Prosecutors Need to Prosecute Act of 2023

Subjects: Crime and Law Enforcement


<html><body><pre>[Congressional Bills 118th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 281 Introduced in Senate (IS)]

&lt;DOC&gt;






118th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                 S. 281

  To amend the Omnibus Crime Control and Safe Streets Act of 1968 to 
direct certain prosecutor's offices to annually report to the Attorney 
                    General, and for other purposes.


_______________________________________________________________________


                   IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

                            February 7, 2023

  Mr. Kennedy (for himself, Mr. Cruz, Mr. Thune, and Mrs. Blackburn) 
introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the 
                       Committee on the Judiciary

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
  To amend the Omnibus Crime Control and Safe Streets Act of 1968 to 
direct certain prosecutor's offices to annually report to the Attorney 
                    General, and for other purposes.

    Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the 
United States of America in Congress assembled,

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

    This Act may be cited as the ``Prosecutors Need to Prosecute Act of 
2023''.

SEC. 2. DISTRICT ATTORNEY AND PROSECUTOR REPORTS.

    Section 501 of title I of the Omnibus Crime Control and Safe 
Streets Act of 1968 (34 U.S.C. 10151) is amended--
            (1) by redesignating subsections (g) and (h) as subsections 
        (h) and (i), respectively; and
            (2) by inserting after subsection (f) the following:
    ``(f) District Attorney Reporting Requirements.--
            ``(1) Definitions.--In this subsection:
                    ``(A) Covered offense.--The term `covered offense' 
                means any of the following:
                            ``(i) Murder or non-negligent manslaughter.
                            ``(ii) Forcible rape.
                            ``(iii) Robbery.
                            ``(iv) Aggravated assault.
                            ``(v) Burglary.
                            ``(vi) Larceny.
                            ``(vii) Motor vehicle theft.
                            ``(viii) Arson.
                            ``(ix) Any offense involving the illegal 
                        use of a firearm.
                            ``(x) Any offense involving the illegal 
                        possession of a firearm.
                    ``(B) Covered prosecutor.--The term `covered 
                prosecutor' means the chief executive of a district 
                attorney or prosecutor's office that serves a local 
                government--
                            ``(i) the population of the jurisdiction of 
                        which is not less than 360,000 individuals; and
                            ``(ii) that receives funds under this part.
            ``(2) Reporting requirement.--Not later than 1 year after 
        the date of enactment of the Prosecutors Need to Prosecute Act 
        of 2023, and annually thereafter, a covered prosecutor shall 
        submit to the Attorney General a report that contains, for the 
        previous fiscal year, the following:
                    ``(A) The total number of cases referred to the 
                covered prosecutor for prosecution of a covered 
                offense.
                    ``(B) The number of cases involving a covered 
                offense--
                            ``(i) that the covered prosecutor declined 
                        to prosecute or refer for diversion; or
                            ``(ii) for which the covered prosecutor 
                        declines to reach a plea agreement.
                    ``(C) For cases involving a covered offense that 
                result in a plea agreement or referral for diversion 
                reached with the defendant, the number of cases for 
                which the defendant--
                            ``(i) was previously arrested for a covered 
                        offense arising out of a separate conviction;
                            ``(ii) was previously convicted for a 
                        covered offense arising out of a separate 
                        conviction;
                            ``(iii) with an open case involving a 
                        covered offense arising out of separate 
                        conviction;
                            ``(iv) serving a term of probation for a 
                        conviction for a covered offense arising out of 
                        separate conduct; and
                            ``(v) was released on parole for a 
                        conviction for a covered offense arising out of 
                        separate conduct.
                    ``(D) The number of covered offenses that the 
                covered prosecutor does not prosecute as a result of an 
                internal policy against prosecuting specific criminal 
                offenses including--
                            ``(i) each covered offense captured in the 
                        internal policy; and
                            ``(ii) each criminal offense that is not 
                        captured in the internal policy.
            ``(3) Compliance.--With respect to a covered prosecutor 
        that complies with the requirement under paragraph (2)--
                    ``(A) the Attorney General shall give priority in 
                disbursing funds under this part to the local 
                government served by the covered prosecutor; and
                    ``(B) the local government described in 
                subparagraph (A) shall ensure that the covered 
                prosecutor receives a portion of the funds received 
                under this part.
            ``(4) Uniform standards.--The Attorney General shall 
        establish uniform standards for the reporting of the 
        information required under this subsection, including the form 
        such reports shall take and the process by which such reports 
        shall be shared with the Attorney General.
            ``(5) Submission to judiciary committees.--The Attorney 
        General shall--
                    ``(A) submit the information received under this 
                subsection to the Committee on the Judiciary of the 
                Senate and the Committee on the Judiciary of the House 
                of Representatives; and
                    ``(B) publish such information on a publicly 
                viewable website.''.

SEC. 3. BYRNE-JAG FUNDS AND ELIMINATION OF CASH BAIL.

    The Attorney General shall not distribute amounts under subpart I 
of part E of title 1 of the Omnibus Crime Control and Safe Streets Act 
of 1968 (34 U.S.C. 10151 et seq.) to a State or local government that 
has in effect a policy that prohibits the use of cash bail for a 
defendant in a case involving the illegal use or illegal possession of 
a firearm.
                                 &lt;all&gt;
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