HALT Campus Sexual Violence Act

Hold Accountable and Lend Transparency on Campus Sexual Violence Act or the HALT Campus Sexual Violence Act

This bill amends the Department of Education Organization Act to require the Department of Education (ED) to make publicly available on its website:

• a list of the institutions of higher education (IHEs) under investigation, sanctions or investigation findings, and a copy of program reviews and resolution agreements entered into with ED or the Department of Justice (DOJ), under title IX of the Education Amendments of 1972 (Title IX) or title IV of the Civil Rights Act of 1964;
• the letter terminating the ED's monitoring of such agreements; and
• a list of the IHEs under investigation, and a copy of the program reviews, sanctions or investigation findings, and resolution agreements entered into with ED or DOJ, under the provisions of the Higher Education Act of 1965 known as the Jeanne Clery Disclosure of Campus Security Policy and Campus Crime Statistics Act (Clery Act).

ED may impose a civil penalty on an IHE that has violated a law under the jurisdiction of its Office for Civil Rights.

The bill amends the Clery Act to direct ED to develop a biennial sexual violence climate survey and include statistics from such survey in the annual campus security report provided to current and prospective students and employees.

An individual may allege a violation of the Clery Act in a judicial proceeding.

The maximum penalty for substantially misrepresenting the number, location, or nature of the crimes required to be reported under the Clery Act is increased.

The IHE's annual statement of its policy regarding domestic violence, dating violence, sexual assault, and stalking must:

• use simple and understandable language and clear formatting;
• be made available and posted on its public website and in conspicuous places in and around student housing and other campus buildings;
• be provided to each student group, team, or organization that has a specified connection to the IHE or is known by the IHE to act on an unaffiliated basis; and
• ensure that each of those groups distributes a copy of such policy to each of its members or applicants for membership.

ED and DOJ are directed to create a joint interagency Campus Sexual Violence Task Force.

Written by the nonpartisan Congressional Research Service. All summary versions on Congress.gov