# 119-hr-7278: Cost of Police Misconduct Act of 2026

119-hr-7278, Cost of Police Misconduct Act of 2026, is a 119th Congress bill sponsored by Rep. Beyer, Donald S. [D-VA-8] (D-VA); status introduced (as of 2026-04-21).

- Canonical: https://policyrisk.com/legislation/119-hr-7278
- As of: 2026-04-21
- Plain-text twin of the page above; the HTML and this file carry the same facts.

## Facts
- Bill: 119-hr-7278
- Congress: 119
- Title: Cost of Police Misconduct Act of 2026
- Status: introduced
- Introduced: 2026-01-30
- Sponsor: Rep. Beyer, Donald S. [D-VA-8] (D-VA)
- Cosponsors: 2
- Policy area: Crime and Law Enforcement
- Touches household money: no
- Last recorded action: 2026-04-21

## Summary

**Creates a national system to collect and publish data on police misconduct judgments and settlements.** This bill would require federal, state, and local agencies to report detailed annual data on allegations, personnel actions, demographics, and payments, and it would fund a public, searchable Department of Justice database. - Communities and civil rights organizations would get a public, searchable DOJ database of misconduct judgments and settlements, updated annually and launched within one year. - Federal, state, and local law enforcement agencies would face new reporting duties covering allegation type, officer and civilian demographics, personnel actions, and payment sources, with up to a 10% reduction in Byrne JAG or COPS on the Beat funds for noncompliance. - States and localities would have to disclose how settlements are paid, including insurance, bonds, and risk pools, and the Government Accountability Office would study patterns after two years to identify high-spending agencies, common causes, and recommendations.

## Cosponsors (2)

- Rep. McClellan, Jennifer L. [D-VA-4] (D-VA), 2026-01-30T00:00:00.000Z
- Del. Norton, Eleanor Holmes [D-DC-At Large] (D-DC), 2026-01-30T00:00:00.000Z

## Provisions PRIA read

- Government study of settlement costs: benefit, medium. If enacted, the bill would require the Government Accountability Office to study reported settlement and judgment data after two full years of collection. The GAO study would identify top causes of payouts, the agencies that spend the most, total and average amounts by state and government level, a…
- Public DOJ misconduct database: benefit, medium. If enacted, the bill would require the Attorney General to build a public, searchable database on DOJ.gov within one year. The database would show reported settlement and judgment data from federal, state, and local agencies. It would exclude personally identifiable information and follow confident…
- New police settlement reporting rules: mixed, medium. If enacted, the bill would require federal law enforcement agencies to collect detailed data on judgments and settlements tied to officer misconduct. Collection would start 120 days after enactment. Agencies would report yearly to the Attorney General within 60 days after year-end, and the AG may e…

## Related bills

- 119-hr-9877: Health Equity and Accountability Act of 2026
- 119-hr-6900: American Affordability Act of 2025
- 119-hr-8870: BUILD America 250 Act
- 119-hr-7977: Energy Bills Relief Act
- 119-hr-7973: Momnibus Act
- 119-hr-3971: Domestic Workers Bill of Rights Act

## Sources
- [119-hr-7278 on Congress.gov](https://www.congress.gov/bill/119th-congress/house-bill/7278)

## Related
- [119-hr-9877: Health Equity and Accountability Act of 2026](https://policyrisk.com/legislation/119-hr-9877)
- [119-hr-6900: American Affordability Act of 2025](https://policyrisk.com/legislation/119-hr-6900)
- [119-hr-8870: BUILD America 250 Act](https://policyrisk.com/legislation/119-hr-8870)
- [119-hr-7977: Energy Bills Relief Act](https://policyrisk.com/legislation/119-hr-7977)
- [119-hr-7973: Momnibus Act](https://policyrisk.com/legislation/119-hr-7973)
- [119-hr-3971: Domestic Workers Bill of Rights Act](https://policyrisk.com/legislation/119-hr-3971)
- [All bills in Congress](https://policyrisk.com/legislation)

Source: PRIA, https://policyrisk.com/legislation/119-hr-7278 (as of 2026-04-21).