[Congressional Bills 118th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 7530 Introduced in House (IH)]
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118th CONGRESS
2d Session
H. R. 7530
To limit youth offender status in the District of Columbia to
individuals 18 years of age or younger, to direct the Attorney General
of the District of Columbia to establish and operate a publicly
accessible website containing updated statistics on juvenile crime in
the District of Columbia, to amend the District of Columbia Home Rule
Act to prohibit the Council of the District of Columbia from enacting
changes to existing criminal liability sentences, and for other
purposes.
_______________________________________________________________________
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
March 5, 2024
Mr. Donalds (for himself, Mr. Biggs, Mr. Timmons, and Mr. Palmer)
introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on
Oversight and Accountability
_______________________________________________________________________
A BILL
To limit youth offender status in the District of Columbia to
individuals 18 years of age or younger, to direct the Attorney General
of the District of Columbia to establish and operate a publicly
accessible website containing updated statistics on juvenile crime in
the District of Columbia, to amend the District of Columbia Home Rule
Act to prohibit the Council of the District of Columbia from enacting
changes to existing criminal liability sentences, 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 ``D. C. Criminal Reforms to
Immediately Make Everyone Safe Act'' or the ``DC CRIMES Act''.
SEC. 2. YOUTH OFFENDERS.
(a) Limiting Youth Offender Status in District of Columbia to
Individuals 18 Years of Age or Younger.--
(1) Limitation.--Section 2(6) of the Youth Rehabilitation
Act of 1985 (sec. 24-901(6), D.C. Official Code) is amended by
striking ``24 years of age or younger'' and inserting ``18
years of age or younger''.
(2) Conforming amendments.--
(A) Repeal consideration of individuals 18 through
24 years of age in strategic plan for facilities,
treatment, and services.--Section 3(a-1) of such Act
(sec. 24-902(a-1), D.C. Official Code) is amended by
striking paragraph (3).
(B) Community service for individuals under order
of probation.--Section 4(a)(2) of such Act (sec. 24-
903(a)(2), D.C. Official Code) is amended by striking
``15 to 24 years of age'' and inserting ``15 to 18
years of age''.
(b) Prohibiting Issuance of Sentence Less Than Mandatory-Minimum
Term.--Section 4(b) of such Act (sec. 24-903(b), D.C. Official Code) is
amended--
(1) by striking ``(b)(1)'' and inserting ``(b)''; and
(2) by striking paragraph (2).
SEC. 3. ESTABLISHMENT AND OPERATION OF WEBSITE ON DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA
JUVENILE CRIME STATISTICS.
(a) Establishment and Operation.--Subchapter I of chapter 23 of
title 16, District of Columbia Official Code, is amended by adding at
the end the following new section:
``Sec. 16-2340a. Website of updated statistics on juvenile crime
``(a) Establishment and Operation of Website.--The Attorney General
of the District of Columbia shall establish and operate a publicly
accessible website which contains data on juvenile crime in the
District of Columbia, including each of the following statistical
measures:
``(1) The total number of juveniles arrested each year.
``(2) The total number and percentage of juveniles arrested
each year, broken down by age, race, and sex.
``(3) Of the total number of juveniles arrested each year,
the total number and percentage arrested for petty crime,
including the following crimes:
``(A) Vandalism.
``(B) Theft.
``(C) Shoplifting.
``(4) Of the total number of juveniles arrested each year,
the total number and percentage arrested for crime of violence
(as defined in section 23-1331(4)).
``(5) Of the total number of juveniles arrested each year,
the total number and percentage who were arrested for their
first offense.
``(6) Of the total number of juveniles arrested each year,
the total number and percentage who had been arrested
previously.
``(7) Of the total number of juveniles arrested each year
who had been arrested previously, the total number and
percentage of the number of arrests.
``(8) Of the total number of juveniles arrested each year,
the declination rate for prosecutions by the Office of the
Attorney General for the District of Columbia.
``(9) Of the total number of juveniles sentenced each year,
the number and percentage who were tried as adults.
``(10) Of the total number of juveniles prosecuted each
year, the number and percentage who were not sentenced, who
were sentenced to a misdemeanor, and who were sentenced to a
felony.
``(11) Of the total number of juveniles sentenced each
year, the number and percentage of the length of time that will
be served in a correctional facility as provided by the
sentence.
``(b) Updates.--The Attorney General shall update the information
contained on the website on a monthly basis.
``(c) Maintaining Archive of Information.--The Attorney General
shall ensure that the information contained on the website is archived
appropriately to provide indefinite public access to historical data of
juvenile arrests and prosecutions.
``(d) Format.--The Attorney General shall ensure that the
information contained in the website, including historical data
described in subsection (c), is available in a machine-readable format
available for bulk download.
``(e) Prohibiting Disclosure of Personally Identifiable
Information.--In carrying out this section, the Attorney General shall
ensure that the website does not include any juvenile's personally
identifiable information.
``(f) Definitions.--In this section--
``(1) the term `crime' has the meaning given the term
`offense' in section 23-1331(2); and
``(2) the term `juvenile' has the meaning given the term
`youth offender' in section 2(6) of the Youth Rehabilitation
Act of 1985 (sec. 24-901(6), D.C. Official Code).''.
(b) Conforming Amendments Relating to Authorized Release of
Information.--
(1) Juvenile case records of family court.--Section 16-
2331, District of Columbia Official Code, is amended--
(A) by redesignating subsection (i) as subsection
(j); and
(B) by inserting after subsection (h) the following
new subsection:
``(i) Notwithstanding subsection (b) of this section, a person
shall provide information contained in juvenile case records to the
Attorney General for purposes of the website established and operated
under section 16-2340a.''.
(2) Juvenile social records of family court.--Section 16-
2332, District of Columbia Official Code, is amended--
(A) by redesignating subsection (h) as subsection
(i); and
(B) by inserting after subsection (g) the following
new subsection:
``(h) Notwithstanding subsection (b) of this section, a person
shall provide information contained in juvenile social records to the
Attorney General for purposes of the website established and operated
under section 16-2340a.''.
(3) Police and other law enforcement records.--Section 16-
2333, District of Columbia Official Code, is amended--
(A) by redesignating subsection (g) as subsection
(h); and
(B) by inserting after subsection (f) the following
new subsection:
``(g) Notwithstanding subsection (a) of this section, a person
shall provide information contained in law enforcement records and
files concerning a child to the Attorney General for purposes of the
website established and operated under section 16-2340a.''.
(c) Effective Date.--The Attorney General of the District of
Columbia shall establish the website under section 16-2341, District of
Columbia Official Code, as added by subsection (a), not later than 180
days after the date of the enactment of this Act.
SEC. 4. PROHIBITING COUNCIL FROM ENACTING CHANGES TO EXISTING CRIMINAL
LIABILITY SENTENCES.
Section 602(a) of the District of Columbia Home Rule Act (sec. 1-
206.02(a), D.C. Official Code) is amended--
(1) by striking ``or'' at the end of paragraph (9);
(2) by striking the period at the end of paragraph (10) and
inserting ``; or''; and
(3) by adding at the end the following new paragraph:
``(11) enact any act, resolution, or rule to change any
criminal liability sentence in effect on the date of the
enactment of the DC CRIMES Act.''.
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