§1909 Inspector General for the United States Capitol Police

Summary

Creates an Office of the Inspector General inside the United States Capitol Police and makes the Inspector General the head of that office. The Capitol Police Board must appoint the Inspector General in consultation with the Inspectors General of the Library of Congress, Government Publishing Office, and Government Accountability Office. The person must be chosen without regard to political party and based on integrity and skill in areas like accounting, auditing, law, management, finance, public administration, or investigations. The term is 5 years, and a person may be reappointed for up to 2 more terms. The Inspector General can only be removed early by a unanimous vote of the Board’s voting members, and the Board must tell the Committee on House Administration, the Senate Committee on Rules and Administration, and the House and Senate Appropriations Committees the reasons for removal. Pay for the Inspector General is $1,000 less than the Chief of the Capitol Police, and the Board had to name the first Inspector General within 180 days after August 2, 2005. The Inspector General must do the same duties as other federal inspectors general, write semiannual reports, and the Chief of the Capitol Police is treated as the head for reporting purposes and must notify the Board and the same four congressional committees within 30 days after getting a report. The Inspector General may take and investigate complaints from Capitol Police employees about law violations, mismanagement, waste, abuse of power, or serious dangers to public health or safety, including cases handled by Internal Affairs as of August 2, 2005. The Inspector General must keep a complainant’s identity secret unless the person agrees, the law requires it, or disclosure becomes unavoidable. Supervisors may not retaliate against employees for reporting to the Inspector General unless the report was knowingly false or made with willful disregard for the truth. The Inspector General cannot be blocked from doing the job by the Board, the Chief, or other Capitol Police officials. The Inspector General may use the same investigatory powers that other federal inspectors general have (with a couple of listed exceptions), hire staff and set their pay without following normal civil service rules, but no staff (other than the Inspector General) may be paid more than $500 less than the Inspector General’s pay. The Inspector General may also hire temporary services at rates up to the daily equivalent of the annual rate for Executive Schedule level IV. No one may perform the Office’s duties unless appointed by or contracted through the Inspector General. The Chief must provide office space, equipment, communications, and maintenance as the Inspector General needs. Any Capitol Police office that was doing these duties before the first Inspector General was appointed must transfer those functions to the new Office when the Inspector General starts, and that transfer may not cut employees’ pay or benefits except as allowed for pay rules above. This was effective August 2, 2005.