I 

116TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 4474 

To discourage the use of payment of money as a condition of pretrial release 

in criminal cases, and for other purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

SEPTEMBER 24, 2019 

Mr. TED LIEU of California introduced the following bill; which was referred 

to the Committee on the Judiciary 

A BILL 

To discourage the use of payment of money 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 ‘‘No Money Bail Act 

5 of 2019’’. 

6 SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 

7 Congress finds the following: 

8 (1) Nearly 60 percent of the inmates in jails in 

9 the United States are pretrial detainees who have 

10 not been convicted of a crime, an estimated 75 perVerDate Sep 11 2014 00:40 Sep 28, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H4474.IH H4474

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1 cent of whom have been charged with nonviolent 

2 crimes. 

3 (2) Under current bail systems that use pay4 ment of money as a condition of pretrial release, 

5 nearly 50 percent of the most dangerous pretrial de6 tainees are released without supervision, according 

7 to a study by the Arnold Foundation. 

8 (3) Throughout the Nation, those with money 

9 can buy their freedom while poor defendants remain 

10 incarcerated awaiting trial. 

11 (4) Pretrial detention costs State and local gov12 ernments an estimated $14,000,000,000 each year. 

13 (5) Pretrial detention should be based on 

14 whether the accused is likely to fail to appear in 

15 court or is a threat to public safety, not the ability 

16 to pay money as a condition of pretrial release. 

17 (6) The States, the United States Department 

18 of Justice, law enforcement agencies, public officials, 

19 and community groups should collaborate to develop 

20 pretrial detention systems that improve public safe21 ty, reduce costs, and discourage criminal behavior. 

22 SEC. 3. ELIGIBILITY FOR GRANTS UNDER THE BYRNE JAG 

23 PROGRAM. 

24 Section 505 of the Omnibus Crime Control and Safe 

25 Streets Act of 1968 (42 U.S.C. 3755) is amended— 


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1 (1) in subsection (a)— 

2 (A) by adding at the end the following: 

3 ‘‘(3) ELIGIBILITY.—Beginning with the third 

4 fiscal year beginning after the enactment of the ‘No 

5 Money Bail Act of 2019’, the Attorney General shall 

6 not allocate any amounts appropriated to carry out 

7 this part to any State that uses payment of money 

8 as a condition of pretrial release with respect to 

9 criminal cases.’’; and 

10 (B) in paragraph (1) by striking ‘‘in para11 graph (2)’’ and inserting ‘‘in paragraphs (2) 

12 and (3)’’; and 

13 (2) in subsection (f)— 

14 (A) by striking ‘‘If the Attorney General’’ 

15 and inserting ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—If the Attor16 ney General’’; and 

17 (B) by adding at the end the following: 

18 ‘‘(2) STATE INELIGIBLE DUE TO SYSTEM OF

19 BAIL.—Notwithstanding paragraph (1), if the Attor20 ney General determines with respect to any grant 

21 period that a State is made ineligible by subsection 

22 (a)(3), the Attorney General shall reallocate any 

23 amounts allocated to or that would have been allo24 cated to such State for such period— 

25 ‘‘(A) among the other eligible States; and 


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1 ‘‘(B) in proportion to allocations among el2 igible States under subsection (a).’’. 

3 SEC. 4. PROHIBITION OF MONEY BAIL IN FEDERAL CRIMI4 NAL CASES. 

5 Notwithstanding any provision of Federal law, no jus6 tice, judge, or other judicial official in any court created 

7 by or under article III of the Constitution of the United 

8 States may use payment of money as a condition of pre9 trial release in any criminal case. 

Æ 


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