H.R. 5361 — George Floyd Justice in Policing Act of 2025

This section revises the federal criminal statute prohibiting deprivation of rights under color of law by (1) changing the required mental state to knowingly or recklessly (from willfully); (2) eliminating the death penalty for offenses resulting in death or involving kidnapping or attempted aggravated sexual abuse or killing (previously available in addition to life imprisonment); and (3) clarifying that an act results in death if it was a substantial factor contributing to the person's death. (Thus, the change in mental state broadens potential criminal liability to include reckless conduct by officials, while the causation standard applies to the remaining penalties of life imprisonment for the most serious cases.)

This section provides that neither (1) good faith or a belief that conduct was lawful, nor (2) lack of clearly established rights or unclear state of the law, constitutes a defense or immunity in any action under 42 U.S.C. 1983 against a local law enforcement officer (as defined in sec. 2 of the George Floyd Justice in Policing Act of 2025) or in any action under any source of law against a federal investigative or law enforcement officer (as defined in 28 U.S.C. 2680(h)). (Thus, this eliminates qualified immunity—a judicial doctrine shielding officials from liability absent violation of clearly established law—for such officers in civil rights suits against state and local actors and other claims against federal officers.)

This section amends the pattern or practice statute (34 U.S.C. 12601), which authorizes the Attorney General to file civil suits against governmental authorities—including law enforcement officers and officials administering juvenile justice—for engaging in patterns or practices that deprive persons of constitutional rights, by (1) expanding the scope of unlawful conduct to include prosecutors; (2) granting the Attorney General subpoena authority, enforceable in federal district court, to investigate such violations; (3) authorizing state attorneys general to bring similar civil suits in federal court within their states, with equivalent subpoena authority; (4) clarifying that such state suits do not limit the Attorney General's authority; and (5) requiring the DOJ Civil Rights Division to publish annual public reports, beginning one year after enactment, on the number of investigations commenced, resolved, and pending. This section further (1) authorizes $100 million annually for FY2026 through FY2028 in grants to states to conduct pattern or practice investigations; (2) amends the excessive force data collection statute (34 U.S.C. 12602) to authorize state attorneys general to collect such data for their investigations (while protecting identities) and to limit federal data use to research or statistical purposes; and (3) prohibits, beginning in the first fiscal year after one year from enactment, state or local recipients of Byrne Justice Assistance Grants or COPS grants from allocating funds to law enforcement agencies with contracts (including collective bargaining agreements) that impede the Attorney General's enforcement of equitable or declaratory relief or conflict with consent decrees.

This section establishes a grant program under which the Attorney General may award grants to states and Indian tribes that have enacted statutes requiring independent investigations (i.e., by agency, civilian review board, state attorney general, independent prosecutor, inter-agency agreement, or similar impartial procedure) of nonfederal law enforcement officers' use of deadly force resulting in death or injury, and authorizes $750,000,000 for FY2026 through FY2028. The section further amends the Community Oriented Policing Services (COPS) grant program (34 U.S.C. 10381 et seq.) to (1) allow grants to develop best practices for and create civilian review boards and (2) define "civilian review board" as an independent, adequately funded administrative entity that investigates civilian complaints against law enforcement officers, with investigatory authority and subpoena power, representative community diversity, policymaking authority, advocates for civilian complainants, authority to conduct hearings, and statistical studies on complaint trends.

This section defines five terms for purposes of this subtitle: (1) community-based organization (i.e., a grassroots organization that monitors police misconduct with local or national presence, such as the NAACP or ACLU); (2) law enforcement accreditation organization (e.g., the Commission on Accreditation for Law Enforcement Agencies (CALEA)); (3) law enforcement agency (i.e., a state, local, Indian tribal, or campus public agency engaged in the prevention, detection, investigation, prosecution, or adjudication of criminal laws); (4) professional law enforcement association (e.g., the International Association of Chiefs of Police (IACP) or Fraternal Order of Police (FOP)); and (5) professional civilian oversight organization (e.g., the National Association for Civilian Oversight of Law Enforcement (NACOLE)).

