H.R. 8611 — Logan's Law

This section defines terms for purposes of this title, including (1) "Byrne JAG grant program," meaning the grant program established under subpart 1 of part E of title I of the Omnibus Crime Control and Safe Streets Act of 1968 (i.e., the Edward Byrne Memorial Justice Assistance Grant program, which provides formula and discretionary grants to states and localities for law enforcement, prosecution, courts, corrections, crime prevention, and related activities); (2) "Database," meaning the database established under section 102(a); (3) "Qualifying conviction," meaning a conviction for an offense punishable by imprisonment exceeding 180 days that has as an element (or by its nature involves a substantial risk of) the use, attempted use, or threatened use of physical force against the person or property of another (excluding convictions that have been expunged, vacated, set aside, or pardoned); (4) "State," meaning any state, the District of Columbia, commonwealth, territory, or possession of the United States, or tribal organization; and (5) "Tribal organization," meaning the term as defined in section 4 of the Indian Self-Determination and Education Assistance Act.

This section establishes a publicly accessible database, known as the Violent Criminal Offender Database, of individuals with qualifying convictions, to be created by the Attorney General not later than 180 days after enactment. The database must include federal and state records (utilizing FBI records to the extent practicable); be free of charge; be searchable by name, address, date of birth, sex, race, nationality, citizenship status, conviction type, current and historical probation status (including revocations or violations), jurisdiction, maximum and actual fines and imprisonment terms, plea agreement or trial status, sentencing judge, prosecuting office, and other categories the Attorney General deems appropriate for public safety; and be publicized to the public. The Attorney General must update the database at least quarterly and remove any person whose conviction no longer qualifies under section 101(3)(B).

This section requires each state receiving funds under the Byrne Justice Assistance Grant (Byrne JAG) program to submit to the Attorney General, not later than 180 days after enactment and on an ongoing basis thereafter, data on qualifying convictions from state and local courts necessary for compliance with section 102. For noncompliance, the section directs the Attorney General to withhold Byrne JAG funds from the state and, at the Attorney General's discretion, to distribute those withheld funds directly to local government units in the state without regard to statutory requirements on direct local grants. (Thus, noncompliant states forgo state-level Byrne JAG funding, which supports local criminal justice activities such as law enforcement and prosecution.)

This section directs the Attorney General to submit to the Senate and House Judiciary Committees, not later than 180 days after enactment, a report on criminal records sharing that (1) describes current processes for sharing fingerprint, warrant, and criminal history data between states and between states and the federal government; (2) identifies procedural burdens impeding such sharing that harm the public; (3) provides recommendations for the Department of Justice and Congress to ensure records are shared among state prosecutorial offices, law enforcement agencies, and the federal government to protect the public from offenders; and (4) identifies other detrimental matters, including laws or regulations, that hinder nationwide records sharing and result in inappropriately light sentences for repeat offenders.