[Congressional Bills 119th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 3652 Introduced in House (IH)]
<DOC>
119th CONGRESS
1st Session
H. R. 3652
To establish the National Police Misuse of Force Investigation Board,
and for other purposes.
_______________________________________________________________________
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
May 29, 2025
Ms. Omar (for herself, Mr. Thompson of Mississippi, Ms. Norton, and Mr.
McGovern) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the
Committee on the Judiciary, and in addition to the Committee on
Transportation and Infrastructure, for a period to be subsequently
determined by the Speaker, in each case for consideration of such
provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee concerned
_______________________________________________________________________
A BILL
To establish the National Police Misuse of Force Investigation Board,
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 ``National Police Misuse of Force
Investigation Board Act of 2025''.
SEC. 2. GENERAL ORGANIZATION.
(a) Organization.--The National Police Misuse of Force
Investigation Board (hereinafter in this Act referred to as the
``Board'') is an independent establishment of the United States
Government.
(b) Appointment of Members.--The Board is composed of 8 members
appointed by the President, by and with the advice and consent of the
Senate. Not more than 4 members may be appointed from the same
political party. At least 4 members shall be appointed on the basis of
technical qualification, professional standing, and demonstrated
knowledge in civil rights law, psychology, racial inequality social
theory, socioeconomics, or violent conflict mitigation.
(c) Terms of Office and Removal.--The term of office of each member
is 6 years. An individual appointed to fill a vacancy occurring before
the expiration of the term for which the predecessor of that individual
was appointed, is appointed for the remainder of that term. When the
term of office of a member ends, the member may continue to serve until
a successor is appointed and qualified. The President may remove a
member for inefficiency, neglect of duty, or malfeasance in office.
(d) Chairman and Vice Chairman.--The President shall designate, by
and with the advice and consent of the Senate, a Chairman of the Board.
The President also shall designate a Vice Chairman of the Board. The
terms of office of both the Chairman and Vice Chairman are 2 years.
When the Chairman is absent or unable to serve or when the position of
Chairman is vacant, the Vice Chairman acts as Chairman.
(e) Duties and Powers of Chairman.--The Chairman is the chief
executive and administrative officer of the Board. Subject to the
general policies and decisions of the Board, the Chairman shall--
(1) appoint and supervise officers and employees, other
than regular and full-time employees in the immediate offices
of another member, necessary to carry out this Act;
(2) fix the pay of officers and employees necessary to
carry out this Act;
(3) distribute business among the officers, employees, and
administrative units of the Board; and
(4) supervise the expenditures of the Board.
(f) Quorum.--Five members of the Board are a quorum in carrying out
duties and powers of the Board.
(g) Offices, Bureaus, and Divisions.--The Board shall establish
offices necessary to carry out this Act, including an office to
investigate and report on police brutality. The Board shall establish
distinct and appropriately staffed bureaus, divisions, or offices to
investigate and report on incidents involving each of the following:
(1) Deaths occurring in police custody.
(2) Officer-involved shootings.
(3) Uses of force that result in severe bodily injury in
police custody.
(h) Chief Financial Officer.--The Chairman shall designate an
officer or employee of the Board as the Chief Financial Officer. The
Chief Financial Officer shall--
(1) report directly to the Chairman on financial management
and budget execution;
(2) direct, manage, and provide policy guidance and
oversight on financial management and property and inventory
control; and
(3) review the fees, rents, and other charges imposed by
the Board for services and things of value it provides, and
suggest appropriate revisions to those charges to reflect costs
incurred by the Board in providing those services and things of
value.
(i) Board Member Staff.--Each member of the Board shall select and
supervise regular and full-time employees in his or her immediate
office as long as any such employee has been approved for employment by
the designated agency ethics official under the same guidelines that
apply to all employees of the Board. Except for the Chairman, the
appointment authority provided by this subsection is limited to the
number of full-time equivalent positions, in addition to 1 senior
professional staff at a level not to exceed the GS-15 level and 1
administrative staff, allocated to each member through the Board's
annual budget and allocation process.
(j) Seal.--The Board shall have a seal that shall be judicially
recognized.
(k) Content of Reports.--A report under subsection (g) shall
include the following information:
(1) The demographic data of the individual killed or
injured by police.
(2) The demographics of the officers involved.
(3) The circumstances (such as date, time, location).
(4) The reason for the stop or the initial contact with the
subject, the events leading up to the shooting or use of force
(such as search or pursuit).
(5) The outcome (such as the types of force used, charges
filed, death injury).
SEC. 3. SPECIAL BOARDS OF INQUIRY ON POLICE BRUTALITY.
