Title: Status of the Sixth Amendment Act of 2017
Policy area: Crime and Law Enforcement

Summary:
Status of the Sixth Amendment Act of 2017
This bill requires a state that receives a Department of Justice (DOJ) Office of Justice Programs grant to report annually certain information with respect to the following categories of offenses: (1) criminal offenses punishable by a prison term of more than one year; (2) criminal offenses punishable by a prison term of one year or less, including misdemeanors, traffic, and municipal violations; and (3) acts of juvenile delinquency punishable by a term of detention.
A state must report, for each offense category, the number of charges for which: (1) an individual was prosecuted, (2) a defendant waived the right to counsel, (3) a defendant was represented by publicly appointed counsel, and (4) a defendant was represented by counsel who was not publicly appointed.
DOJ must publish the reports on its website.

[Congressional Bills 115th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 1517 Introduced in House (IH)]

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115th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                H. R. 1517

To require the Governor of a State to submit to the Attorney General an 
 annual report on the number of individuals who represented themselves 
 in court in criminal matters or juvenile delinquency matters, and for 
                            other purposes.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                             March 13, 2017

Mr. Deutch (for himself and Mr. Conyers) introduced the following bill; 
          which was referred to the Committee on the Judiciary

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
To require the Governor of a State to submit to the Attorney General an 
 annual report on the number of individuals who represented themselves 
 in court in criminal matters or juvenile delinquency matters, 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 ``Status of the Sixth Amendment Act of 
2017''.

SEC. 2. FINDING.

    Congress finds that the Sixth Amendment to the Constitution of the 
United States provides that ``In all criminal prosecutions, the accused 
shall enjoy the right to . . . have the Assistance of Counsel for his 
defense.''.

SEC. 3. REPORT ON INDIVIDUALS WHO REPRESENT THEMSELVES IN CRIMINAL 
              MATTERS OR JUVENILE DELINQUENCY MATTERS.

    (a) In General.--Beginning on the date that is 3 years after the 
date of the enactment of this Act, and annually thereafter, the 
Governor of each State that receives a grant from the Office of Justice 
Programs shall submit to the Attorney General a report which contains, 
at a minimum, the information described in subsection (b)(1) for each 
of the categories described in subsection (b)(2) for the previous year 
for that State.
    (b) Contents of Report.--
            (1) Information described.--The information described in 
        this paragraph is as follows:
                    (A) The number of charges for which an individual 
                was prosecuted.
                    (B) The number of charges for which a defendant 
                waived his or her right to counsel.
                    (C) The number of charges for which a defendant was 
                represented in court by counsel who was publicly 
                appointed.
                    (D) The number of charges for which a defendant was 
                represented in court by counsel who was not publicly 
                appointed.
            (2) Offense categories described.--The categories of 
        offenses described in this paragraph are as follows:
                    (A) Criminal offenses for which a term of 
                imprisonment of more than one year may be imposed.
                    (B) Criminal offenses for which a term of 
                imprisonment of one year or less may be imposed, 
                including misdemeanors, traffic violations, and 
                violations of municipal ordinances.
                    (C) Acts of juvenile delinquency or juvenile status 
                offenses for which any term of detention may be 
                imposed.
    (c) Availability of Reports.--The Attorney General shall make the 
reports required under subsection (a) publicly available on the 
Internet website of the Department of Justice.
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