District of Columbia Cash Bail Reform Act of 2025

[Congressional Bills 119th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 5214 Introduced in House (IH)]

<DOC>






119th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                H. R. 5214

To require mandatory pretrial and post conviction detention for crimes 
 of violence and dangerous crimes and require mandatory cash bail for 
 certain offenses that pose a threat to public safety or order in the 
             District of Columbia, and for other purposes.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                           September 8, 2025

Ms. Stefanik (for herself, Mr. James, and Mr. Moore of North Carolina) 
 introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on 
                    Oversight and Government Reform

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
To require mandatory pretrial and post conviction detention for crimes 
 of violence and dangerous crimes and require mandatory cash bail for 
 certain offenses that pose a threat to public safety or order in the 
             District of Columbia, and for other purposes.

    Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the 
United States of America in Congress assembled,

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

    This Act may be cited as the ``District of Columbia Cash Bail 
Reform Act''.

SEC. 2. MANDATORY PRETRIAL AND POST CONVICTION DETENTION FOR CRIME OF 
              VIOLENCE OR DANGEROUS CRIME.

    (a) Pretrial Detention.--Section 23-1322, District of Columbia 
Official Code, is amended--
            (1) in subsection (a), by striking ``with an offense'' and 
        inserting ``with an offense, other than a crime of violence or 
        dangerous crime (as such terms are defined in section 1331 of 
        this title),''; and
            (2) by adding at the end the following new subsection:
    ``(j) Notwithstanding any other provision of this section, the 
judicial officer shall order each person charged with a crime of 
violence or a dangerous crime (as such terms are defined in section 
1331 of this title) be detained for the period before trial.''.
    (b) Post Conviction Detention.--Section 23-1325, District of 
Columbia Official Code, is amended--
            (1) in subsection (b), by striking ``unless'' and all that 
        follows through ``section 23-1321'';
            (2) in subsection (c), by striking ``unless'' and all that 
        follows through ``section 23-1321''; and
            (3) by adding at the end the following new subsection:
    ``(d) This provisions of this section shall apply with respect to a 
person convicted of a crime of violence or a dangerous crime (as such 
terms are defined in section 1331 of this title).''.
    (c) Changes to Definition of Dangerous Crime.--Section 23-1331(3), 
D.C. Official Code, is amended--
            (1) in subparagraph (E), by striking ``Burglary or 
        attempted burglary'' and inserting ``Burglary in the first 
        degree, attempted burglary in the first degree, or burglary 
        with a dangerous weapon''; and
            (2) in subparagraph (G), by striking ``Robbery or attempted 
        robbery'' and inserting ``Robbery in the first degree, 
        attempted robbery in the first degree, or robbery with a 
        dangerous weapon''.
    (d) Changes to Definition of Crime of Violence.--Section 23-
1331(4), D.C. Official Code, is amended--
            (1) by striking ``burglary'' and inserting ``burglary in 
        the first degree, attempted burglary in the first degree, or 
        burglar with a dangerous weapon''; and
            (2) by striking ``robbery'' and inserting ``robbery in the 
        first degree, attempted robbery in the first degree, or robbery 
        with a dangerous weapon''.
    (e) Conforming Amendments.--
            (1) Removal of crime of violence and dangerous crime from 
        pretrial release procedures.--Section 23-1322, District of 
        Columbia Official Code, is further amended--
                    (A) in subsection (b)(1), by striking subparagraph 
                (A) and redesignating subparagraphs (B) through (D) as 
                subparagraphs (A) through (C), respectively;
                    (B) by amending subsection (c) to read as follows:
    ``(c) Subject to rebuttal by the person, it shall be presumed that 
no condition or combination of conditions of release will reasonably 
assure the safety of any other person and the community if the judicial 
officer finds that there is probable cause to believe that the person--
            ``(1) has threatened, injured, intimidated, or attempted to 
        threaten, injure, or intimidate a law enforcement officer, an 
        officer of the court, or a prospective witness or juror in any 
        criminal investigation or judicial proceeding;
            ``(2) violated section 3 of the Act of July 8, 1932 (sec. 
        22-4503, D.C. Official Code), section 4(a) of such Act (sec. 
        22-4504(a), D.C. Official Code), or section 4(a-1) of such Act 
        (sec. 22-4504(a)(1), D.C. Official Code); or
            ``(3) violated the Firearm Control Regulations Act of 1975 
        (sec. 7-2508.01 et seq., D.C. Official Code) while on 
        probation, parole, or supervised release for committing a 
        dangerous crime or a crime of violence (as such terms are 
        defined in section 1331 of this title) and while armed with or 
        having readily available a firearm, imitation firearm, or other 
        deadly or dangerous weapon as described in section 2(a) of the 
        Act of July 8, 1832 (sec. 22-4502(a), D.C. Official Code).'';
                    (C) in subsection (e)(1), by striking ``is a crime 
                of'' and all that follows through ``, or''; and
                    (D) by striking subsection (f)(3).
            (2) Removal of murder offenses from pretrial release 
        procedures.--Section 23-1325, District of Columbia Official 
        Code, as amended by subsection (b), is amended by striking 
        subsection (a) and redesignating subsections (b) through (d) as 
        (a) through (c), respectively.

