II 

115TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. 1593 

To provide grants to States and Indian tribes to reform their criminal justice 

system to encourage the replacement of the use of payment of secured 

money bail as a condition of pretrial release in criminal cases, and 

for other purposes. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

JULY 20, 2017 

Ms. HARRIS (for herself and Mr. PAUL) introduced the following bill; which 

was read twice and referred to the Committee on the Judiciary 

A BILL 

To provide grants to States and Indian tribes to reform 

their criminal justice system to encourage the replacement of the use of payment of secured money bail as 

a condition of pretrial release in criminal cases, 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 ‘‘Pretrial Integrity and 

5 Safety Act of 2017’’. 


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1 SEC. 2. PURPOSE AND FINDINGS. 

2 (a) PURPOSE.—The purpose of this Act is to provide 

3 grants to States and Indian tribes to reform their criminal 

4 justice system to encourage the replacement of the use of 

5 payment of money bail as a condition of pretrial release 

6 in criminal cases. 

7 (b) FINDINGS.—Congress finds the following: 

8 (1) The money bail system has proven to be an 

9 ineffective method of protecting public safety. Re10 search shows that under money bail systems, nearly 

11 50 percent of defendants who were determined to be 

12 high-risk were allowed to return to the community 

13 with little or no effective oversight simply because 

14 they could afford to pay the amount set for money 

15 bail. 

16 (2) Other studies have shown that for low-risk 

17 individuals, pretrial detention for even short periods 

18 makes it more likely the individuals will commit new 

19 crimes following release. Low-risk defendants held 

20 for as little as 3 days are 40 percent more likely to 

21 commit a crime during the pretrial period compared 

22 to comparable defendants released within 24 hours. 

23 (3) According to the Arnold Foundation, ‘‘Com24 pared to individuals released within 24 hours of ar25 rest, low-risk defendants held 2–3 days were 17 per26 cent more likely to commit another crime within two 


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1 years. Detention periods of 4–7 days yielded a 35 

2 percent increase in re-offense rates. And defendants 

3 held for 8–14 days were 51 percent more likely to 

4 recidivate than defendants who were detained less 

5 than 24 hours.’’. 

6 (4) Jailing arrested individuals before trial is 

7 the greatest expense generated by current pretrial 

8 justice practice. Unconvicted detainees account for 

9 95 percent of jail population growth, nationally, 

10 since 2000. Taxpayers now spend approximately 

11 $38,000,000 per day to jail individuals who are 

12 awaiting trial. Annually, this adds up to 

13 $14,000,000,000 used to detain individuals. 

14 (5) Unnecessary detention may be counter15 productive and undermine an important purpose of 

16 money bail—specifically to produce the defendant at 

17 trial. Studies show that those who are detained pre18 trial for more than 24 hours and then released are 

19 less likely to reappear as required than other simi20 larly situated defendants who are detained for less 

21 than 24 hours. 

22 (6) In Bearden v. Georgia, 461 U.S. 660, 671 

23 (1983), the Supreme Court of the United States 

24 stated that the due process and equal protection 

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1 stitution of the United States prohibit ‘‘punishing a 

2 person for his poverty’’. The Court prohibited the in3 carceration of indigent probationers for non-willful 

4 failure to pay a fine because to ‘‘do otherwise would 

5 deprive the probationer of his conditional freedom 

6 simply because, through no fault of his own, he can7 not pay the fine.’’. State and local justice systems 

8 that impose money bail that leads to pretrial defend9 ants being detained because they cannot afford a 

10 money bail amount may result in ‘‘punishing a per11 son’’ for his or her poverty. 

