Criminal History Access Act of 2025
- Bill Number
- S. 1712
- Origin Chamber
- Senate
- Congress
- 119th Congress, Session 1
- Policy Area
- Law
- Status
- Introduced
- Latest Action
- 2025-05-12: Read twice and referred to the Committee on the Judiciary.
- Last Updated
- 2026-06-10T11:03:26Z
AI-Generated Summary
Purpose
The Criminal History Access Act of 2025 aims to allow state agencies responsible for setting standards for law enforcement officers to access federal criminal history records. This would help these agencies verify the backgrounds of officers during hiring, training, and certification processes.
Key Provisions
- Definitions:
- Peace officer standards and training agency: A state agency authorized by state law to establish standards for hiring, training, ethical conduct, and retaining law enforcement officers through certification, licensing, or similar processes.
- State: Includes the 50 U.S. states, the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico, the Virgin Islands, Guam, American Samoa, the Northern Mariana Islands, and other U.S. territories or possessions.
- Amendments to Federal Law: Updates Section 534(e) of Title 28 of the U.S. Code (which governs the FBI's handling of criminal identification records) to explicitly include peace officer standards and training agencies as entities eligible to receive these records.
- Implementation: The U.S. Attorney General must revise relevant regulations (specifically, Part 20 of Title 28 of the Code of Federal Regulations) within 180 days of the bill's enactment to support this access.
Significant Changes to Existing Law
- Expands the list of authorized recipients of FBI-maintained criminal history records under 28 U.S.C. § 534(e). Previously, access was limited to certain law enforcement and government entities; this adds state-level training and standards agencies, enabling them to obtain federal records for officer vetting.
- Requires regulatory updates to align federal rules with the new access provisions, ensuring procedural consistency.
Potential Impacts
- On Government Agencies: State peace officer standards agencies gain easier access to federal criminal data, potentially streamlining background checks and improving oversight of law enforcement hiring and retention. The FBI and Department of Justice may see increased record requests, requiring minor administrative adjustments.
- On Citizens: Law enforcement applicants and officers could face more thorough federal background reviews, which might enhance public trust in police standards but could also raise privacy concerns for individuals whose records are accessed.
- On International Relations: No direct impacts, as the bill focuses on domestic U.S. law enforcement processes.
Main Stakeholders Affected
- State Agencies: Peace officer standards and training boards or commissions in states and territories, which will directly benefit from expanded access to federal records.
- Law Enforcement Personnel: Officers and applicants subject to certification, as their backgrounds will be more comprehensively checked against federal databases.
- Federal Entities: The FBI (for record maintenance) and the U.S. Attorney General (for regulatory oversight).
- General Public: Indirectly affected through potentially higher standards for law enforcement accountability.
Notable Legal, Constitutional, or Political Implications
- Legal: Strengthens federal-state coordination on criminal background checks without altering core privacy protections under existing federal regulations (e.g., the Criminal History Record Information regulations in 28 C.F.R. Part 20), which limit use to official purposes and require safeguards against misuse.
- Constitutional: Aligns with the federal government's authority to manage interstate criminal records (under the Commerce Clause and necessary-and-proper powers) and does not appear to infringe on individual rights, as access is restricted to authorized government entities for public safety purposes.
- Political: Could foster bipartisan support for improving law enforcement integrity, especially amid ongoing debates on police reform, but may spark discussions on balancing access to records with personal privacy rights. No major partisan divides are evident from the bill's text.
This summary was generated by AI and may contain inaccuracies. Refer to the official source document for the authoritative text.
Sponsor
Cosponsors (5)
Sen. Whitehouse, Sheldon [D-RI], Sen. Tillis, Thomas [R-NC], Sen. Budd, Ted [R-NC], Sen. Shaheen, Jeanne [D-NH], Sen. Cortez Masto, Catherine [D-NV]
Recent Actions
- 2025-05-12: Read twice and referred to the Committee on the Judiciary.
- 2025-05-12: Introduced in Senate
Bill Versions
- Criminal History Access Act of 2025 — issued 2025-05-12 — PDF (3 pages)