Criminal History Access Act of 2026 in plain language
1: Short title
This section would let the Act be called the Criminal History Access Act.
Show official text
1. Short title This Act may be cited as the Criminal History Access Act .
2: Federal Bureau of Investigation
This section would change part of the federal law (section 534 of title 28) that governs the Attorney General's sharing of FBI criminal identification, crime, and other identification records. Under the rewritten provision, the Attorney General could exchange such records and information, for official use, with authorized officials of the federal government (including the United States Sentencing Commission), with the states (including state sentencing commissions and peace officer standards and training agencies), and with Indian tribes, cities, and penal and other institutions. The section would also add two new defined terms to that same law. A peace officer standards and training agency would be defined as an agency of a state that has statutory authority under that state's law to set standards for hiring, training, ethical conduct, and retention of the state's law enforcement officers through certification, licensing, or another similar qualification process. State would be defined to mean each of the several states of the United States, the District of Columbia, the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, the United States Virgin Islands, Guam, American Samoa, the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands, and any other territory or possession of the United States. The existing definitions of the terms railroad and police in that law would be kept but restructured as separate lettered items within the same numbered definitions paragraph. Not later than 180 days after the Act is enacted, the Attorney General would have to amend part 20 of title 28 of the Code of Federal Regulations as necessary to carry out this Act.
Show official text
2. Federal Bureau of Investigation (a) Attorney general duties Section 534 of title 28, United States Code, is amended— (1) in subsection (a)(4), by amending to read as follows: (4) exchange such records and information with, and for the official use of, authorized officials of the Federal Government, including the United States Sentencing Commission, the States, including State sentencing commissions and peace officer standards and training agencies, Indian tribes, cities, and penal and other institutions; and ; (2) in subsection (e)— (A) by striking section, the term and inserting the following: section— (1) the term ; (B) by striking (1) railroad and inserting the following: (A) railroad ; (C) by striking (2) police and inserting the following: (B) police ; (D) by striking the period at the end and inserting a semicolon; and (E) by adding at the end the following: (2) the term peace officer standards and training agency means an agency of a State with the statutory authority under State law to set standards for the hiring, training, ethical conduct, and retention of the law enforcement officers of the State through certification, licensing, or other similar qualification process; and (3) the term State means each of the several States of the United States, the District of Columbia, the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, the United States Virgin Islands, Guam, American Samoa, the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands, and any territory or possession of the United States. . (b) Regulations Not later than 180 days after the date of enactment of this Act, the Attorney General shall amend section part 20 of title 28, Code of Federal Regulations, as necessary to carry out the provisions of this Act.