I 

118TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION H. R. 10250 

To specify the state of mind required for conviction for criminal offenses 

that lack an expressly identified state of mind, and for other purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

NOVEMBER 22, 2024 

Mr. BIGGS (for himself, Ms. BOEBERT, Mr. OGLES, and Mr. MOORE of Alabama) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee 

on the Judiciary 

A BILL 

To specify the state of mind required for conviction for 

criminal offenses that lack an expressly identified state 

of mind, 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 ‘‘Mens Rea Reform Act 

5 of 2024’’. 


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1 SEC. 2. STATE OF MIND ELEMENT FOR CRIMINAL OF2 FENSES. 

3 (a) IN GENERAL.—Chapter 1 of title 18, United 

4 States Code, is amended by adding at the end the fol5 lowing: 

6 ‘‘§ 28. State of mind when not otherwise specifically 

7 provided 

8 ‘‘(a) DEFINITIONS.—In this section— 

9 ‘‘(1) the term ‘covered offense’— 

10 ‘‘(A) means an offense— 

11 ‘‘(i) specified in— 

12 ‘‘(I) this title or any other Act of 

13 Congress; 

14 ‘‘(II) any regulation; or 

15 ‘‘(III) any law (including regula16 tions) of any State or foreign govern17 ment incorporated by reference into 

18 this title or any other Act of Con19 gress; and 

20 ‘‘(ii) that is punishable by imprison21 ment, a maximum criminal fine of at least 

22 $2,500, or both; and 

23 ‘‘(B) does not include— 

24 ‘‘(i) any offense set forth in chapter 

25 47 or chapter 47A of title 10; or 


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1 ‘‘(ii) any offense incorporated by sec2 tion 13(a) of this title; 

3 ‘‘(2) the term ‘knowingly’, as related to an ele4 ment of an offense, means— 

5 ‘‘(A) if the element involves the nature of 

6 the conduct of a person or the attendant cir7 cumstances, that the person is aware that the 

8 conduct of the person is of that nature or that 

9 such circumstances exist; and 

10 ‘‘(B) if the element involves a result of the 

11 conduct of a person, that the person is aware 

12 that it is practically certain that the conduct of 

13 the person will cause such a result; 

14 ‘‘(3) the term ‘state of mind’ means willfully, 

15 intentionally, maliciously, knowingly, recklessly, wan16 tonly, negligently, with reason to believe, or any 

17 other word or phrase that is synonymous with or 

18 substantially similar to any such term; and 

19 ‘‘(4) the term ‘willfully’, as related to an ele20 ment of an offense, means— 

21 ‘‘(A) that the person acted with knowledge 

22 that the person’s conduct was unlawful; and 

23 ‘‘(B) if the element involves the nature, at24 tendant circumstances, object, or result of the 

25 conduct of a person, that— 


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1 ‘‘(i) the person had knowledge of the 

2 nature, attendant circumstances, object, or 

3 result of the conduct of the person; and 

4 ‘‘(ii) it was the conscious object of the 

5 person to engage in conduct— 

6 ‘‘(I) of that nature; 

7 ‘‘(II) with that attendant cir8 cumstance; 

9 ‘‘(III) with that object; or 

10 ‘‘(IV) to cause such a result. 

11 ‘‘(b) DEFAULT REQUIREMENT.—Except as provided 

12 in subsections (c) and (d), a covered offense shall be con13 strued to require the Government to prove beyond a rea14 sonable doubt that the defendant acted— 

15 ‘‘(1) with the state of mind specified in the text 

16 of the covered offense for each element of the of17 fense for which the text specifies a state of mind; 

18 and 

19 ‘‘(2) knowingly, with respect to any element of 

20 the offense for which the text of the covered offense 

21 does not specify a state of mind. 

22 ‘‘(c) FAILURE TO DISTINGUISH AMONG ELE23 MENTS.—Except as provided in subsection (d), if the text 

24 of a covered offense specifies the state of mind required 

25 for commission of the covered offense without specifying 


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1 the elements of the covered offense to which the state of 

2 mind applies, the state of mind specified shall apply to 

3 all elements of the covered offense, unless a contrary pur4 pose plainly appears. 

5 ‘‘(d) EXCEPTIONS.— 

6 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—Subsections (b)(2) and (c) 

7 shall not apply with respect to— 

8 ‘‘(A) any element for which the text of the 

9 covered offense makes clear that Congress af10 firmatively intended not to require the Govern11 ment to prove any state of mind with respect to 

12 such element; 

13 ‘‘(B) any element of a covered offense, to 

14 the extent that the element establishes— 

15 ‘‘(i) subject matter jurisdiction over 

16 the covered offense; or 

17 ‘‘(ii) venue with respect to trial of the 

18 covered offense; or 

19 ‘‘(C) any element of a covered offense, to 

20 the extent that applying subsections (b)(2) and 

21 (c) to such element would lessen the degree of 

22 mental culpability that the Government is re23 quired to prove with respect to that element 

24 under— 


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1 ‘‘(i) precedent of the Supreme Court 

2 of the United States; or 

3 ‘‘(ii) any other provision of this title, 

4 any other Act of Congress, or any regula5 tion. 

6 ‘‘(2) MERE ABSENCE INSUFFICIENT.—For pur7 poses of paragraph (1)(A), the mere absence of a 

8 specified state of mind for an element of a covered 

9 offense in the text of the covered offense shall not 

10 be construed to mean that Congress affirmatively in11 tended not to require the Government to prove any 

12 state of mind with respect to that element. 

13 ‘‘(e) APPLICABILITY.—This section shall apply with 

14 respect to a covered offense— 

15 ‘‘(1) without regard to whether the provision or 

16 provisions specifying the covered offense are enacted, 

17 promulgated, or finalized before, on, or after the 

18 date of enactment of this section; and 

19 ‘‘(2) that was committed— 

20 ‘‘(A) on or after the date of enactment of 

21 this section; or 

22 ‘‘(B) before the date of enactment of this 

23 section, unless— 

24 ‘‘(i) applying this section to such cov25 ered offense would— 


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1 ‘‘(I) punish as a crime conduct 

2 that was innocent when done; 

3 ‘‘(II) increase the punishment for 

4 the covered offense; or 

5 ‘‘(III) deprive a person charged 

6 with the covered offense of any de7 fense available according to law at the 

8 time the covered offense occurred; 

9 ‘‘(ii) a jury has been empaneled and 

10 sworn in a prosecution for the covered of11 fense before the date of enactment of this 

12 section; 

13 ‘‘(iii) the first witness has been sworn 

14 in a prosecution for the covered offense 

15 tried without a jury before the date of en16 actment of this section; or 

17 ‘‘(iv) a sentence has been imposed fol18 lowing a plea of guilty or nolo contendere 

19 in a prosecution for the covered offense be20 fore the date of enactment of this section. 

21 ‘‘(f) SUBSEQUENTLY ENACTED LAWS.—No provision 

22 of law enacted after the date of enactment of this section 

23 shall be construed to repeal, modify the text or effect of, 

24 or supersede in whole or in part this section, unless such 

25 law specifically refers to this section and explicitly repeals, 


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1 modifies the text or effect of, or supersedes in whole or 

2 in part this section.’’. 

3 (b) TECHNICAL AND CONFORMING AMENDMENT.— 

4 The table of sections for chapter 1 of title 18, United 

5 States Code, is amended by adding at the end the fol6 lowing: 

‘‘28. State of mind when not otherwise specifically provided.’’. 

Æ 


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