Office of Inspector General Law Enforcement Act of 1990

Office of Inspector General Law Enforcement Act of 1990 - Amends the Inspector General Act of 1978 to grant criminal investigators of the Offices of Inspector General who perform any duty of a law enforcement officer the authority to: (1) obtain and execute search and arrest warrants and serve subpoenas and summonses; (2) make felony arrests and arrests without warrant for offenses against the United States committed in their presence; and (3) carry and use firearms.

 
HR 4149 IH
101st CONGRESS
2d Session
 H. R. 4149
To provide law enforcement authority for criminal investigators of Offices
of Inspectors General, and for other purposes.
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
March 1, 1990
Mr. STAGGERS introduced the following bill; which was referred jointly to
the Committees on Government Operations and the Judiciary
A BILL
To provide law enforcement authority for criminal investigators of Offices
of Inspectors General, and for other purposes.
  Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United
  States of America in Congress assembled, That this Act may be cited as the
  `Office of Inspector General Law Enforcement Act of 1990'.
SEC. 2. FINDINGS.
  The Congress finds that--
  (1) the lack of full law enforcement authority for criminal investigators
  of the Offices of Inspectors General has severely impacted recruitment,
  retention and morale of such investigators;
  (2) the Offices of Inspectors General in the Federal Government have lost
  at least 300 criminal investigators to agencies with full law enforcement
  authority;
  (3) many such investigators are often at risk because they are in one man
  posts of duty;
  (4) deputization of such investigators to authorize full law enforcement
  powers may take as long as six months;
  (5) such investigators are required to meet the same experience and training
  requirements as agents with full law enforcement authority; and
  (6) the system of operating Offices of Inspectors General with investigators
  who may not exercise full law enforcement authority is inefficient.
SEC. 3. LAW ENFORCEMENT AUTHORITY FOR CRIMINAL INVESTIGATORS OF THE OFFICES
OF INSPECTOR GENERAL.
  The Inspector General Act of 1978 (5 U.S.C. App.) is amended by inserting
  after section 6 the following new section:
`LAW ENFORCEMENT AUTHORITY FOR CRIMINAL INVESTIGATORS OF THE OFFICE OF
INSPECTOR GENERAL
  `Sec. 6A. (a) Pursuant to regulations promulgated by the Inspector General
  of an establishment, Office of Inspector General criminal investigators
  who perform any duty of a law enforcement officer as described under
  section 8331(20) or 8401(17) of title 5, United States Code, for the
  purpose of conducting investigations concerning violations of the laws
  of the United States related to the programs, personnel and operations of
  the establishment may--
  `(1) obtain and execute search and arrest warrants, and serve subpoenas
  and summonses issued under the authority of the United States;
  `(2) make arrests without warrant for any offense against the United States
  committed in their presence, or for any felony cognizable under the laws
  of the United States if they have reasonable grounds to believe that the
  person to be arrested has committed or is committing such felony; and
  `(3) carry and use firearms.
  `(b) The regulations promulgated by the Inspector General shall comply
  with policies of the Attorney General of the United States, the Federal
  Rules of Criminal Procedure, and other applicable laws and regulations.'