Sec. 3. Hearing before a judge required
656 words·~3 min read·
/bill/116/hr/5779/ih/section-3A research copy — for the controlling text, always check the official state or federal source. Not legal advice.
In order for a State or unit of local government in a State to be eligible to receive Federal funding under subpart 1 of part E of title I of the Omnibus Crime Control and Safe Streets Act of 1968 ( 34 U.S.C. 10151 et seq.), the State shall comply with the requirements of this section. In the case of a law enforcement officer of a local law enforcement agency who uses deadly force against a person in the course of the officer’s employment, and thereby causes the death of that person, not later than 24 hours after the death occurs, the chief officer of the law enforcement agency of the locality in which the death occurred shall report the death to the elected prosecutor of that locality.
Not later than 24 hours after receiving notice under paragraph (1), the elected prosecutor of the locality in which the death occurred shall report the death to the Governor of that State. Not later than 3 days after receiving notice under subsection (b)(2), the Governor of the State in which the death occurred shall appoint a special prosecutor to present evidence on behalf of the State at a hearing before a judge in the appropriate court, in order to determine whether probable cause exists for the State to bring criminal charges against the law enforcement officer relating to the death of the person, which determination shall be made by the judge.
The Governor shall use a random process to select the special prosecutor from among all of the elected prosecutors in the State, excluding the elected prosecutor of the locality in which the death occurred. The hearing described in paragraph
(1)shall be held not later than 90 days after the appointment of the special prosecutor, unless the judge determines that good cause exists to delay the hearing. Except as determined appropriate by the presiding judge, in a hearing described in paragraph (1), the court shall remain open to the public, and upon scheduling the hearing the judge shall provide notice to the public of the date, time, and location of the hearing. Not later than 24 hours after receiving notice under subsection (b)(2), the Governor shall report the death to the chief officer of the State law enforcement agency of the State in which the death occurred, and the State law enforcement agency shall assume exclusive control of the investigation of the death during the pendency of the probable cause hearing. The chief officer of the law enforcement agency of the locality in which the death occurred shall cooperate with the special prosecutor and the chief officer of the State law enforcement agency by responding promptly to requests for information related to the death. Not later than 5 days after the conclusion of a hearing described in subsection (c), the judge presiding over the hearing shall issue the determination described in subsection
(c)in writing, and shall submit such determination to the elected prosecutor of the locality in which the death occurred. Such determination shall be made available to the public. Upon the conclusion of a hearing described in subsection (c), the special prosecutor shall submit written recommendations to the elected prosecutor of the locality in which the death occurred, including a recommendation regarding whether criminal charges should be brought against the law enforcement officer relating to the death of the person. Any applicable filing or other procedural deadlines are tolled during the pendency of the hearing described in subsection (c). The hearing described in subsection
(c)shall be purely advisory, and shall have no binding effect on the elected prosecutor of the locality in which the death occurred. After the conclusion of the hearing described in subsection (c), the elected prosecutor of the locality in which the death occurred shall retain prosecutorial discretion as to whether to bring charges against the law enforcement officer, including whether to hold a grand jury proceeding in the appropriate court.
Connectionstraces to 1
Traces to 1 document
U.S. Code
Citation graph
cites case law
Sec. 3
Hearing before a judge required
Cites 1Cited by 0 across 0 sources