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CIVIC HERALD
HR 5214 · 119th Congress · HouseOther

District of Columbia Cash Bail Reform Act of 2025

In plain language: This bill requires judges in Washington, D.C., to keep anyone charged with a violent or dangerous crime in jail until their trial, eliminating pretrial release for those offenses. For a separate group of crimes—including destruction of property, rioting, stalking, fleeing police, and non-armed robbery or burglary—defendants could only be released if they post cash bail or a secured property bond. The measure also authorizes commercial bail bond companies to arrest defendants who fail to appear in court, and it eliminates the rule that judges must choose the least restrictive conditions when setting release terms.

Provisional: our plain-language summary, pending review.

Provisionalunreviewed: impact, provisions, stakeholders, summary
People affected—not determinable from the text provided
Fiscal magnitude—not determinable from the text provided
Reach58provisional · pending reviewrigor: heuristic llm
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Issues

What this bill touches.

Sentencing & corrections−65Federal vs. state/local+35

The sign shows the bill's direction on each issue (+ toward, − away); the number is its magnitude. Color never encodes good or bad, and never party.

Who it affects

Who it helps · who it burdens.

Who it helps

  • Commercial bail bond suretiesGrants commercial sureties the authority to arrest defendants released on surety bonds and deliver them to U.S. marshals to seek discharge of bond liability, while creating a statutory mandate for secured appearance bonds for certain offenses (Sec. 3(a)(1), Sec. 3(a)(3)).provisional

Who it burdens

  • Individuals charged with or convicted of violent or dangerous crimes in D.C.Requires judges to order mandatory pretrial detention without eligibility for release for individuals charged with a crime of violence or dangerous crime, and mandates detention while awaiting sentencing or appeal following a conviction (Sec. 2(a), Sec. 2(b)).provisional
  • Individuals charged with public safety or order crimes in D.C.Requires defendants charged with public safety or order crimes (such as rioting, stalking, destruction of property, fleeing police, or unarmed burglary/robbery) to execute a secured appearance bond—such as cash, property, or a solvent surety bond—to be eligible for pretrial release (Sec. 3(a)(1), Sec. 3(b)(1), Sec. 3(b)(2)).provisional
  • United States Marshals ServicePlaces a duty on U.S. marshals to receive custody of individuals arrested by commercial bail sureties and bring them before a judicial officer for release revocation proceedings (Sec. 3(a)(3)).provisional
  • Low-income criminal defendants in D.C.Eliminates the statutory prohibition against setting financial bail conditions that result in pretrial detention due to a defendant's inability to pay (Sec. 3(c)(2)(B)).provisional

Dollar-level funding (FEC sector totals) is coming in a later phase.

What it does

The provisions, in plain language.

  1. Requires judges to order pretrial detention with no option for release for anyone charged with a crime of violence or a dangerous crime (including first-degree or armed burglary and robbery), starting 30 days after enactment.

    Sec. 2(a)provisional

  2. Requires defendants charged with a public safety or order crime—such as rioting, stalking, destruction of property, fleeing police, or unarmed burglary or robbery—to post a secured cash, property, or surety bail bond to be released before trial, starting 30 days after enactment.

    Sec. 3(a)(1)provisional

  3. Authorizes commercial bail bond sureties to arrest an individual released on a secured bond and turn them over to a U.S. marshal for a court hearing on whether to revoke their release.

    Sec. 3(a)(3)provisional

  4. Eliminates the requirement that judges impose the least restrictive conditions for pretrial release, and repeals the ban on setting financial bail amounts that result in detention because the defendant cannot afford them.

    Sec. 3(c)(2)provisional

How your members of Congress line up

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Timeline

How it moved.

  1. Nov 20, 2025Received in the Senate.
  2. Nov 19, 2025Motion to reconsider laid on the table Agreed to without objection.
  3. Nov 19, 2025On passage Passed by the Yeas and Nays: 237 - 179 (Roll no. 298). (text of amendment in the nature of a substitute: CR H4796)
  4. Nov 19, 2025Passed/agreed to in House: On passage Passed by the Yeas and Nays: 237 - 179 (Roll no. 298). (text of amendment in the nature of a substitute: CR H4796)
  5. Nov 18, 2025Rule H. Res. 879 passed House.
  6. Nov 17, 2025Rules Committee Resolution H. Res. 879 Reported to House. Rule provides for consideration of S.J. Res. 80, H.J. Res. 130, H.J. Res. 131, H. Con. Res. 58, H.R. 1949, H.R. 3109, H.R. 5107 and H.R. 5214. The resolution provides for consideration of S.J. Res. 80, H.J. Res. 130, H.J. Res. 131, H. Con. Res. 58, H.R. 1949, H.R. 3109, H.R. 5107, and H.R. 5214 under a closed rule with one hour of general debate on each measure. The resolution also provides for one motion to recommit on H.J. Res. 130, H.J. Res. 131, H.R. 1949, H.R. 3109, H.R. 5107, and H.R. 5214, and one motion to commit S.J. Res. 80.
  7. Sep 30, 2025Reported (Amended) by the Committee on Oversight and Government Reform. H. Rept. 119-315.
  8. Sep 30, 2025Reported (Amended) by the Committee on Oversight and Government Reform. H. Rept. 119-315.
  9. Sep 10, 2025Ordered to be Reported (Amended) by the Yeas and Nays: 26 - 19.
  10. Sep 8, 2025Introduced in House
  11. Sep 8, 2025Introduced in House

The original text

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Sources & provenance

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