I 

116TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION H. R. 8301 

To withhold a percentage of Federal funding from State and local prosecutors 

who fail to faithfully prosecute crimes related to protests and riots. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

SEPTEMBER 17, 2020 

Mrs. LESKO (for herself, Mr. JORDAN, Mr. TIFFANY, Mr. DUNCAN, Mr. 

RESCHENTHALER, Mr. HICE of Georgia, Mr. STEUBE, Mr. BUDD, Mr. 

BURGESS, Mr. GIBBS, Mr. YOHO, Mr. WEBER of Texas, Mr. GAETZ, Mr. 

COLLINS of Georgia, Mr. GUEST, and Mr. KELLER) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on the Judiciary 

A BILL 

To withhold a percentage of Federal funding from State 

and local prosecutors who fail to faithfully prosecute 

crimes related to protests and riots. 

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 ‘‘Holding Rioters Ac5 countable Act of 2020’’. 

6 SEC. 2. FINDINGS AND PURPOSE. 

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


kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS
2 

•HR 8301 IH

1 (1) Opportunistic rioters and violent extremists 

2 are destroying public and private property with im3 punity. 

4 (2) Local and Federal law enforcement officers 

5 are on the front lines every night attempting to pre6 vent the mass destruction of property. 

7 (3) Law enforcement officers are doing their 

8 jobs by arresting those who are found to be commit9 ting the violence and destruction. 

10 (4) In certain jurisdictions, however, local and 

11 State prosecutors are turning a blind eye to the de12 struction and violence. 

13 (5) These actions do a disservice to the law en14 forcement officers faithfully carrying out their re15 sponsibility to uphold the rule of law. 

16 (6) The Office of Justice Programs of the De17 partment of Justice provided approximately 

18 $5,000,000,000 in grants and funding to State and 

19 local governments in fiscal year 2020. 

20 (7) District attorney and State attorney general 

21 offices have abused the use of prosecutorial discre22 tion and fail to protect private and public property 

23 or fail to confront and address violent riots and 

24 looting should not receive Federal support. 


kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS
3 

•HR 8301 IH

1 (b) PURPOSE.—The purpose of this Act is to provide 

2 authority for the Attorney General to withhold Federal 

3 grant amounts and other funding provided to State and 

4 local prosecutors, district attorneys, and State attorney 

5 general offices if such prosecutors or offices fail to faith6 fully uphold the rule of law by failing to properly prosecute 

7 criminal acts committed during riots and protests. 

8 SEC. 3. WITHHOLDING OF PERCENTAGE OF DEPARTMENT 

9 OF JUSTICE GRANTS AND OTHER FUNDING 

10 SOURCES FROM STATE AND LOCAL PROSECU11 TORS, DISTRICT ATTORNEYS, AND STATE AT12 TORNEYS GENERAL. 

13 (a) IN GENERAL.—The Attorney General may with14 hold from all amounts that would otherwise be awarded 

15 or made available under part JJ of title I of the Omnibus 

16 Crime Control and Safe Streets Act of 1968 (34 U.S.C. 

17 10671 et seq.) or a COVID–19 related emergency funding 

18 program to a State prosecutor’s office, a district attor19 ney’s office, or a State attorney general’s office in a fiscal 

20 year by the Department of Justice— 

21 (1) not more than 10 percent of such amounts 

22 if the Attorney General determines, in accordance 

23 with subsection (b), that the office has abused the 

24 use of prosecutorial discretion by failing to prosecute 


kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS
4 

•HR 8301 IH

1 crimes stemming from riots or other violent or de2 structive protest activities; and 

3 (2) not more than 20 percent of such amounts 

4 if the Attorney General determines that, in the 

5 course of an abuse of the use of prosecutorial discre6 tion determined under paragraph (1), if a crime that 

7 was not prosecuted was an assault against a law en8 forcement officer. 

9 (b) STANDARD FOR DETERMINATION.— 

10 (1) IN GENERAL.—A State prosecutor’s office, 

11 a district attorney’s office, or a State attorney gen12 eral’s office shall be determined to have abused the 

13 prosecutorial discretion of the office under sub14 section (a) if the office refuses, as a general policy 

15 rather than on a case-by-case determination, to seek 

16 prosecution for crimes committed by individuals en17 gaged in or connected to rioting, looting, or other 

18 violent or destructive activities, unless such policy is 

19 in accordance with an order issued by a court of law. 

20 (2) LIMITATION.—A State prosecutor’s office, a 

21 district attorney’s office, or a State attorney gen22 eral’s office shall not be determined to have abused 

23 the prosecutorial discretion of the office under sub24 section (a) if the Attorney General determines that 

25 such exercise of prosecutorial discretion is properly 


kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS
5 

•HR 8301 IH

1 made based on the strength of evidence, individual 

2 facts in the case, cooperation of the defendant, or 

3 other appropriate prosecutorial decision making fac4 tors. 

5 (3) REQUIREMENT.—The Attorney General 

6 shall establish criteria for determining whether a 

7 State prosecutor’s office, a district attorney’s office, 

8 or a State attorney general’s office has abused the 

9 prosecutorial discretion of the office under sub10 section (a). 

11 (c) REVIEW OF RELEVANT INFORMATION.—In mak12 ing a determination under subsection (a), the Attorney 

13 General shall— 

14 (1) review any arrest statistics, information, or 

15 documents, provided by a law enforcement agency 

16 that conducted authorized operations connected to a 

17 riot or other violent or destructive protest activity; 

18 (2) review any prosecution statistics, informa19 tion, or documents, provided by the office being re20 viewed relating to indictment, dismissal, or convic21 tion of individuals charged with any crime connected 

22 to a riot or other violent or destructive protest activ23 ity; and 

24 (3) review any statements, orders, or other in25 formation made by an executive political leader with 


kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS
6 

•HR 8301 IH

1 responsibility for appointing or otherwise overseeing 

2 the operations and activities of the office being re3 viewed. 

4 (d) RESTRICTED USE OF FUNDS.—In the case of a 

5 State that the Attorney General determines is a State de6 scribed in subsection (a) because a local district attorney 

7 or prosecutor has abused prosecutorial discretion by fail8 ing to prosecute crimes stemming from riots or other vio9 lent or destructive protest activities, the State may not— 

10 (1) make the amounts made available under a 

11 program described in subsection (a) available for use 

12 by the local government; and 

13 (2) to the maximum extent practicable, expend 

14 the amounts made available under a program de15 scribed in subsection (a) in any community or loca16 tion subject to the jurisdiction of the local govern17 ment. 

Æ 


kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS