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