against the criminal laws of 
        a State or local jurisdiction, including an officer or employee 
        engaged in this activity who is transferred to a supervisory or 
        administrative position; and
            ``(6) `sheriff' means an individual who holds the elected 
        Office of Sheriff, as defined by State constitution or State 
        statute, of a county, town, township, parish, village, or other 
        general purpose political subdivision of a State.''.

SEC. 3. STATUTE OF LIMITATIONS.

    Section 1504 of title 5, United States Code, is amended--
            (1) by inserting ``(a) In General.--'' before ``When''; and
            (2) by adding at the end the following:
    ``(b) Statute of Limitations for Law Enforcement Officers.--With 
respect to paragraphs (1) and (3) of section 1502(a), the Special 
Counsel may not present any charges against a law enforcement officer 
under subsection (a) after the end of the 6-month period beginning on 
the later of--
            ``(1) the date of the alleged violation of paragraph (1) or 
        (3) of section 1502(a), as the case may be; or
            ``(2) the date of the enactment of the State and Local Law 
        Enforcement Hatch Act Reform Act of 2011.''.
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