This section directs the Attorney General to (1) analyze existing law enforcement accreditation standards nationwide, including those from the 2015 President's Task Force on 21st Century Policing; (2) recommend, in consultation with stakeholders, additional uniform standards promoting community accountability and a guardian mentality (e.g., early warning systems, use of force procedures, civilian review, data transparency, video monitoring, and recruitment training); and (3) partner with accreditation organizations, law enforcement associations, labor and community groups, and civilian oversight entities to further develop standards and encourage accreditation of Federal, State, local, and Tribal law enforcement agencies. It further amends the application requirements for Edward Byrne Memorial Justice Assistance Grant (Byrne JAG) program funds by adding a new assurance (7) that applicants will use not less than 5% (from 0%) of each fiscal year's grant award to assist law enforcement agencies, including campus public safety departments, in gaining or maintaining accreditation from certified organizations. (The Byrne JAG program provides formula grants to states and localities to support criminal justice system improvements.) Finally, it directs the Attorney General to allocate Department of Justice discretionary grant funding only to states or units of local government that require their law enforcement agencies to gain and maintain such accreditation.

This section amends the application requirements for Edward Byrne Memorial Justice Assistance Grant Program (Byrne JAG) grants—formula grants to states and localities for criminal justice purposes—by adding a new assurance that applicants will use not less than 5% of each fiscal year's grant award to study and implement effective management, training, recruiting, hiring, and oversight standards and programs promoting community and problem-solving policing strategies. The section also establishes a new grant program under which the Attorney General may award grants to community-based organizations for similar law enforcement standards and programs or for public safety strategies not reliant on law enforcement responses (e.g., alternatives to traditional policing).(1) Permitted uses of both the Byrne JAG 5% set-aside and new grants include studying law enforcement management standards (e.g., use of force, racial profiling, civilian review boards) and developing or piloting training, hiring, and oversight programs to address misconduct.(2) Pilot programs must incorporate training on de-escalation and use of force, diverse recruitment and promotion comporting with title VII of the Civil Rights Act, oversight mechanisms (e.g., civilian review boards, early warning systems), youth justice and school safety best practices (e.g., reducing school-based arrests), and victim counseling services.(Thus, grantees must dedicate significant funds to police reform initiatives.) The section further authorizes the Attorney General to provide technical assistance (including misconduct reduction models developed with community input), use Department of Justice components for implementation, and prescribe application procedures.

This section directs the Attorney General to conduct a nationwide study on the prevalence and effects of any law, rule, or procedure allowing a law enforcement officer to delay responses to questions from a local internal affairs officer or review board concerning investigative integrity and prosecution of law enforcement misconduct, including pre-interview warnings and termination policies. It requires (1) an initial analysis of existing state laws, rules, and procedures to identify material investigatory issues, with a report to Congress within 120 days of enactment that is made public and identifies jurisdictions for further study; and (2) data collection from a representative, statistically significant sample of those jurisdictions, with a report to Congress within two years of enactment published in the Federal Register.

This section authorizes appropriations for FY2026, in addition to other authorized sums, of (1) $25 million for Department of Justice enforcement of civil pattern-or-practice investigations into constitutional violations by law enforcement officers or juvenile justice officials (34 U.S.C. 12601), criminal prosecutions under 18 U.S.C. §§241-242 (i.e., conspiracy against rights and deprivation of rights under color of law), and related administrative actions including consent decrees; and (2) $3.3 million for conflict resolution activities by the Department of Justice's Community Relations Service (i.e., mediation of community disputes involving law enforcement and civil rights).

This section establishes within the Department of Justice the Task Force on Law Enforcement Oversight, composed of at least one individual appointed by the Attorney General from each of the following: (1) specified sections of the Civil Rights Division (Special Litigation, Criminal, Federal Coordination and Compliance, Employment Litigation, and Disability Rights); (2) Office of Justice Programs; (3) Office of Community Oriented Policing Services; (4) FBI Corruption/Civil Rights Section; (5) Community Relations Service; (6) Office of Tribal Justice; and (7) DOJ liaison unit for civilian review boards. The task force shall consult with professional law enforcement associations, labor organizations, and community-based organizations to coordinate the detection and referral of complaints alleging law enforcement misconduct. Authorizes $5 million annually to carry out the task force.