12 (7) Pretrial detention can lead to devastating 

13 effects, including threatening the employment, hous14 ing stability, child custody, and access to healthcare 

15 of an individual. Barker v. Wingo, 407 U.S. 514, 

16 532–33 (1972) (‘‘The time spent in jail awaiting 

17 trial has a detrimental impact on the individual. It 

18 often means loss of a job; it disrupts family life; and 

19 it enforces idleness. Most jails offer little or no rec20 reational or rehabilitative programs. The time spent 

21 in jail is simply dead time. Moreover, if a defendant 

22 is locked up, he is hindered in his ability to gather 

23 evidence, contact witnesses, or otherwise prepare his 

24 defense. Imposing those consequences on anyone 

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1 cially unfortunate to impose them on those persons 

2 who are ultimately found to be innocent.’’). 

3 (8) Nationwide, about 9 in 10 detained defend4 ants had a money bail amount set but were unable 

5 to meet the financial conditions required to secure 

6 release. 

7 (9) The inability to post money bail may result 

8 in innocent individuals pleading guilty to low-level 

9 crimes so they can be released. 

10 (10) Money bail systems have resulted in dis11 parate harms to poor people and communities of 

12 color. Studies have shown that African American 

13 and Hispanic defendants are more likely to be de14 tained pretrial than White defendants and less likely 

15 to be able to post money bail so they can be re16 leased. Moreover, race and money bail amounts are 

17 significantly correlated. Nationally, African Amer18 ican men pay 35 percent higher money bail amounts 

19 than White men, and Hispanic men pay 19 percent 

20 higher money bail amounts than White men. 

21 (11) Congress should encourage the replace22 ment of the practice of money bail systems to pro23 vide for a more equal and effective criminal justice 

24 system for the people of the United States. 


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1 SEC. 3. PRETRIAL INTEGRITY AND SAFETY. 

2 Title I of the Omnibus Crime Control and Safe 

3 Streets Act of 1968 (42 U.S.C. 3711 et seq.) is amended 

4 by adding at the end the following: 

5 ‘‘PART MM—PRETRIAL INTEGRITY AND SAFETY 

6 ‘‘SEC. 3031. DEFINITIONS. 

7 ‘‘In this part— 

8 ‘‘(1) the term ‘charge-risk profile’ means a com9 posite of the charge (or charge category) and risk 

10 score (or risk category of failing to appear in court 

11 or being rearrested) of a defendant; 

12 ‘‘(2) the term ‘eligible entity’ means a public or 

13 private entity, including— 

14 ‘‘(A) a nonprofit entity (including a tribal 

15 nonprofit); 

16 ‘‘(B) a faith-based or community organiza17 tions; 

18 ‘‘(C) a State or tribal court system; 

19 ‘‘(D) a unit of local government; and 

20 ‘‘(E) an Indian tribe; 

21 ‘‘(3) the term ‘evidence-based practices’, with 

22 respect to supervision of the conditions of pretrial 

23 release, means intervention programs and super24 vision policies, procedures, programs, and practices 

25 that scientific research demonstrates are the least 

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1 ure by a defendant to appear in court or criminal 

2 activity by a defendant during the pretrial period, 

3 when implemented competently; 

4 ‘‘(4) the term ‘least restrictive conditions’— 

5 ‘‘(A) includes court date notifications by 

6 phone call, letter or postcard, text message, in7 person reminder, or another noninvasive pre8 trial supervisory condition; and 

9 ‘‘(B) does not include a condition that im10 poses additional financial obligations on the de11 fendant, including charging the defendant for 

12 implementation of the conditions; 

13 ‘‘(5) the term ‘money bail’ means a secured 

14 monetary obligation that is imposed by a court as a 

15 condition of the release of a defendant before the 

16 trial or adjudication of the criminal charges pending 

17 against the defendant; 

18 ‘‘(6) the term ‘reason for detention’ means 

19 whether a defendant was held without bond, held on 

20 another charge, or held for another reason; 

21 ‘‘(7) the term ‘release condition’ means whether 

22 a defendant was released— 

23 ‘‘(A) based on nonfinancial, personal recog24 nizance; 

25 ‘‘(B) with pretrial supervision; 


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1 ‘‘(C) with an unsecured financial obliga2 tion; or 

3 ‘‘(D) with a secured financial obligation; 

4 and 

5 ‘‘(8) the term ‘State or tribal court system’ 

6 means the court, court system, administrative offices 

7 of the courts, or similarly situated agency of a State 

8 or Indian tribe. 

