Pretrial Release Reporting Act
Bill: S.3935 | Sponsor: Sen. Johnson, Ron (R-WI)
Policy area: Crime and Law Enforcement

Summary:
Pretrial Release Reporting Act
This bill requires the Bureau of Justice Statistics to submit a report to Congress on individuals who are granted bail or pretrial release from state courts and are charged with violent felony offenses (e.g., murder or rape).

To require the Director of the Bureau of Justice Statistics to submit 
to Congress a report relating to individuals granted bail and pretrial 
            release in State courts, 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 ``Pretrial Release Reporting Act''.

SEC. 2. FINDINGS.

    Congress finds the following:
            (1) Multiple jurisdictions across the United States--
                    (A) broke annual homicide records in 2021; and
                    (B) have reported individuals committing violent 
                felony offenses after being granted bail or pretrial 
                release.
            (2) The failure of felony defendants to appear for 
        mandatory court appearances and felony bail jumping has 
        increased in multiple jurisdictions across the United States.
            (3) The most recent report issued by the Bureau of Justice 
        Statistics relating to the pretrial release of felony 
        defendants in State courts is from 2007.
            (4) The National Pretrial Reporting Program of the Bureau 
        of Justice Statistics was created to collect information on 
        criminal justice processing of individuals charged with felony 
        offenses in State courts, with particular attention given to 
        pretrial release and detention.
            (5) In 2020, the National Pretrial Reporting Program of the 
        Bureau of Justice Statistics awarded a grant of $2,000,000 to 
        collect information relating to individuals charged with felony 
        offenses and released from criminal pretrial detention.
            (6) Neither the National Pretrial Reporting Program of the 
        Bureau of Justice Statistics nor the Bureau of Justice 
        Statistics has published any information relating to the 
        pretrial release of felony defendants in State courts since the 
        2020 grant award.

SEC. 3. REPORT.

    (a) In General.--Not later than 180 days after the date of 
enactment of this Act, the Director of Bureau of Justice Statistics 
shall submit to Congress a report on information relating to 
individuals granted bail and pretrial release from State courts that 
are charged with 1 or more of the following violent felony offenses:
            (1) Murder or attempted murder.
            (2) Manslaughter, other than involuntary manslaughter.
            (3) Rape or attempted rape.
            (4) Assault with the intent to commit murder.
            (5) Assault with the intent to commit rape.
            (6) Aggravated sexual abuse, sexual abuse, attempted sexual 
        abuse, or abusive sexual conduct.
            (7) Battery or aggravated battery.
            (8) Kidnapping.
            (9) Robbery.
            (10) Resisting or obstructing an officer.
            (11) Carjacking.
            (12) Recklessly endangering safety.
            (13) Illegal possession of a firearm in the commission of a 
        felony.
            (14) Any other violent felony offense tracked by the 
        jurisdiction in which the offense is committed.
    (b) Contents.--The report submitted under subsection (a) shall 
include--
            (1) the number of individuals granted bail or pretrial 
        release from State courts that are charged with an offense 
        described in subsection (a);
            (2) the number of individuals who, after being granted bail 
        or pretrial release, are rearrested or charged with an 
        additional violent felony offense;
            (3) the percentage of individuals granted bail or pretrial 
        release from State courts who--
                    (A) are charged with a violent felony offense; and
                    (B) have a prior arrest or conviction for a violent 
                felony offense;
            (4) with respect to the pretrial releases described in 
        paragraph (2) for which the pretrial release condition was 
        bail, the amount of bail granted for each individual;
            (5) the number of missed mandatory court appearances by 
        individuals charged with a violent felony offense;
            (6) the factors used by State courts for assessing whether 
        to grant bail or pretrial release to individuals who have prior 
        arrests or prior felony convictions for a violent felony 
        offense;
            (7) with respect to individuals who have committed a 
        violent felony offense after being granted bail or pretrial 
        release, the classification of the violent felony offenses;
            (8) the status, as of the date of enactment of this Act, of 
        the National Pretrial Reporting Program of the Bureau of 
        Justice Statistics and the activities of that Program; and
            (9) an accounting for each fiscal year of the amounts that 
        the Department of Justice has spent, or transferred to 
        components of the Department of Justice, in order to collect 
        information on bail and pretrial release in State courts 
        including, with respect to any grants or contracts awarded for 
        that purpose, the amount and the purpose of the grant or 
        contract.
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