Sponsors (17)
The bill makes police body-camera footage more accessible—boosting transparency, accountability, and victims' access to evidence—while shifting processing costs and privacy-redaction burdens onto local agencies and risking reduced federal support for some jurisdictions.
Members of the public — including people with disabilities and racial/ethnic minorities — gain free access to police body-worn and other camera footage, increasing transparency and public oversight of law enforcement.
Victims and their families can obtain copies of relevant footage at no cost, reducing barriers to evidence for civil and criminal matters and improving access to justice.
Local governments and law enforcement may see improved accountability and public trust because camera footage is more readily available to the public.
State and local governments that previously recouped fees will face increased expenses to process, copy, and produce footage, shifting costs to local budgets.
Processing and redaction burdens to protect privacy will increase workload for police, potentially diverting officer time from patrols or investigations and straining public-safety resources.
Some jurisdictions may forgo or be unable to comply with requirements tied to Byrne/COPS funding, which could reduce federal resources for local public-safety programs.
Based on analysis of 2 sections of legislative text.
Introduced January 15, 2026 by Rashida Tlaib · Last progress January 15, 2026
Conditions eligibility for federal Byrne and COPS grant programs on a certification that the state, local government, and any law enforcement agency receiving funds do not charge any money, fees, or court costs to members of the public who request, view, access, or obtain copies of certain law enforcement video footage (including body-worn, dash, jail/correctional, and similar footage). Jurisdictions that cannot provide this certification are made ineligible to receive those covered grant funds. The bill contains no new appropriations or program authorizations; it only ties grant eligibility to the no-fee certification.