9 ‘‘SEC. 3032. GRANTS AND CONDITIONS. 

10 ‘‘(a) GRANTS AUTHORIZED.— 

11 ‘‘(1) REPLACEMENT OF MONEY BAIL.—The As12 sistant Attorney General may make grants to State 

13 and tribal court systems and eligible entities for the 

14 replacement of the use of payment of money bail as 

15 a condition of pretrial release with respect to crimi16 nal cases. 

17 ‘‘(2) NATIONAL PRETRIAL REPORTING PRO18 GRAM.—The Assistant Attorney General may make 

19 grants to eligible entities to implement a National 

20 Pretrial Reporting Program to collect data on the 

21 processing of defendants by courts of States and 

22 units of local government. 

23 ‘‘(b) TERMS AND CONDITIONS.— 

24 ‘‘(1) DURATION OF GRANTS.—A grant under 

25 subsection (a) shall be for a period of 3 fiscal years. 


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1 ‘‘(2) MAXIMUMS.— 

2 ‘‘(A) REPLACEMENT OF MONEY BAIL.— 

3 Under subsection (a)(1), the Assistant Attorney 

4 General may make— 

5 ‘‘(i) not more than 6 grants to a State 

6 or tribal court system during each fiscal 

7 year; and 

8 ‘‘(ii) not more than $10,000,000 in 

9 grants during each fiscal year, of which— 

10 ‘‘(I) not more than $6,500,000 

11 shall be grants to State or tribal court 

12 systems; and 

13 ‘‘(II) not more than $3,500,000 

14 shall be grants to eligible entities to 

15 provide technical assistance, training, 

16 and performance evaluation. 

17 ‘‘(B) NATIONAL PRETRIAL REPORTING

18 PROGRAM.—The Assistant Attorney General 

19 may not make more than $5,000,000 in grants 

20 under subsection (a)(2) during each fiscal year. 

21 ‘‘(c) USE OF FUNDS FOR REPLACEMENT OF MONEY

22 BAIL GRANTS.— 

23 ‘‘(1) ACTIVITIES.—Amounts received under a 

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1 form more effective pretrial practices that include 

2 system analysis, training and technical assistance, 

3 meeting facilitation, research and performance eval4 uation, information technology reprogramming, and 

5 shall seek to incorporate and implement the ele6 ments described in paragraph (2). 

7 ‘‘(2) ELEMENTS.—The elements described in 

8 this paragraph are— 

9 ‘‘(A) replacing money bail systems with in10 dividualized, pretrial assessments that— 

11 ‘‘(i) measure the risk of flight and 

12 risk of anticipated criminal conduct posed 

13 by a defendant while on pretrial release; 

14 and 

15 ‘‘(ii) shall use risk-based decision 

16 making that includes objective, research17 based, and locally validated assessment 

18 tools that do not result in unwarranted 

19 disparities on the basis of any classifica20 tion protected under Federal non21 discrimination laws or the nondiscrimina22 tion laws of the applicable State; 

23 ‘‘(B) providing for— 

24 ‘‘(i) a presumption of release in most 

25 cases; and 


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1 ‘‘(ii) a preventative detention protocol 

2 only for cases in which a judicial officer 

3 determines, by clear and convincing evi4 dence and after a hearing during which the 

5 defendant is represented by counsel, that 

6 the appearance of the defendant in court 

7 and the safety of the community cannot 

8 reasonably be assured through the use of 

9 any combination of conditions; 

10 ‘‘(C) if pretrial release requires imposing 

11 conditions, ensuring it is based on the least re12 strictive conditions that a judicial officer deter13 mines would reasonably assure the appearance 

