Public Prosecutor Act

Public Prosecutor Act - Expresses the findings of Congress and declares that it is the purpose of this Act to establish within the Department of Justice, an official, independent of the President and the Attorney General, empowered and authorized to take such steps as necessary to assure the public that the criminal laws applicable to the conduct of officers and employees of the executive branch of the Government and of Presidential election campaigns are vigorously enforced. Title I: Judicial Code Amendments - Establishes the Office of the Public Prosecutor, under the direction of the Public Prosecutor appointed by the President, by and with the advice and consent of the Senate. Requires that no individual shall be appointed Public Prosecutor or Deputy Public Prosecutor unless such individual: (1) is eligible to receive security clearance; (2) is, and for a period of at least fifteen years to such appointment, has been admitted to the practice of law before the highest court of a State or States or of the District of Columbia and at the time of such appointment is a member in good standing of the bar; and (3) is, at the time of such appointment, a member in good standing of the bar of the Supreme Court of the United States and for a period of at least ten years prior to such appointment has been such a member. Sets forth the conditions under which the Public Prosecutor may be removed from office. Details the jurisdictional powers of the Public Prosecutor and details the relationship between him and the Attorney General. Enumerates the powers of the Public Prosecutor, including: (1) conduct investigations; (2) obtain and review evidence or information; (3) issue instructions to the Federal Bureau of Investigation and other domestic investigative agencies of the United States for the collection and delivery solely to the office of the Public Prosecutor of information or evidence relating to investigations; and (4) review any evidence being withheld on the ground that it is classified or relates to the national security of the United States, with specified exceptions. States that the Public Prosecutor shall have no authority to initiate any criminal proceeding against an individual then serving as the President of the United States, although he shall have authority to submit any evidence or information obtained by him which, in his judgment, furnishes reasonable grounds for a belief that an incumbent President has committed any impeachable offense to the Committee on the Judiciary of the House of Representatives. Title II: Criminal Code Amendments - Makes technical and conforming amendments to the criminal code provisions of the United States Code. Makes it unlawful for any officer or employee of the United States, or member of any grand jury convened at the request or under the direction of the Public Prosecutor who, in the course or under color of his duties, has come into the possession of evidence or information obtained by or in the possession of the Public Prosecutor to disclose such evidence to any person other than; (1) an officer or employee of the Office of the Public Prosecutor or the Department of Justice; (2) of a court in which a grand jury convened at the request or under the direction of the Public Prosecutor is proceeding; or (3) to a person who is likely to or has become the subject of an investigation by the Public Prosecutor. Permits the Public Prosecutor to make such public disclosure as permitted by law. Title III: Miscellaneous - Authorizes to be appropriated such sums as may be necessary to carry out the provisions of this Act.

Written by analysts at the Congressional Research Service and published on Congress.gov, not by Civibrief. Summarized at the "Introduced in Senate" stage on June 17, 1974. It describes the bill, it is not the legal text.

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