(a) Establishment.--If an incident involves a substantial question
history of excessive force use, the influence of historical racial
injustice, or civil rights infringement within the community, the Board
may establish a special board of inquiry composed of--
(1) one member of the Board acting as chairman; and
(2) 2 members representing the public, appointed by the
President on notification of the establishment of the special
board of inquiry.
(b) Qualifications and Conflicts of Interest.--The public members
of a special board of inquiry must be qualified by training and
experience to participate in the inquiry and may not have a pecuniary
interest in an aviation enterprise involved in the incident to be
investigated.
(c) Authority.--A special board of inquiry has the same authority
that the Board has under this Act.
SEC. 4. ADMINISTRATIVE.
(a) General Authority.--
(1) The Board, and when authorized by it, a member of the
Board, an administrative law judge employed by or assigned to
the Board, or an officer or employee designated by the Chairman
of the Board, may conduct hearings to carry out this Act,
administer oaths, and require, by subpoena or otherwise,
necessary witnesses and evidence.
(2) A witness or evidence in a hearing under paragraph (1)
of this subsection may be summoned or required to be produced
from any place in the United States to the designated place of
the hearing. A witness summoned under this subsection is
entitled to the same fee and mileage the witness would have
been paid in a court of the United States.
(3) A subpoena shall be issued under the signature of the
Chairman or the Chairman's delegate but may be served by any
person designated by the Chairman.
(4) If a person disobeys a subpoena, order, or inspection
notice of the Board, the Board may bring a civil action in a
district court of the United States to enforce the subpoena,
order, or notice. An action under this paragraph may be brought
in the judicial district in which the person against whom the
action is brought resides, is found, or does business. The
court may punish a failure to obey an order of the court to
comply with the subpoena, order, or notice as a contempt of
court.
(b) Additional Powers.--
(1) The Board may--
(A) procure the temporary or intermittent services
of experts or consultants under section 3109 of title
5, United States Code;
(B) make agreements and other transactions
necessary to carry out this Act without regard to
section 3709 of the Revised Statutes (41 U.S.C. 5);
(C) use, when appropriate, available services,
equipment, personnel, and facilities of a department,
agency, or instrumentality of the United States
Government on a reimbursable or other basis;
(D) confer with employees and use services,
records, and facilities of State and local governmental
authorities;
(E) appoint advisory committees composed of
qualified private citizens and officials of the
Government and State and local governments as
appropriate;
(F) accept voluntary and uncompensated services
notwithstanding another law;
(G) accept gifts of money and other property;
(H) make contracts with nonprofit entities to carry
out studies related to duties and powers of the Board;
and
(I) negotiate and enter into agreements with
individuals and private entities and departments,
agencies, and instrumentalities of the government,
State and local governments, and governments of foreign
countries for the provision of facilities, incident-
related and technical services or training in police
misuse of force investigation theory and techniques,
and require that such entities provide appropriate
consideration for the reasonable costs of any
facilities, goods, services, or training provided by
the Board.
(2) The Board shall deposit in the Treasury amounts
received under paragraph (1)(I) of this subsection to be
credited as offsetting collections to the appropriation of the
Board. The Board shall maintain an annual record of collections
received under paragraph (1)(I) of this subsection.
(c) Submission of Certain Copies to Congress.--When the Board
submits to the President or the Director of the Office of Management
and Budget a budget estimate, budget request, supplemental budget
estimate, other budget information, a legislative recommendation,
prepared testimony for congressional hearings, or comments on
legislation, the Board must submit a copy to Congress at the same time.
An officer, department, agency, or instrumentality of the government
may not require the Board to submit the estimate, request, information,
recommendation, testimony, or comments to another officer, department,
agency, or instrumentality of the government for approval, comment, or
review before being submitted to Congress. The Board shall develop and
approve a process for the Board's review and comment or approval of
documents submitted to the President, Director of the Office of
Management and Budget, or Congress under this subsection.
(d) Liaison Committees.--The Chairman may determine the number of
committees that are appropriate to maintain effective liaison with
other departments, agencies, and instrumentalities of the Government,
State and local governmental authorities, and independent standard-
setting authorities that carry out programs and activities related to
misuse of force by law enforcement officers. The Board may designate
representatives to serve on or assist those committees.
(e) Inquiries.--The Board, or an officer or employee of the Board
designated by the Chairman, may conduct an inquiry to obtain
information related to police misuse of force after publishing notice
of the inquiry in the Federal Register. The Board or designated officer
or employee may require by order a department, agency, or
instrumentality of the government, a State or local governmental
authority, or a person transporting individuals or property in commerce
to submit to the Board a written report and answers to requests and
questions related to a duty or power of the Board. The Board may
prescribe the time within which the report and answers must be given to
the Board or to the designated officer or employee. Copies of the
report and answers shall be made available for public inspection.