14 of the defendant and the safety of others in the 

15 community; 

16 ‘‘(D) ensuring supervision of the conditions 

17 of pretrial release is based on evidence-based 

18 practices; 

19 ‘‘(E) ensuring a defendant is provided with 

20 counsel at the earlier of— 

21 ‘‘(i) as soon as is feasible after custo22 dial restraint; or 

23 ‘‘(ii) the first appearance before a 

24 committing magistrate, judge, or other ju25 dicial officer; 


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1 ‘‘(F) ensuring an officer of the State, unit 

2 of local government, or Indian tribe appears be3 fore a committing magistrate, judge, or other 

4 judicial officer at the pretrial hearing; 

5 ‘‘(G) ensuring the constitutional right of a 

6 defendant to a speedy trial is effectuated, in7 cluding— 

8 ‘‘(i) setting specific limits on the time 

9 within which either the defendant shall be 

10 brought to trial or the case shall be re11 solved through a nontrial disposition; 

12 ‘‘(ii) providing guidelines for com13 puting the time within which the trial must 

14 be commenced or the case otherwise re15 solved; and 

16 ‘‘(iii) establishing appropriate con17 sequences in the event that the right of the 

18 defendant to a speedy trial is denied; 

19 ‘‘(H) ensuring that the defendant, State, 

20 unit of local government, or Indian tribe is enti21 tled to an immediate, expedited appeal of a pre22 trial detention decision; and 

23 ‘‘(I) instituting a system of data collection 

24 and reporting to determine the effectiveness of 

25 the program replacing the money bail system. 


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1 ‘‘(3) BENCHMARKS.—A State or tribal court 

2 systems or eligible entity receiving a grant under 

3 subsection (a)(1) shall seek to achieve the following: 

4 ‘‘(A) Defendants return to court rates are 

5 not less than 95 percent. 

6 ‘‘(B) Not more than 10 percent of defend7 ants are rearrested pending trial. 

8 ‘‘(C) Overall release rates of defendants 

9 pending trial are not less than 85 percent. 

10 ‘‘(D) 100 percent of defendants have an 

11 attorney at the first appearance of the defend12 ant before a magistrate, judge, or other judicial 

13 officer. 

14 ‘‘(E) The majority of defendants preven15 tively detained were detained after a hearing 

16 that occurred not later than 3 days after the 

17 date of the arrest or booking of the defendant, 

18 and 100 percent of such hearings occurred not 

19 later than 7 days after the date of the arrest 

20 or booking. 

21 ‘‘(F) Validated pretrial assessments with 

22 risk-based decision making that do not lead to 

23 disproportionately higher pretrial detention 

24 rates for individuals on the basis of race and 

25 ethnicity. 


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1 ‘‘(4) ALTERNATIVE PRETRIAL RELEASE MECHA2 NISMS.—Nothing in this part shall be construed to 

3 prohibit the consideration of alternative pretrial re4 lease mechanisms that replace money bail systems 

5 while furthering the principles described in this part. 

6 ‘‘(d) ANNUAL REPORT.— 

7 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—Each entity receiving a 

8 grant under this section shall submit to the Assist9 ant Attorney General, for each fiscal year during 

10 which the entity expends amounts received under the 

11 grant, a report, at such time and in such manner as 

12 the Assistant Attorney General may reasonably re13 quire, that contains— 

14 ‘‘(A) a summary of the activities carried 

15 out using amounts made available under the 

16 grant; 

17 ‘‘(B) an assessment of whether the activi18 ties are meeting the need for the program iden19 tified in the application for the grant; 

20 ‘‘(C) for a grant under subsection (a)(1), 

21 data on the money bail program of the State or 

22 Indian tribe; and 

23 ‘‘(D) such other information as the Assist24 ant Attorney General may require. 