This section requires each Federal, State, Tribal, and local law enforcement agency to report to the Attorney General data on the following practices, broken down by the race, ethnicity, age, and gender of involved officers and members of the public: (1) traffic violation stops; (2) pedestrian stops; (3) frisk and body searches; and (4) instances where officers used deadly force, including a description of when and where deadly force was used and whether it resulted in death, any deadly force directed against an officer and whether it resulted in injury or death, and the agency's justification if it determines the use was justified. Agencies must retain such records for at least four years. This section withholds from any noncompliant state all amounts otherwise allocated under the Edward Byrne Memorial Justice Assistance Grant (Byrne JAG) program (i.e., formula grants to states and localities for criminal justice purposes, allocated under 34 U.S.C. 10156(a) based 50% on population and 50% on violent crime rates, with a 0.25% minimum per state) as well as funds from other Department of Justice law enforcement assistance programs, reallocating such amounts to compliant states. The Attorney General must issue implementing regulations.

This section directs the Attorney General to establish, not later than 180 days after enactment, a National Police Misconduct Registry to be maintained by the Department of Justice containing data on all federal and local law enforcement officers, including (1) complaints aggregated by outcome (credible or resulting in discipline, pending, or exonerated/unfounded/not sustained) and disaggregated by use of force or racial profiling; (2) discipline records disaggregated by use of force or racial profiling; (3) termination records and reasons disaggregated by use of force or racial profiling; (4) certification records under sec. 202; (5) lawsuit and settlement records; and (6) resignations or retirements while under active use-of-force investigations. It requires (1) heads of federal law enforcement agencies to submit such data to the Attorney General not later than one year after enactment and every six months thereafter; and (2) states receiving Byrne Justice Assistance Grant funds to submit such data every 180 days beginning in the first fiscal year after one year post-enactment, covering the state and all local law enforcement agencies within it. This section further requires the Attorney General to make the registry publicly searchable on a DOJ website for individual officers' use-of-force or racial-profiling misconduct records, without superseding Privacy Act requirements (5 U.S.C. §552a). (Thus, personal privacy protections continue to apply to the extent consistent with public disclosure mandates.)

This section conditions eligibility for Byrne Justice Assistance Grant program funds for states and units of local government (other than Indian tribes) on compliance with law enforcement officer certification requirements, beginning in the first fiscal year that begins after one year following enactment. Specifically, recipients must (1) submit evidence to the Attorney General of having a certification and decertification program consistent with Attorney General rules, and (2) submit to the National Police Misconduct Registry records showing all officers completed state certification requirements in the prior one-year period. The section further directs the Attorney General to make registry information available to law enforcement agencies for compliance and hiring purposes and to issue rules for the section, including uniform reporting standards.

This section establishes definitions for purposes of this subtitle, including (1) local educational agency, with the meaning given in section 8101 of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 7801); (2) local law enforcement officer, with the meaning given in section 2 and including a school resource officer; (3) school, meaning an elementary school or secondary school as defined in section 8101 of such Act; and (4) school resource officer, meaning a sworn law enforcement officer assigned by the employing law enforcement agency to, contracting with, or employed by a local educational agency or school.

This section establishes use-of-force incident reporting requirements for states and Indian tribes receiving funds under the Byrne Justice Assistance Grant (Byrne JAG) program, beginning in the first fiscal year starting one year after enactment of this Act. States and tribes must (1) submit quarterly reports to the Attorney General on incidents involving deadly force by local or tribal officers against civilians, shootings of officers by civilians, deaths or arrests of officers, other uses of force, deaths in custody, and uses of force in arrests or booking (excluding incidents reported under the Death in Custody Reporting Act, 34 U.S.C. 12104(a)(2)); (2) establish reporting systems and policies and submit data collection plans; (3) conduct annual audits of reporting systems; (4) retain records for at least four years; and (5) verify reports against public sources prior to submission. Noncompliance subjects a state or tribe to up to a 10-percent reduction in Byrne JAG funds for the fiscal year (withheld amounts reallocated to compliant recipients), and requires schools to provide data on school resource officers; not later than one year after enactment and annually thereafter, the Attorney General must publish the reported data.