(f) Regulations.--The Board may prescribe regulations to carry out
this Act.
(g) Overtime Pay.--
(1) In general.--Subject to the requirements of this
section and notwithstanding paragraphs (1) and (2) of section
5542(a) of title 5, for an employee of the Board whose basic
pay is at a rate which equals or exceeds the minimum rate of
basic pay for GS-10 of the General Schedule, the Board may
establish an overtime hourly rate of pay for the employee with
respect to work performed at the scene of an incident
(including travel to or from the scene) and other work that is
critical to an incident investigation in an amount equal to one
and one-half times the hourly rate of basic pay of the
employee. All of such amount shall be considered to be premium
pay.
(2) Limitation on overtime pay to an employee.--An employee
of the Board may not receive overtime pay under paragraph (1),
for work performed in a calendar year, in an amount that
exceeds 15 percent of the annual rate of basic pay of the
employee for such calendar year.
(3) Limitation on total amount of overtime pay.--The Board
may not make overtime payments under paragraph (1) for work
performed in any fiscal year in a total amount that exceeds 1.5
percent of the amount appropriated to carry out this Act for
that fiscal year.
(4) Basic pay defined.--In this subsection, the term
``basic pay'' includes any applicable locality-based
comparability payment under section 5304 of title 5 (or similar
provision of law) and any special rate of pay under section
5305 of title 5 (or similar provision of law).
(5) Annual report.--Not later than September 30, 2026, the
Board shall submit to the House Committees on the Judiciary and
Oversight and Government Reform and Senate Committees on the
Judiciary and Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs a
report identifying the total amount of overtime payments made
under this subsection in the preceding fiscal year, and the
number of employees whose overtime pay under this subsection
was limited in that fiscal year as a result of the 15 percent
limit established by paragraph (2).
(h) Investigative Officers.--The Board shall maintain at least 1
full-time employee in each State located more than 1,000 miles from the
nearest Board regional office to provide initial investigative response
to incidents the Board is empowered to investigate under this Act that
occur in that State.
SEC. 5. DISCLOSURE, AVAILABILITY, AND USE OF INFORMATION.
(a) General.--
(1) Public availability.--Except as provided in subsections
(b), (c), (d), and (f) of this section, a copy of a record,
information, or investigation submitted or received by the
Board, or a member or employee of the Board, shall be made
available to the public on identifiable request and at
reasonable cost. This subsection does not require the release
of information described by section 552(b) of title 5 or
protected from disclosure by another law of the United States.
(2) Deposit of receipts.--The Board shall deposit in the
Treasury amounts received under paragraph (1) to be credited to
the appropriation of the Board as offsetting collections.
(3) Protection of voluntary submission of information.--
Notwithstanding any other provision of law, neither the Board,
nor any agency receiving information from the Board, shall
disclose voluntarily provided safety-related information if
that information is not related to the exercise of the Board's
investigation authority under this Act and if the Board finds
that the disclosure of the information would inhibit the
voluntary provision of that type of information.
(b) Training of Board Employees and Others.--The Board may conduct
training of its employees in those subjects necessary for the proper
performance of investigations. The Board may also authorize attendance
at courses given under this subsection by other government personnel,
personnel of foreign governments, and personnel from industry or
otherwise who have a requirement for investigation training. The Board
may require non-Board personnel to reimburse some or all of the
training costs, and amounts so reimbursed shall be credited to the
appropriation of the Board as offsetting collections.
SEC. 6. REPORTS AND STUDIES.
(a) Periodic Reports.--The Board shall report periodically to
Congress, departments, agencies, and instrumentalities of the United
States Government and State and local governmental authorities
concerned with the misuse of force by public safety departments, and
other interested persons. The report shall--
(1) advocate meaningful responses to reduce the likelihood
of incidents similar to those investigated by the Board; and
(2) propose recommendations for adjudication to the local,
State and Federal Government, as well as the public.
Additionally, if the Board sees fit, it can make a wide-range of
recommendations for reforms to police procedures, adjustment to local,
State or Federal law, or manufacturing or acquisition changes related
to the weapons and equipment issued to the police force.
(b) Studies, Investigations, and Other Reports.--The Board also
shall--
(1) carry out special studies and investigations regarding
law enforcement oversight;
(2) examine techniques and methods of police misuse of
force investigation and periodically publish recommended
procedures for investigations;
(3) prescribe requirements for persons reporting incidents
that--
(A) may be investigated by the Board under this
Act; or
(B) involve public safety departments;
(4) evaluate, examine the effectiveness of, and publish