Logan's Law

Key Points

• The bill would create a free, publicly searchable database of everyone convicted of a violent crime in the United States, including both federal and state records. The database would be run by the Attorney General and launched within 180 days of the bill becoming law.
• The database would let anyone search by a wide range of personal details, including name, address, date of birth, race, nationality, citizenship status, type of conviction, probation status, and the sentencing judge. This goes well beyond what most existing criminal record systems make publicly available.
• States that receive Byrne JAG federal grant money would be required to submit all violent conviction data to the database. If a state refuses, the Attorney General can cut off that state's grant funding and redirect the money directly to local governments within that state.
• A violent crime counts as a 'qualifying conviction' only if it is punishable by more than 180 days in prison and involves the use, attempted use, or threatened use of physical force. Convictions that have been expunged, vacated, or fully pardoned are excluded from the database.
• The bill also requires the Attorney General to report to Congress on barriers to sharing criminal records between states and recommend ways to fix those gaps. The goal is to prevent repeat offenders from getting lighter sentences because prosecutors in one state did not know about convictions in another.