[Congressional Bills 119th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 1563 Introduced in Senate (IS)]
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119th CONGRESS
1st Session
S. 1563
To amend the Omnibus Crime Control and Safe Streets Act of 1968 to
establish a grant program to help law enforcement agencies with
civilian law enforcement tasks, and for other purposes.
_______________________________________________________________________
IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES
May 1, 2025
Ms. Klobuchar (for herself and Mr. Grassley) introduced the following
bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on the
Judiciary
_______________________________________________________________________
A BILL
To amend the Omnibus Crime Control and Safe Streets Act of 1968 to
establish a grant program to help law enforcement agencies with
civilian law enforcement tasks, 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 ``Retired Law Enforcement Officers
Continuing Service Act''.
SEC. 2. GRANT PROGRAM.
Title I of the Omnibus Crime Control and Safe Streets Act of 1968
(34 U.S.C. 10101 et seq.) is amended by adding at the end the
following:
``PART PP--CIVIL LAW ENFORCEMENT TASK GRANTS
``SEC. 3061. DEFINITIONS.
``In this part:
``(1) Civilian law enforcement task.--The term `civilian
law enforcement task' includes--
``(A) assisting in homicide investigations;
``(B) assisting in carjacking investigations;
``(C) assisting in financial crimes investigations;
``(D) reviewing camera footage;
``(E) crime scene analysis;
``(F) forensics analysis; and
``(G) providing expertise in computers, computer
networks, information technology, or the internet.
``(2) Eligible entity.--The term `eligible entity' means a
State, local, Tribal, or territorial law enforcement agency.
``SEC. 3062. GRANTS AUTHORIZED.
``The Attorney General may award grants to eligible entities for
the purpose of hiring retired personnel from law enforcement agencies
to--
``(1) train civilian employees of the eligible entity on
civilian law enforcement tasks that can be performed on behalf
of a law enforcement agency; and
``(2) perform civilian law enforcement tasks on behalf of
the eligible entity.
``SEC. 3063. ACCOUNTABILITY PROVISIONS.
``(a) In General.--A grant awarded under this part shall be subject
to the accountability requirements of this section.
``(b) Audit Requirement.--
``(1) Definition.--In this subsection, the term `unresolved
audit finding' means a finding in a final audit report of the
Inspector General of the Department of Justice that an audited
grantee has used grant funds for an unauthorized expenditure or
otherwise unallowable cost that is not closed or resolved
within 12 months from the date when the final audit report is
issued.
``(2) Audits.--Beginning in the first fiscal year beginning
after the date of enactment of the Retired Law Enforcement
Officers Continuing Service Act, and in each fiscal year
thereafter, the Inspector General of the Department of Justice
shall conduct audits of recipients of grants under this part to
prevent waste, fraud, and abuse of funds by grantees. The
Inspector General of the Department of Justice shall determine
the appropriate number of grantees to be audited each year.
``(3) Mandatory exclusion.--A recipient of grant funds
under this part that is found to have an unresolved audit
finding shall not be eligible to receive grant funds under this
part during the first 2 fiscal years beginning after the end of
the 12-month period described in paragraph (1).
``(4) Priority.--In awarding grants under this part, the
Attorney General shall give priority to eligible entities that
did not have an unresolved audit finding during the 3 fiscal
years before submitting an application for a grant under this
part.
``(c) Annual Certification.--Beginning in the fiscal year during
which audits commence under subsection (b)(2), the Attorney General
shall submit to the Committee on the Judiciary and the Committee on
Appropriations of the Senate and the Committee on the Judiciary and the
Committee on Appropriations of the House of Representatives an annual
certification--
``(1) indicating whether--
``(A) all audits issued by the Office of the
Inspector General of the Department of Justice under
subsection (b) have been completed and reviewed by the
appropriate Assistant Attorney General or Director; and
``(B) all mandatory exclusions required under
subsection (b)(3) have been issued; and
``(2) that includes a list of any grant recipients excluded
under subsection (b)(3) from the previous year.
``(d) Preventing Duplicative Grants.--
``(1) In general.--Before the Attorney General awards a
grant to an eligible entity under this part, the Attorney
General shall compare potential grant awards with other grants
awarded by the Attorney General to determine if grant awards
are or have been awarded for a similar purpose.
``(2) Report.--If the Attorney General awards grants to the
same applicant for a similar purpose, the Attorney General
shall submit to the Committee on the Judiciary of the Senate
and the Committee on the Judiciary of the House of
Representatives a report that includes--
``(A) a list of all such grants awarded, including
the total dollar amount of any such grants awarded; and
``(B) the reason the Attorney General awarded
multiple grants to the same applicant for a similar
purpose.''.
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