I 

116TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 5320 

To require States and units of local government receiving funds under grant 

programs operated by the Department of Justice, which use such funds 

for pretrial services programs, to submit to the Attorney General a 

report relating to such program, and for other purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

DECEMBER 5, 2019 

Mr. HIGGINS of Louisiana introduced the following bill; which was referred 

to the Committee on the Judiciary 

A BILL 

To require States and units of local government receiving 

funds under grant programs operated by the Department 

of Justice, which use such funds for pretrial services 

programs, to submit to the Attorney General a report 

relating to such program, and for other purposes. 

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Citizens’ Right to 

5 Know Act of 2019’’. 

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1 SEC. 2. REPORTING REQUIREMENT FOR DEPARTMENT OF 

2 JUSTICE GRANT RECIPIENTS USING FUNDS 

3 FOR PRETRIAL SERVICES PROGRAMS. 

4 (a) IN GENERAL.—For each fiscal year in which a 

5 State or unit of local government receives funds under any 

6 grant program operated by the Department of Justice, in7 cluding the Edward Byrne Memorial Justice Assistance 

8 grant program under subpart I of part E of title I of the 

9 Omnibus Crime Control and Safe Streets Act of 1968 (42 

10 U.S.C. 3750 et seq.), and which uses funds received under 

11 such program for a pretrial services program, the State 

12 or unit of local government shall submit to the Attorney 

13 General a report which contains the following: 

14 (1) The name of each defendant participating 

15 in a pretrial release program administered by the 

16 pretrial services program, and whether, as applica17 ble, each occasion on which such defendant failed to 

18 make an appearance. 

19 (2) Information relating to any prior convic20 tions of each defendant participating in the pretrial 

21 services program. 

22 (3) The amount of money allocated for the pre23 trial services program. 

24 (b) PUBLICATION REQUIREMENT.—Subject to any 

25 applicable confidentiality requirements, the Attorney GenVerDate Sep 11 2014 03:45 Dec 11, 2019 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H5320.IH H5320
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1 eral shall, on an annual basis, make publicly available the 

2 information received under subsection (a). 

3 (c) REDUCTION IN FUNDING.—The Attorney General 

4 shall, for State or unit of local government which fails to 

5 comply with the requirement under subsection (a) for a 

6 fiscal year, reduce the amount that the State or local gov7 ernment would otherwise receive under each grant pro8 gram described in subsection (a) in the following fiscal 

9 year by 100 percent. 

10 (d) REALLOCATION.—Amounts not allocated to a 

11 State or unit of local government under subsection (c) 

12 shall be reallocated under each such grant program to 

13 States and units of local government that comply with the 

14 requirement under subsection (a). 

15 (e) DEFINITION.—The term ‘‘failed to make an ap16 pearance’’ means an action whereby any defendant has 

17 been charged with an offense before a court and who is 

18 participating in a pretrial release program for which funds 

19 received under a grant program referred to in subsection 

20 (a) are used as a condition of pretrial release— 

21 (1) does not appear for any court date regard22 ing such charge; 

23 (2) does not appear for any one appointment 

24 with the pretrial services program; or 

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1 (3) does not appear for any post-release appear2 ance the court may require. 

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