Section 1 Short title
This Act may be cited as the “No Free Pass for Felons Act of 2025”.
No Free Pass for Felons Act of 2025
A BILL
To amend the Omnibus Crime Control and Safe Streets Act of 1968 and the Implementing Recommendations of the 9/11 Commission Act of 2007 to limit eligibility for certain Federal law enforcement and public safety grants based on minimum pretrial public safety standards, and for other purposes.
Sec. 2 Findings
Congress finds the following:
Violent offenders released on unsecured or cashless bail pose a significant risk to public safety.
Federal funds should not subsidize policies that release repeat violent offenders without meaningful judicial review.
The Supreme Court has upheld preventive detention as constitutional (United States v. Salerno, 481 U.S. 739 (1987)).
Conditioning Federal grants on minimum public safety standards is a valid exercise of Congress’s spending power.
Sec. 3 Justice assistance and cops grants
Bryne justice assistance grant eligibility— The Omnibus Crime Control and Safe Streets Act of 1968 (34 U.S.C. 10153 et seq.) is amended—
in section 502(a), by adding at the end the following:
“(7) A certification that the applicant has in effect a law or policy that prohibits pretrial release on personal recognizance or upon execution of an unsecured appearance bond of a covered defendant, unless a court first holds a dangerousness hearing and makes a written finding on the record that conditions of such pretrial release imposed by the court will reasonably assure the appearance of such defendant before the court and the safety of any other person and the community.
“(8) A certification that the applicant has a system to collect and publish, not less than annually—
“(A) data on determinations by judges in that jurisdiction to release defendants charged with covered violent offenses pending trial;
“(B) data on rearrests for covered violent offenses of such defendants; and
“(C) data on the failure of such defendants to appear, disaggregated by the type of pretrial release on which they were released pending trial.”
in section 502, by adding at the end the following:
“(c) Definitions—In this section:
“(1) Covered defendant—The term covered defendant means an individual who is—
“(A) charged with a covered violent offense;
“(B) charged with any offense, in the case of an individual who has been convicted of a covered violent offense arising out of a separate course of conduct; or
“(C) charged with any offense while on probation, parole, or supervised release for a covered violent offense.
“(2) Covered violent offense—The term covered violent offense means an offense that has as an element the use, attempted use, or threatened use of physical force against the person or property of another.
“(3) Dangerousness hearing—The term dangerousness hearing means a hearing consistent with subsections (e), (f), and (g) of section 3142 of title 18, United States Code.”
in section 505, by adding at the end the following:
“(j) Reduction of grant award—If the Attorney General determines that a State or unit of local government has failed to meet the application requirements described in section 502(a)(7) or (8), the Attorney General shall, after giving notice and the opportunity to cure, allocate in an amount that is not more than 85 percent of the amount otherwise allocable to such State or unit of local government under this section.”
Community oriented policing service grants— The Omnibus Crime Control and Safe Streets Act of 1968 (34 U.S.C. 10382 et seq.) is amended—
in section 1702(c)—
in paragraph (10), by striking “and” at the end;
in paragraph (11), by striking the period at the end and inserting “; and”; and
by adding at the end the following:
“(12) certify that the applicant’s State (or, in the case of a local government with pretrial release authority, such local government) has adopted and is enforcing laws or policies that meet the requirements described in section 502(a)(7) and (8).”
in section 1706, by adding at the end “Failure to maintain the certification required under section 1702(c)(12) shall constitute noncompliance for purposes of this section.”.
Transit security grant eligibility— Section 1406 of the Implementing Recommendations of the 9/11 Commission Act of 2007 (6 U.S.C. 1135) is amended—
by redesignating subsections (c) through (n) as subsections (d) through (o);
by adding after subsection (b), the following:
“(c) Pretrial public safety condition
“(1) In general—To receive a grant under this section, an eligible public transportation agency shall submit to the Secretary a certification that the State in which the public transportation agency operates—
“(A) has in effect a law or policy that prohibits pretrial release on personal recognizance or upon execution of an unsecured appearance bond of a covered defendant, unless a court first holds a dangerousness hearing and makes a written finding on the record that conditions of such pretrial release imposed by the court will reasonably assure the appearance of such defendant before the court and the safety of any other person and the community; and
“(B) has a system to collect and publish, not less than annually—
“(i) data on determinations by judges in that jurisdiction to release defendants charged with covered violent offenses pending trial;
“(ii) data on rearrests for covered violent offenses of such defendants; and
“(iii) data on the failure of such defendants to appear, disaggregated by the type of pretrial release on which they were released pending trial.
“(2) Waiver—The Secretary may temporarily waive the requirements described in paragraph (1) upon a determination that a temporary waiver is necessary to address an acute site-specific security threat.”
by adding at the end the following:
“(p) Definitions—In this section:
“(1) Covered defendant—The term covered defendant means an individual who is—
“(A) charged with a covered violent offense;
“(B) charged with any offense, in the case of an individual who has been convicted of a covered violent offense arising out of a separate course of conduct; or
“(C) charged with any offense while on probation, parole, or supervised release for a covered violent offense.
“(2) Covered violent offense—The term covered violent offense means an offense that has as an element the use, attempted use, or threatened use of physical force against the person or property of another.
“(3) Dangerousness hearing—The term dangerousness hearing means a hearing consistent with subsection (e), (f), and (g) of section 3142 of title 18, United States Code.”
General provisions—
Severability— If any provision of this Act, an amendment made by this Act, or the application thereof, is held invalid, the remainder of the Act or amendment and its application shall not be affected.
Effective date— The amendments made by this Act shall apply to applications for grants submitted in the first fiscal year beginning 18 months after the date of enactment of this Act.
Rules— Not later than 180 days after the date of enactment of this Act the Attorney General shall issue such rules as may be necessary to carry out the amendments made by subsection (a)(1).