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1 ‘‘(2) DATA.—The data provided under para2 graph (1)(C) shall— 

3 ‘‘(A) be broken down by the demographic 

4 variables of age group, sex, race and ethnicity, 

5 disability, and charge-risk profile of the defend6 ant; 

7 ‘‘(B) include the percentage of defendants 

8 detained in jail or prison who are released from 

9 jail or prison prior to case disposition, broken 

10 down by demographic variables of age group, 

11 sex, race and ethnicity, disability, charge-risk 

12 profile, and release condition; 

13 ‘‘(C) provide the average time to release 

14 from jail for defendants who are released pre15 trial, broken down by demographic variables of 

16 age group, sex, race and ethnicity, disability, 

17 charge-risk profile, and release condition; 

18 ‘‘(D) provide the percentage of defendants 

19 who are detained for the entire duration of the 

20 pretrial phase of their case, broken down by de21 mographic variables of age group, sex, race and 

22 ethnicity, disability, charge-risk profile, and rea23 son for detention; 

24 ‘‘(E) provide the average duration of the 

25 period defendants who are not released are in 


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1 custody in a prison or jail before the disposition 

2 of their case, broken down by demographic vari3 ables of age group, sex, race and ethnicity, dis4 ability, charge-risk profile, and reason for de5 tention; 

6 ‘‘(F) provide the percentage of defendants 

7 released from custody before trial who appeared 

8 at all court appearances for which the court ex9 pected them to appear during the pretrial phase 

10 of their case, broken down by demographic vari11 ables of age group, sex, race and ethnicity, dis12 ability, charge-risk profile, and release condi13 tion; 

14 ‘‘(G) provide the percentage of defendants 

15 released from custody before trial who were not 

16 arrested for or charged with a new crime during 

17 the pretrial phase of their case, broken down by 

18 demographic variables of age group, sex, race 

19 and ethnicity, disability, charge-risk profile, and 

20 release condition; 

21 ‘‘(H) provide data on the access of defend22 ants to counsel, including the number of coun23 sel appointments for indigent defendants and 

24 the outcomes of pretrial release decisions based 

25 on whether counsel was provided; and 


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1 ‘‘(I) include a summary of the steps the 

2 entity has taken to ensure that any risk assess3 ment tool— 

4 ‘‘(i) is properly and regularly vali5 dated based on reliable local data; 

6 ‘‘(ii) includes objective, research-based 

7 data; and 

8 ‘‘(iii) does not result in unwarranted 

9 disparities on the basis of any classifica10 tion protected under Federal non11 discrimination laws or the nondiscrimina12 tion laws of the applicable State. 

13 ‘‘(e) ALLOCATION OF FUNDS.— 

14 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—For fiscal year 2018, of the 

15 amounts appropriated to the Office, the Assistant 

16 Attorney General shall use $15,000,000 to carry out 

17 this part. 

18 ‘‘(2) LIMITATIONS; EQUITABLE DISTRIBU19 TION.— 

20 ‘‘(A) LIMITATIONS.—Of the amount made 

21 available to carry out this section in any fiscal 

22 year— 

23 ‘‘(i) not more than 2 percent may be 

24 used by the Assistant Attorney General for 

25 salaries and administrative expenses; and 


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1 ‘‘(ii) not more than 25 percent may be 

2 used for technical assistance, training, and 

3 evaluation. 

4 ‘‘(B) EQUITABLE DISTRIBUTION.—The As5 sistant Attorney General shall ensure that 

6 grants awarded under this section are equitably 

7 distributed among the geographical regions and 

8 between urban and rural populations, including 

9 Indian tribes, consistent with the objective of 

10 reducing recidivism among criminal offenders. 

11 ‘‘(f) REALLOCATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—A recipi12 ent of a grant under subsection (a) shall return to the 

13 Assistant Attorney General any amounts received under 

14 a grant under subsection (a) that are not expended for 

15 a purpose described in this section.’’. 

Æ 


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