This section authorizes the Attorney General to award grants to eligible law enforcement agencies—tribal agencies or those in states receiving Byrne Justice Assistance Grant program funds that employ no more than 100 officers, maintain a publicly available use-of-force policy, and operate a public complaint system for use-of-force incidents (with searchable data and investigation status updates)—to carry out specified activities related to use-of-force reporting. Grant funds may be used for (1) assisting states or tribes in complying with reporting requirements under section 223; (2) establishing systems to investigate and report incidents as required by the complaint system; (3) public awareness campaigns (e.g., tip lines, hotlines, and announcements) to collect information on use of force by or against officers, including shootings; and (4) use-of-force training, including de-escalation, implicit bias, crisis intervention, and adolescent development.

This section directs the Attorney General, not later than one year after enactment and annually thereafter, to audit and review information provided under this subtitle to determine compliance by each state or Indian tribe specified in section 223(a)(1). It further requires data reported under this subtitle to be collected and reported (1) consistently with existing Department of Justice programs on local law enforcement officer encounters with civilians and (2) consistently with civil rights laws for public distribution; and directs the Attorney General to issue guidelines on section 223 reporting requirements not later than one year after enactment, after seeking public comment.

This section requires the head of each federal law enforcement agency to submit quarterly to the Attorney General, pursuant to guidelines established by the Attorney General, the information required to be reported by a state or Indian tribe under section 223.

This section establishes definitions for purposes of this subtitle, including (1) "covered program," meaning any program or activity funded by a Byrne grant program or the COPS grant program (excluding activities specified in 34 U.S.C. 10381 et seq.); (2) "hit rate," meaning the percentage of stops and searches yielding drugs, guns, or other items leading to arrest; (3) "law enforcement agency" and "law enforcement agent"; (4) "racial profiling," generally meaning reliance on race, ethnicity, or similar characteristics in investigatory activities (except for tribal officers in Indian country—i.e., as defined in 18 U.S.C. §1151—making jurisdictional determinations based on race, ethnicity, or tribal affiliation); (5) "routine or spontaneous investigatory activities" (e.g., traffic stops, pedestrian stops, frisks, searches, and immigration workplace investigations); and (6) "reasonable request" for information (excluding immaterial, unduly personal, or burdensome requests).

This section directs the Attorney General to establish training programs for law enforcement officers covering (1) racial profiling, implicit bias, and procedural justice and (2) duty to intervene when another officer uses excessive force; requires federal law enforcement agencies to mandate the training for their officers; and, beginning in the first fiscal year after one year post-enactment, limits eligibility for Byrne Justice Assistance Grant (Byrne JAG) funds—formula grants to states and units of local government for specified criminal justice purposes—to recipients that require their officers to complete the trainings. The section also amends the Byrne JAG statute (34 U.S.C. 10152(a)(1)) to add as a new eligible use "(J) Training programs for law enforcement officers, including training programs on use of force and a duty to intervene."

This section prohibits no-knock warrants in federal drug cases by amending the Controlled Substances Act (21 U.S.C. 879) to require law enforcement officers to provide notice of authority and purpose before executing a search warrant authorized under that section. (Thus, federal warrants relating to controlled substances offenses—previously executable at any time of day or night with probable cause—must now include a knock-and-announce requirement.) It further withholds Community Oriented Policing Services (COPS) grant program funds from states and units of local government beginning in the first fiscal year one year after enactment unless they have laws prohibiting no-knock warrants in drug cases. The section defines a no-knock warrant as one allowing entry without announcing the officer's presence or intention to enter.

This section (1) defines a chokehold or carotid hold as the application of pressure to the throat or windpipe, maneuvers restricting blood or oxygen flow to the brain, or carotid artery restraints preventing or hindering breathing or reducing air intake; (2) withholds funds under the Byrne Justice Assistance Grant program (i.e., formula and discretionary grants to states and localities for law enforcement and criminal justice) and Community Oriented Policing Services (COPS) grant program (i.e., grants for police hiring, training, and technology) from any state or unit of local government lacking a law prohibiting law enforcement use of such holds, beginning in the first fiscal year after one year from enactment; and (3) amends the federal criminal civil rights statute (18 U.S.C. §242, prohibiting willful deprivations of constitutional rights or unequal punishments under color of law) to specify that chokeholds or carotid holds constitute a punishment, pain, or penalty for purposes of that section. (Thus, such holds by officials may trigger §242 penalties—including up to one year imprisonment generally, 10 years if bodily injury results, or life/death if death results—when applied willfully to deprive rights or unequally based on alien status, color, or race.)

