I 

110TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 2286 

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 10, 2007 

Mr. WEXLER (for himself, Mr. KELLER of Florida, Mr. SENSENBRENNER, Ms. 

CASTOR, Mr. POE, Mr. LARSON of Connecticut, and Mr. WALBERG) 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 2007’’. 

6 SEC. 2. FINDINGS AND PURPOSES. 

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

8 findings: 


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

2 United States was to ensure the defendant’s physical 

3 presence before a court. The bail bond would be de4 clared forfeited only when the defendant actually 

5 failed to appear as ordered. Violations of other, col6 lateral conditions of release might cause release to 

7 be revoked, but would not cause the bond to be for8 feited. This historical basis of bail bonds best served 

9 the interests of the Federal criminal justice system. 

10 (2) Currently, however, Federal judges have 

11 merged the purposes of bail and other conditions of 

12 release. These judges now order bonds forfeited in 

13 cases in which the defendant actually appears as or14 dered but he fails to comply with some collateral 

15 condition of release. The judges rely on Federal Rule 

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

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

18 has withstood repeated court challenges. In cases 

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

20 Cir. 1995), the rule has been held to authorize Fed21 eral courts specifically to order bonds forfeited for 

22 violation of collateral conditions of release and not 

23 simply for failure to appear. Moreover, the Federal 

24 courts have continued to uphold and expand the rule 

25 because they find no evidence of congressional intent 


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1 to the contrary, specifically finding that the provi2 sions of the Bail Bond Act of 1984 were not in3 tended to supersede the rule. 

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

5 Federal defendants has become virtually impossible. 

6 Where once the bail agent was simply ensuring the 

7 defendant’s physical presence, the bail agent now 

8 must guarantee the defendant’s general good behav9 ior. Insofar as the risk for the bail agent has greatly 

10 increased, the industry has been forced to adhere to 

11 strict underwriting guidelines, in most cases requir12 ing full collateral. Consequently, the Federal crimi13 nal justice system has been deprived of any mean14 ingful bail bond option. 

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

16 (1) to restore bail bonds to their historical ori17 gin as a means solely to ensure the defendant’s 

18 physical presence before a court; and 

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

20 bonds forfeited only where the defendant actually 

21 fails to appear physically before a court as ordered 

22 and not where the defendant violates some other col23 lateral condition of release. 


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1 SEC. 3. FAIRNESS IN BAIL BOND FORFEITURE. 

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

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

4 officer may not declare forfeited a bail bond for violation 

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

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

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

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

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

10 is not an available sanction under this section and such 

11 forfeiture may be declared only pursuant to section 

12 3146.’’. 

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

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

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

16 physically before the court’’. 

Æ 


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