DC CRIMES Act of 2024

To limit youth offender status in the District of Columbia to individuals 18 years of age or younger, to direct the Attorney General of the District of Columbia to establish and operate a publicly accessible website containing updated statistics on juvenile crime in the District of Columbia, to amend the District of Columbia Home Rule Act to prohibit the Council of the District of Columbia from enacting changes to existing criminal liability sentences, and for other purposes. 1. Short title This Act may be cited as the D. C. Criminal Reforms to Immediately Make Everyone Safe Act of 2024 DC CRIMES Act of 2024 2. Youth offenders (a) Limiting youth offender status in District of Columbia to individuals 18 years of age or younger Section 2(6) of the Youth Rehabilitation Act of 1985 (sec. 24–901(6), D.C. Official Code) is amended by striking 24 years of age or younger 18 years of age or younger (b) Conforming amendments (1) Repeal consideration of individuals 18 through 24 years of age in strategic plan for facilities, treatment, and services Section 3(a–1) of such Act (sec. 24–902(a–1), D.C. Official Code) is amended by striking paragraph (3). (2) Community service for individuals under order of probation Section 4(a)(2) of such Act (sec. 24–903(a)(2), D.C. Official Code) is amended by striking 15 to 24 years of age 15 to 18 years of age15 to 18 years of age 3. Establishment and operation of website on District of Columbia juvenile crime statistics (a) Establishment and operation Subchapter I of chapter 23 16–2340a. Website of updated statistics on juvenile crime (a) Establishment and operation of website The Attorney General of the District of Columbia shall establish and operate a publicly accessible website which contains data on juvenile crime in the District of Columbia, including each of the following statistical measures: (1) The total number of juveniles arrested each year. (2) The total number and percentage of juveniles arrested each year, broken down by age, race, and sex. (3) Of the total number of juveniles arrested each year, the total number and percentage arrested for petty crime, including the following crimes: (A) Vandalism. (B) Theft. (C) Shoplifting. (4) Of the total number of juveniles arrested each year, the total number and percentage arrested for crime of violence (as defined in section 23–1331(4)). (5) Of the total number of juveniles arrested each year, the total number and percentage who were arrested for their first offense. (6) Of the total number of juveniles arrested each year, the total number and percentage who had been arrested previously. (7) Of the total number of juveniles arrested each year who had been arrested previously, the total number and percentage of the number of arrests. (8) Of the total number of juveniles arrested each year, the declination rate for prosecutions by the Office of the Attorney General for the District of Columbia. (9) Of the total number of juveniles sentenced each year, the number and percentage who were tried as adults. (10) Of the total number of juveniles prosecuted each year, the number and percentage who were not sentenced, who were sentenced to a misdemeanor, and who were sentenced to a felony. (11) Of the total number of juveniles sentenced each year, the number and percentage of the length of time that will be served in a correctional facility as provided by the sentence. (b) Updates The Attorney General shall update the information contained on the website on a monthly basis. (c) Maintaining archive of information The Attorney General shall ensure that the information contained on the website is archived appropriately to provide indefinite public access to historical data of juvenile arrests and prosecutions. (d) Format The Attorney General shall ensure that the information contained in the website, including historical data described in subsection (c), is available in a machine-readable format available for bulk download. (e) Prohibiting disclosure of personally identifiable information In carrying out this section, the Attorney General shall ensure that the website does not include any juvenile’s personally identifiable information. (f) Definitions In this section— (1) the term crime offense (2) the term juvenile youth offender . (b) Conforming amendments relating to authorized release of information (1) Juvenile case records of Family Court Section 16–2331, District of Columbia Official Code, is amended— (A) by redesignating subsection (i) as subsection (j); and (B) by inserting after subsection (h) the following new subsection: (i) Notwithstanding subsection (b) of this section, a person shall provide information contained in juvenile case records to the Attorney General for purposes of the website established and operated under section 16–2340a. . (2) Juvenile social records of Family Court Section 16–2332, District of Columbia Official Code, is amended— (A) by redesignating subsection (h) as subsection (i); and (B) by inserting after subsection (g) the following new subsection: (h) Notwithstanding subsection (b) of this section, a person shall provide information contained in juvenile social records to the Attorney General for purposes of the website established and operated under section 16–2340a. . (3) Police and other law enforcement records Section 16–2333, District of Columbia Official Code, is amended— (A) by redesignating subsection (g) as subsection (h); and (B) by inserting after subsection (f) the following new subsection: (g) Notwithstanding subsection (a) of this section, a person shall provide information contained in law enforcement records and files concerning a child to the Attorney General for purposes of the website established and operated under section 16–2340a. . (c) Effective date The Attorney General of the District of Columbia shall establish the website under section 16–2341, District of Columbia Official Code, as added by subsection (a), not later than 180 days after the date of the enactment of this Act. 4. Prohibiting Council from enacting changes to existing criminal liability sentences Section 602(a) of the District of Columbia Home Rule Act (sec. 1–206.02(a), D.C. Official Code) is amended— (1) by striking or (2) by striking the period at the end of paragraph (10) and inserting ; or (3) by adding at the end the following new paragraph: (11) enact any act, resolution, or rule to change any criminal liability sentence in effect on the date of the enactment of the DC CRIMES Act of 2024. . April 30, 2024 Reported with an amendment, committed to the Committee of the Whole House on the State of the Union, and ordered to be printed

Summary: D.C. Criminal Reforms to Immediately Make Everyone Safe Act of 2024 or the DC CRIMES Act of 2024This bill limits the authority of the District of Columbia (DC) government over its criminal sentencing laws. The bill eliminates the DC government’s authority to enact any act, resolution, or rule to change any criminal liability sentence in effect on the date of the bill's enactment.The bill also reduces the maximum age of a youth offender from 24 years to 18 years. A DC criminal court currently has the discretion to reduce or modify certain criminal sentences for a youth offenders under specified circumstances. For example, a DC court may sentence a youth offender to probation in lieu of confinement. (However, this discretion does not apply to several specified violent crimes.) Additionally, the bill directs the Office of the Attorney General for DC to publish, and update monthly, certain youth offender crime data on a publicly accessible website.