This section establishes standards governing the use of force by federal law enforcement officers, including definitions of deescalation tactics and techniques (i.e., actions to stabilize situations and gain voluntary compliance), necessary force (i.e., no reasonable alternative under the totality of the circumstances), and reasonable alternatives (i.e., non-risk-increasing tactics such as warnings and repositioning; for deadly force, includes less lethal force). It prohibits less lethal force unless necessary and proportional to effectuate an arrest with probable cause and reasonable alternatives are exhausted; prohibits deadly force unless it is a last resort to prevent imminent serious bodily injury or death to the officer or another person, creates no substantial risk of injury to a third person, and reasonable alternatives are exhausted; and requires a verbal warning (including self-identification and surrender demand) when feasible prior to using force. It directs the Attorney General, within 120 days of enactment and after consultation with civil rights organizations, police victims, and law enforcement associations, to issue guidance to federal agencies on prohibited force types and assessing necessity—particularly for vulnerable populations (i.e., pregnant individuals, children and youth under 21 years of age, elderly persons, persons with mental/behavioral/physical disabilities or impairments, persons impaired by drugs/alcohol, persons with serious medical conditions, and persons with limited English proficiency)—and to provide related training to officers. It amends 18 U.S.C. Chapter 51 by adding §1123 to limit the justification defense in prosecutions for murder (§1111) or manslaughter (§1112), barring it if an officer's use of less lethal or deadly force violates these standards or if the officer's gross negligence contributed to the need for force.

This section limits the Department of Defense's authority under the Law Enforcement Support Office (LESO) program, also known as the 1033 program, to transfer excess personal property—including small arms, ammunition, and controlled equipment such as mine-resistant ambush-protected vehicles—to federal and state law enforcement agencies. (As background, the program has transferred more than $6.8 billion in property, including $504 million in FY2017, to agencies for law enforcement activities.) Specifically, the section (1) limits suitable uses to counterterrorism and disaster-related emergency preparedness activities (from counterdrug, counterterrorism, disaster-related emergency preparedness, and border security activities); (2) eliminates the requirement to consult with the Director of National Drug Control Policy; (3) strikes the preference for transfers used in counterdrug, counterterrorism, disaster-related emergency preparedness, or border security activities; and (4) adds transfer conditions requiring recipients to submit a description of expected property use, certify return of surplus property to the Department of Defense, and—for non-federal recipients—certify notification of the local community via public website, postings at prominent locations for at least 30 days, and approval by the city council or other local governing body. The section further requires (1) annual Department of Defense certifications to Congress that recipients have accounted for all transferred controlled property—including arms, ammunition, and items described in new subsection (f) transferred before enactment—and that non-federal recipients have complied with conditions (b)(5) through (b)(8), prohibiting further transfers absent certification; and (2) annual Department of Defense reports to Congress, before making property available, describing the property and certifying legal compliance.

This section amends the Edward Byrne Memorial Justice Assistance Grant Program (Byrne JAG)—which provides formula grants to states and localities for criminal justice purposes—to authorize law enforcement programs funded under the program to develop best practices for and create local task forces on public safety innovation. These task forces, defined as administrative entities formed by partnerships between community-based organizations and local stakeholders, may develop innovative law enforcement and non-law enforcement strategies to enhance equitable public safety, repair trust between police and communities, and improve officer accountability. The section further requires program assessments for Byrne JAG-funded crisis intervention teams to include a report on best practices. Finally, the section amends the Community Oriented Policing Services (COPS) grant program—used to advance community policing—to authorize grants (1) to recruit, hire, incentivize, retain, develop, and train new or relocating officers who reside in or near the communities they serve, particularly those with poor police-community relations or high crime; (2) to collect data on such officer relocations and their impact on crime; and (3) to develop and publicly report strategies and timelines for recruiting, hiring, promoting, retaining, developing, and training a diverse and inclusive law enforcement workforce consistent with merit principles and applicable law.