SEC. 3. REQUIRING CASH BAIL FOR RELEASE OF INDIVIDUALS CHARGED WITH 
              PUBLIC SAFETY OR ORDER OFFENSES.

    (a) In General.--Section 23-1321, District of Columbia Official 
Code, is amended--
            (1) in subsection (a)--
                    (A) in paragraph (1), by striking ``Released'' and 
                inserting ``Except as provided under paragraph (5), 
                released'';
                    (B) in paragraph (3), by striking ``; or'' and 
                inserting a semicolon;
                    (C) in paragraph (4), by striking the period at the 
                end and inserting ``; or''; and
                    (D) by adding at the end the following new 
                paragraph:
            ``(5) With respect to a person charged with a public safety 
        or order crime (as such term is defined in section 1331 of this 
        title), released only upon execution of a secured appearance 
        bond (as such term is defined in section 1331 of this title) 
        and subject to any requirement under subsections (b) and (c) of 
        this section as the judicial officer may order.'';
            (2) in subsection (b), by striking ``or upon execution of 
        an unsecured appearance bond in an amount specified by the 
        court,'' and inserting ``upon execution of an unsecured 
        appearance bond in an amount specified by the court, or upon a 
        secured appearance bond under subsection (a)(5),''; and
            (3) by adding at the end the following new subsection:
    ``(f) A person who is released upon the execution of an appearance 
bond with a surety, under subsection (a)(5), may be arrested by the 
surety, and if so arrested, shall be delivered promptly to a United 
States marshal and brought before a judicial officer in the District of 
Columbia. The judicial officer shall determine in accordance with the 
provisions of this section 23-1322 whether to revoke the release of the 
person, and may absolve the surety of responsibility to pay all or part 
of the bond in accordance with the provisions of Rule 46 of the Federal 
Rules of Criminal Procedure. The person so committed shall be held in 
official detention until released pursuant to this title or any other 
provision of law.''.
    (b) Definitions.--
            (1) Public safety or order crime defined.--Section 23-1331, 
        District of Columbia Official Code, is amended by adding at the 
        end the following new paragraph:
            ``(7) The term `public safety or order crime' means failure 
        to appear when ordered to do so by a judicial officer; 
        obstruction of justice; fleeing from a law enforcement officer; 
        rioting; inciting a riot; destruction of property; stalking; 
        burglary (other than burglary in the first degree or burglary 
        with a dangerous weapon); robbery or a previous conviction of 
        any such offense, or substantially similar offense, under 
        Federal, State, or local law.''.
            (2) Secured appearance bond defined.--Section 23-1331, 
        District of Columbia Official Code, is further amended by 
        adding at the end the following new paragraph:
            ``(8) The term `secured appearance bond' means an agreement 
        to forfeit upon failing to appear as required, the designated 
        property, including money, as is reasonably necessary to assure 
        the appearance of the person as required, and post with the 
        court the indicia of ownership of the property, or a percentage 
        of the money as the judicial officer may specify; or a bail 
        bond with solvent sureties in whatever amount is reasonably 
        necessary to assure the appearance of the person as 
        required.''.
    (c) Conforming Amendments.--Section 23-1321, District of Columbia 
Official Code, is further amended--
            (1) in subsection (a), by striking ``with an offense'' and 
        all that follows through ``shall issue'' and insert ``with an 
        offense, other than a crime of violence or dangerous crime (as 
        such terms are defined in section 1331 of this title), the 
        judicial officer shall issue''; and
            (2) in subsection (c)--
                    (A) in paragraph (1)--
                            (i) by striking ``shall'' and inserting 
                        ``may''; and
                            (ii) in subparagraph (B), by striking 
                        ``Least restrictive further'' and inserting 
                        ``Further'';
                    (B) by striking paragraph (3) and redesignating 
                paragraphs (4) and (5) as paragraphs (3) and (4), 
                respectively; and
                    (C) in paragraph (4), as so redesignated, by 
                striking ``additional or different conditions'' and 
                inserting ``any additional or different condition 
                described under this subsection''.

SEC. 4. APPLICABILITY.

    This Act, and the amendments made by this Act, shall apply with 
respect to an individual charged with an offense in the District of 
Columbia on or after the date that is 30 days after the date of the 
enactment of this Act.
                                 <all>