I
107TH CONGRESS
1ST SESSION
H. R. 2734
To amend title 18, United States Code, and the Federal Rules of Criminal
Procedure with respect to bail bond forfeitures.
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
AUGUST 2, 2001
Mr. BARR of Georgia (for himself, Mr. WEXLER, Mr. BASS, Mr. BURTON of
Indiana, Mr. KELLER, Mr. RANGEL, Mr. DEUTSCH, Mr. MEEKS of New
York, Mr. MICA, Mr. CALVERT, Mr. DAVIS of Florida, Mr. SCOTT, Mr.
CHABOT, Ms. EDDIE BERNICE JOHNSON of Texas, Mr. MCDERMOTT,
and Mr. BOEHNER) introduced the following bill; which was referred to
the Committee on the Judiciary
A BILL
To amend title 18, United States Code, and the Federal
Rules of Criminal Procedure with respect to bail bond
forfeitures.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-
tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled,
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.
This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Bail Bond Fairness
Act of 2001’’.
SEC. 2. FINDINGS AND PURPOSES.
(a) FINDINGS.—The Congress makes the following
findings:
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(1) Historically, the sole purpose of bail in the
United States was to ensure the defendant’s physical
presence before a court. The bail bond would be de-
clared forfeited only when the defendant actually
failed to appear as ordered. Violations of other, col-
lateral conditions of release might cause release to
be revoked, but would not cause the bond to be for-
feited. This historical basis of bail bonds best served
the interests of the Federal criminal justice system.
(2) Currently, however, Federal judges have
merged the purposes of bail and other conditions of
release. These judges now order bonds forfeited in
cases in which the defendant actually appears as or-
dered but he fails to comply with some collateral
condition of release. The judges rely on Federal Rule
of Criminal Procedure 46(e) as authority to do so.
(3) Federal Rule of Criminal Procedure 46(e)
has withstood repeated court challenges. In cases
such as United States v. Vaccaro, 51 F.3d 189 (9th
Cir. 1995), the rule has been held to authorize Fed-
eral courts specifically to order bonds forfeited for
violation of collateral conditions of release and not
simply for failure to appear. Moreover, the Federal
courts have continued to uphold and expand the rule
because they find no evidence of congressional intent
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to the contrary, specifically finding that the provi-
sions of the ‘‘Bail Bond Act of 1984’’ were not in-
tended to supersede the rule.
(4) As a result, the underwriting of bonds for
Federal defendants has become virtually impossible.
Where once the bail agent was simply ensuring the
defendant’s physical presence, the bail agent now
must guarantee the defendant’s general ‘‘good be-
havior.’’ Insofar as the risk for the bail agent has
greatly increased, the industry has been forced to
adhere to strict underwriting guidelines, in most
cases requiring full collateral. Consequently, the
Federal criminal justice system has been deprived of
any meaningful bail bond option.
(5) In the absence of a meaningful bail bond
option, thousands of defendants in the Federal sys-
tem fail to show up for court appearances every
year. When this happens, the expense and effort by
Federal law enforcement officers to investigate and
apprehend defendants is wasted and the overall in-
terests of justice are thwarted.
(b) PURPOSES.—The purposes of this title are:
(1) To restore bail bonds to their historical ori-
gin as a means solely to ensure the defendant’s
physical presence before a court; and
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(2) To grant judges the authority to declare
bail bonds forfeited only where the defendant actu-
ally fails to appear physically before a court as or-
dered and not where the defendant violates some
other collateral condition of release.
SEC. 3. FAIRNESS IN BAIL BOND FORFEITURE.
(a)(1) Title 18, section 3146(d), is amended by in-
serting at the end, ‘‘The judicial officer may not declare
forfeited a bail bond for violation of a release condition
set forth in clauses (i)–(xi), (xiii), or (xiv) of section
3142(c)(1)(B).’’.
(2) Title 18, section 3148(a), is amended by inserting
at the end, ‘‘Forfeiture of a bail bond executed under
clause (xii) of section 3142(c)(1)(B) is not an available
sanction under this section and such forfeiture may be de-
clared only pursuant to section 3146.’’.
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