H.R. 5214 — what changed
District of Columbia Cash Bail Reform Act of 2025
From Introduced in House to Reported in House. 3 sections amended between Introduced in House and Reported in House.
Section 1 Short title
changed
This Act may be cited as the “District of Columbia Cash Bail Reform Act”.Act of 2025”.
Sec. 2 Mandatory pretrial and post conviction detention for crime of violence or dangerous crime
Pretrial detention— Section 23–1322, District of Columbia Official Code, is amended—
in subsection (a), by striking “with an offense” and inserting “with an offense, other than a crime of violence or dangerous crime (as such terms are defined in section 1331 of this title),”; and
by adding at the end the following new subsection:
“(j) Notwithstanding any other provision of this section, the judicial officer shall order each person charged with a crime of violence or a dangerous crime (as such terms are defined in section 1331 of this title) be detained for the period before trial.”
Post conviction detention— Section 23–1325, District of Columbia Official Code, is amended—
changed
in subsection (b), by striking “unless” and all that follows through “section 23–1321”;23–1321”; and
in subsection (c), by striking “unless” and all that follows through “section 23–1321”; and
by adding at the end the following new subsection:
changed
“(d) “(e) This provisions of this section shall apply with respect to a person convicted of a crime of violence or a dangerous crime (as such terms are defined in section 1331 of this title).”
Changes to definition of dangerous crime— Section 23–1331(3), D.C. Official Code, is amended—
in subparagraph (E), by striking “Burglary or attempted burglary” and inserting “Burglary in the first degree, attempted burglary in the first degree, or burglary with a dangerous weapon”; and
in subparagraph (G), by striking “Robbery or attempted robbery” and inserting “Robbery in the first degree, attempted robbery in the first degree, or robbery with a dangerous weapon”.
Changes to definition of crime of violence— Section 23–1331(4), D.C. Official Code, is amended—
changed
by striking “burglary” and inserting “burglary in the first degree, attempted burglary in the first degree, or burglar burglary with a dangerous weapon”; weapon”’; and
by striking “robbery” and inserting “robbery in the first degree, attempted robbery in the first degree, or robbery with a dangerous weapon”.
Conforming amendments—
Removal of crime of violence and dangerous crime from pretrial release procedures— Section 23–1322, District of Columbia Official Code, is further amended—
in subsection (b)(1), by striking subparagraph (A) and redesignating subparagraphs (B) through (D) as subparagraphs (A) through (C), respectively;
by amending subsection (c) to read as follows:
“(c) Subject to rebuttal by the person, it shall be presumed that no condition or combination of conditions of release will reasonably assure the safety of any other person and the community if the judicial officer finds that there is probable cause to believe that the person—
“(1) has threatened, injured, intimidated, or attempted to threaten, injure, or intimidate a law enforcement officer, an officer of the court, or a prospective witness or juror in any criminal investigation or judicial proceeding;
changed
“(2) violated section 3 of the Act of July 8, 1932 (sec. 22–4503, D.C. Official Code), section 4(a) of such Act (sec. 22–4504(a), D.C. Official Code), or section 4(a–1) 4(a-1) of such Act (sec. 22–4504(a)(1), D.C. Official Code); or
“(3) violated the Firearm Control Regulations Act of 1975 (sec. 7–2508.01 et seq., D.C. Official Code) while on probation, parole, or supervised release for committing a dangerous crime or a crime of violence (as such terms are defined in section 1331 of this title) and while armed with or having readily available a firearm, imitation firearm, or other deadly or dangerous weapon as described in section 2(a) of the Act of July 8, 1832 (sec. 22–4502(a), D.C. Official Code).”
in subsection (e)(1), by striking “is a crime of” and all that follows through “, or”; and
by striking subsection (f)(3).
changed
Removal of murder offenses from pretrial release procedures— Section 23–1325, District of Columbia Official Code, as amended by subsection (b), is amended by striking subsection (a) and redesignating subsections (b) through (d) (e) as subsections (a) through (c), (d), respectively.
Sec. 3 Requiring cash bail for release of individuals charged with public safety or order offenses
In general— Section 23–1321, District of Columbia Official Code, is amended—
in subsection (a)—
in paragraph (1), by striking “Released” and inserting “Except as provided under paragraph (5), released”;
in paragraph (3), by striking “; or” and inserting a semicolon;
changed
in paragraph (4), by striking the period at the end and inserting “; or”; or” ; and
by adding at the end the following new paragraph:
“(5) With respect to a person charged with a public safety or order crime (as such term is defined in section 1331 of this title), released only upon execution of a secured appearance bond (as such term is defined in section 1331 of this title) and subject to any requirement under subsections (b) and (c) of this section as the judicial officer may order.”
in subsection (b), by striking “or upon execution of an unsecured appearance bond in an amount specified by the court,” and inserting “upon execution of an unsecured appearance bond in an amount specified by the court, or upon a secured appearance bond under subsection (a)(5),”; and
by adding at the end the following new subsection:
“(f) A person who is released upon the execution of an appearance bond with a surety, under subsection (a)(5), may be arrested by the surety, and if so arrested, shall be delivered promptly to a United States marshal and brought before a judicial officer in the District of Columbia. The judicial officer shall determine in accordance with the provisions of this section 23–1322 whether to revoke the release of the person, and may absolve the surety of responsibility to pay all or part of the bond in accordance with the provisions of Rule 46 of the Federal Rules of Criminal Procedure. The person so committed shall be held in official detention until released pursuant to this title or any other provision of law.”
Definitions—
Public safety or order crime defined— Section 23–1331, District of Columbia Official Code, is amended by adding at the end the following new paragraph:
changed
“(7) The term “public safety or order crime” means failure to appear when ordered to do so by a judicial officer; obstruction of justice; fleeing from a law enforcement officer; rioting; inciting a riot; destruction of property; stalking; burglary or robbery (other than burglary or robbery in the first degree or burglary with a dangerous weapon); robbery or a previous conviction of any such offense, or substantially similar offense, under Federal, State, or local law.”
Secured appearance bond defined— Section 23–1331, District of Columbia Official Code, is further amended by adding at the end the following new paragraph:
“(8) The term “secured appearance bond” means an agreement to forfeit upon failing to appear as required, the designated property, including money, as is reasonably necessary to assure the appearance of the person as required, and post with the court the indicia of ownership of the property, or a percentage of the money as the judicial officer may specify; or a bail bond with solvent sureties in whatever amount is reasonably necessary to assure the appearance of the person as required.”
Conforming amendments— Section 23–1321, District of Columbia Official Code, is further amended—
changed
in subsection (a), by striking “with an offense” and all that follows through “shall issue” and insert inserting “with an offense, other than a crime of violence or dangerous crime (as such terms are defined in section 1331 of this title), the judicial officer shall issue”; and
in subsection (c)—
in paragraph (1)—
changed
by striking “shall” and inserting “may”; “may” ; and
in subparagraph (B), by striking “Least restrictive further” and inserting “Further”;
by striking paragraph (3) and redesignating paragraphs (4) and (5) as paragraphs (3) and (4), respectively; and
in paragraph (4), as so redesignated, by striking “additional or different conditions” and inserting “any additional or different condition described under this subsection”.