I 

108TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 2134

To amend title 18, United States Code, and the Federal Rules of Criminal 

Procedure with respect to bail bond forfeitures. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

MAY 15, 2003

Mr. KELLER (for himself, Mr. WEXLER, Mr. BAIRD, Mr. BASS, Ms. EDDIE

BERNICE JOHNSON of Texas, Ms. GINNY BROWN-WAITE of Florida, Mr. 

BURTON of Indiana, Mr. CARSON of Oklahoma, Mr. CONYERS, Mr. DAVIS

of Florida, Mr. DEUTSCH, Mr. ENGLISH, Mr. FEENEY, Mr. HONDA, Mr. 

ISSA, Mr. MCCOTTER, Mr. MCDERMOTT, Mr. MEEHAN, Mr. MEEKS of 

New York, Mr. MICA, Mr. NADLER, Mr. PASCRELL, Mr. SCOTT of Virginia, Mr. THOMPSON of Mississippi, Mr. CHABOT, Ms. HART, Mr. GARRETT of New Jersey, Mr. OTTER, Mr. MURPHY, Mr. LAMPSON, and Mr. 

FOLEY) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on the Judiciary 

A BILL

To amend title 18, United States Code, and the Federal 

Rules of Criminal Procedure with respect to bail bond 

forfeitures.

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 ‘‘Bail Bond Fairness 

5 Act of 2003’’. 
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1 SEC. 2. FINDINGS AND PURPOSES. 

2 (a) FINDINGS.—The Congress makes the following 

3 findings: 

4 (1) Historically, the sole purpose of bail in the 

5 United States was to ensure the defendant’s physical 

6 presence before a court. The bail bond would be de7 clared forfeited only when the defendant actually 

8 failed to appear as ordered. Violations of other, col9 lateral conditions of release might cause release to 

10 be revoked, but would not cause the bond to be for11 feited. This historical basis of bail bonds best served 

12 the interests of the Federal criminal justice system. 

13 (2) Currently, however, Federal judges have 

14 merged the purposes of bail and other conditions of 

15 release. These judges now order bonds forfeited in 

16 cases in which the defendant actually appears as or17 dered but he fails to comply with some collateral 

18 condition of release. The judges rely on Federal Rule 

19 of Criminal Procedure 46(e) as authority to do so. 

20 (3) Federal Rule of Criminal Procedure 46(e) 

21 has withstood repeated court challenges. In cases 

22 such as United States v. Vaccaro, 51 F.3d 189 (9th 

23 Cir. 1995), the rule has been held to authorize Fed24 eral courts specifically to order bonds forfeited for 

25 violation of collateral conditions of release and not 

26 simply for failure to appear. Moreover, the Federal 
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1 courts have continued to uphold and expand the rule 

2 because they find no evidence of congressional intent 

3 to the contrary, specifically finding that the provi4 sions of the Bail Bond Act of 1984 were not in5 tended to supersede the rule. 

6 (4) As a result, the underwriting of bonds for 

7 Federal defendants has become virtually impossible. 

8 Where once the bail agent was simply ensuring the 

9 defendant’s physical presence, the bail agent now 

10 must guarantee the defendant’s general good behav11 ior. Insofar as the risk for the bail agent has greatly 

12 increased, the industry has been forced to adhere to 

13 strict underwriting guidelines, in most cases requir14 ing full collateral. Consequently, the Federal crimi15 nal justice system has been deprived of any mean16 ingful bail bond option. 

17 (5) In the absence of a meaningful bail bond 

18 option, thousands of defendants in the Federal sys19 tem fail to show up for court appearances every 

20 year. When this happens, the expense and effort by 

21 Federal law enforcement officers to investigate and 

22 apprehend defendants is wasted and the overall in23 terests of justice are thwarted. 

24 (b) PURPOSES.—The purposes of this Act are—
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1 (1) to restore bail bonds to their historical ori2 gin as a means solely to ensure the defendant’s 

3 physical presence before a court; and 

4 (2) to grant judges the authority to declare bail 

5 bonds forfeited only where the defendant actually 

6 fails to appear physically before a court as ordered 

7 and not where the defendant violates some other col8 lateral condition of release. 

9 SEC. 3. FAIRNESS IN BAIL BOND FORFEITURE. 

10 (a)(1) Section 3146(d) of title 18, United States 

11 Code, is amended by inserting at the end ‘‘The judicial 

12 officer may not declare forfeited a bail bond for violation 

13 of a release condition set forth in clauses (i)–(xi), (xiii), 

14 or (xiv) of section 3142(c)(1)(B)’’. 

15 (2) Section 3148(a) of title 18, United States Code, 

16 is amended by inserting at the end ‘‘Forfeiture of a bail 

17 bond executed under clause (xii) of section 3142(c)(1)(B) 

18 is not an available sanction under this section and such 

19 forfeiture may be declared only pursuant to section 

20 3146.’’. 

21 (b) Rule 46(e)(1) of the Federal Rules of Criminal 

22 Procedure is amended by striking ‘‘there is a breach of 

23 condition of a bond’’ and inserting ‘‘the defendant fails 

24 to appear physically before the court’’.

Æ