Vote Smart's Synopsis:

Vote to pass a bill that authorizes United States Customs and Border Protection to waive polygraph examinations for certain individuals applying for law enforcement positions.

Highlights:

•  Authorizes the Commissioner of the United States Customs and Border Protection to waive the application of a polygraph examination for an individual applying for a law enforcement position if such individual is a current, full-time law enforcement officer employed by a state or local law enforcement agency and (Sec. 2):

• Has served as a law enforcement officer for 3 or more years with no break in service;

• Is authorized by law to engage in or supervise the prevention, detection, investigation, or prosecution of, or the incarceration of any individual for any violation of law, and has statutory powers for arrest or apprehension;

• Is not currently under investigation, has not been found to have engaged in criminal activity or serious misconduct, has not resigned from a law enforcement position under investigation or in place of termination, and has not been dismissed from a law enforcement position; and

• Has successfully completed a polygraph examination in the last 10 years as a condition of employment with such individual’s current law enforcement agency.

• Authorizes the Commissioner of the United States Customs and Border Protection to waive the application of a polygraph examination for an individual applying for a law enforcement position if such individual is a current, full-time law enforcement officer employed by a federal law enforcement agency and (Sec. 2):

• Has served as a law enforcement officer for 3 or more years with no break in service;

• Is authorized to make arrests, conduct investigations and searches, make seizures, carry firearms, and serve orders, warrants, and other processes;

• Is not currently under investigation, has not been found to have engaged in criminal activity or serious misconduct, has not resigned from a law enforcement position under investigation or in place of termination, and has not been dismissed from a law enforcement position; and

• Holds a current Tier 4 or Tier 5 background investigation.

• Authorizes the Commissioner of the United States Customs and Border Protection to waive the application of a polygraph examination for an individual applying for a law enforcement position if such individual is a member of the Armed Forces or a veteran, if such individual (Sec. 2):

• Has served in the Armed Forces for 3 or more years;

• Holds, or has held in the previous 5 years, a Secret, Top Secret, or Top Secret/Compartmented Information clearance, and was not granted any waivers to obtain such clearance;

• Holds, or has undergone in the previous 5 years, a current Tier 4 or Tier 5 background investigation; and

• Has received, or is eligible to receive, an honorable discharge from service in the Armed Forces and has not engaged in criminal activity or committed a serious civil or military offense under the Uniform Code of Military Justice.

• Authorizes the Commissioner to administer a polygraph examination to an individual who is eligible for such a waiver if information is discovered before the completion of a background investigation that results in a determination that such an examination is necessary (Sec. 3).

• Specifies that an individual who receives such a waiver is not exempt from other hiring requirements (Sec. 3).

Full Bill Text

Full Bill Text