IIB 

110TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 2286 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

JUNE 26, 2007 

Received; read twice and referred to the Committee on the Judiciary 

AN ACT 

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, 


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1 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

2 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Bail Bond Fairness 

3 Act of 2007’’. 

4 SEC. 2. FINDINGS AND PURPOSES. 

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

6 findings: 

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

8 United States was to ensure the defendant’s physical 

9 presence before a court. The bail bond would be de10 clared forfeited only when the defendant actually 

11 failed to appear as ordered. Violations of other, col12 lateral conditions of release might cause release to 

13 be revoked, but would not cause the bond to be for14 feited. This historical basis of bail bonds best served 

15 the interests of the Federal criminal justice system. 

16 (2) Currently, however, Federal judges have 

17 merged the purposes of bail and other conditions of 

18 release. These judges now order bonds forfeited in 

19 cases in which the defendant actually appears as or20 dered but he fails to comply with some collateral 

21 condition of release. The judges rely on Federal Rule 

22 of Criminal Procedure 46(f) as authority to do so. 

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

24 has withstood repeated court challenges. In cases 

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

26 Cir. 1995), the rule has been held to authorize FedVerDate Aug 31 2005 06:15 Jun 27, 2007 Jkt 059200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2286.RFS H2286

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1 eral courts specifically to order bonds forfeited for 

2 violation of collateral conditions of release and not 

3 simply for failure to appear. Moreover, the Federal 

4 courts have continued to uphold and expand the rule 

5 because they find no evidence of congressional intent 

6 to the contrary, specifically finding that the provi7 sions of the Bail Bond Act of 1984 were not in8 tended to supersede the rule. 

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

10 Federal defendants has become virtually impossible. 

11 Where once the bail agent was simply ensuring the 

12 defendant’s physical presence, the bail agent now 

13 must guarantee the defendant’s general good behav14 ior. Insofar as the risk for the bail agent has greatly 

15 increased, the industry has been forced to adhere to 

16 strict underwriting guidelines, in most cases requir17 ing full collateral. Consequently, the Federal crimi18 nal justice system has been deprived of any mean19 ingful bail bond option. 

20 (b) PURPOSES.—The purposes of this Act are— 

21 (1) to restore bail bonds to their historical ori22 gin as a means solely to ensure the defendant’s 

23 physical presence before a court; and 

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

25 bonds forfeited only where the defendant actually 


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1 fails to appear physically before a court as ordered 

2 and not where the defendant violates some other col3 lateral condition of release. 

4 SEC. 3. FAIRNESS IN BAIL BOND FORFEITURE. 

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

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

7 officer may not declare forfeited a bail bond for violation 

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

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

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

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

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

13 is not an available sanction under this section and such 

14 forfeiture may be declared only pursuant to section 

15 3146.’’. 

16 (b) Rule 46(f)(1) of the Federal Rules of Criminal 

17 Procedure is amended by striking ‘‘a condition of the bond 

18 is breached’’ and inserting ‘‘the defendant fails to appear 

19 physically before the court’’. 

Passed the House of Representatives June 25, 2007. 

Attest: LORRAINE C. MILLER, 

Clerk. 


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