[Congressional Bills 118th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 6999 Introduced in House (IH)]
<DOC>
118th CONGRESS
2d Session
H. R. 6999
To amend the Omnibus Crime Control and Safe Streets Act of 1968 to
require reports about the prosecution of certain offenses for
recipients of Byrne grants, and for other purposes.
_______________________________________________________________________
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
January 16, 2024
Mr. Meuser introduced the following bill; which was referred to the
Committee on the Judiciary
_______________________________________________________________________
A BILL
To amend the Omnibus Crime Control and Safe Streets Act of 1968 to
require reports about the prosecution of certain offenses for
recipients of Byrne grants, 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 ``Holding Prosecutors Accountable
Act''.
SEC. 2. DISTRICT ATTORNEY REPORTING REQUIREMENTS FOR BYRNE GRANTS.
Section 501 of subpart 1 of part E of title I of the Omnibus Crime
Control and Safe Streets Act of 1968 (34 U.S.C. 10152) is amended by
adding at the end the following:
``(i) District Attorney Reporting Requirements.--
``(1) In general.--On an annual basis, each chief executive
of a district attorney or prosecutor's office that serves a
jurisdiction of 380,000 or more persons, which jurisdiction
receives funds under this part, shall submit to the Attorney
General a report that contains, for the previous fiscal year,
the following:
``(A) The total number of cases referred to the
office for prosecution of a covered offense.
``(B) The number of cases such office declined to
prosecute involving a covered offense and the reasoning
for why office declined to prosecute covered offense.
``(C) For cases involving a covered offense that
resulted in a plea agreement reached with the
defendant--
``(i) the total number of such cases;
``(ii) the number of such cases by each
initial charge; and
``(iii) the number of such cases by each
charge of conviction.
``(D) The number of cases involving covered
offenses initiated against a defendant--
``(i) previously arrested for a covered
offense arising out of separate conduct;
``(ii) previously convicted for a covered
offense arising out of separate conduct;
``(iii) with an open case involving a
covered offense arising out of separate
conduct;
``(iv) serving a term of probation for a
conviction for a covered offense arising out of
separate conduct; and
``(v) released on parole for a conviction
for a covered offense arising out of separate
conduct.
``(E) The number of defendants charged with a
covered offense--
``(i) who were released on their own
recognizance;
``(ii) who were eligible for bail; and
``(iii) for whom the prosecutor requested
bail.
``(2) Uniform standards.--The Attorney General shall define
uniform standards for the reporting of the information required
under this subsection, including the form such reports shall
take and the process by which such reports shall be shared with
the Attorney General.
``(3) Submission to judiciary committees.--The Attorney
General shall submit the information received under this
subsection to the Committee on the Judiciary of the Senate and
the Committee on the Judiciary of the House of Representatives
and shall publish such information on a publicly viewable
website.
``(4) Covered offense defined.--In this subsection, the
term `covered offense' means any of the following:
``(A) Murder or non-negligent manslaughter.
``(B) Forcible rape.
``(C) Robbery.
``(D) Aggravated assault.
``(E) Burglary.
``(F) Larceny.
``(G) Motor vehicle theft.
``(H) Arson.
``(I) Any offense involving the illegal use of a
firearm.
``(J) Any offense involving the illegal possession
of a firearm.
``(5) Reduction in funding.--For any fiscal year beginning
on or after the date of enactment of this Act, a State or unit
of local government shall be ineligible for a grant under this
part if--
``(A) the chief executive of a district attorney or
prosecutor's office of that jurisdiction who was
required to submit a report under this subsection,
failed to submit the report required under this
subsection; or
``(B) the chief executive of a district attorney or
prosecutor's office of that jurisdiction declined to
prosecute \2/3\ or more of the total number of cases
referred to the office for prosecution of a covered
offense for the previous fiscal year.''.
<all>