HR5214-119

Passed House

To require mandatory pretrial and post conviction detention for crimes of violence and dangerous crimes and require mandatory cash bail for certain offenses that pose a threat to public safety or order in the District of Columbia, and for other purposes.

119th Congress Introduced Sep 8, 2025

Legislative Progress

Passed House
Introduced Committee Passed
Sep 30, 2025

Additional sponsor: Mr. Nehls

Sep 30, 2025

Reported with an amendment, committed to the Committee of the …

Sep 30, 2025 (inferred)

Passed House (inferred from eh version)

Sep 8, 2025

Ms. Stefanik (for herself, Mr. James, and Mr. Moore of …

House Roll #298

On Passage

District of Columbia Cash Bail Reform Act

Passed
237 Yea 179 Nay 17 Not Voting
Nov 20, 2025

Summary

What This Bill Does

Amends DC criminal code to require mandatory pretrial and post-conviction detention for persons charged with violent crimes or dangerous crimes, eliminating the cash bail option for those offenses.

Who Benefits and How

Public safety advocates benefit from assured detention of violent crime defendants. Victims benefit from knowing accused violent offenders cannot pay bail to get released.

Who Bears the Burden and How

Defendants charged with violent crimes lose the option of cash bail release. DC courts face increased detention obligations and costs. Civil liberties advocates face restrictions on pretrial release.

Key Provisions

  • Mandatory pretrial detention for violent and dangerous crimes
  • Mandatory post-conviction detention for same offenses
  • Narrows definition of burglary and robbery to first degree offenses
  • Amends DC Official Code sections 23-1322, 23-1325, and 23-1331
Model: claude-opus-4
Generated: Jan 9, 2026 18:29

Evidence Chain:

This summary is derived from the structured analysis below. See "Detailed Analysis" for per-title beneficiaries/burden bearers with clause-level evidence links.

Primary Purpose

Requires mandatory pretrial detention for violent crimes in Washington DC, eliminating cash bail for those offenses

Policy Domains

Criminal Justice District of Columbia Bail Reform

Legislative Strategy

"Eliminate cash bail for violent crime defendants in DC"

Bill Structure & Actor Mappings

Who is "The Secretary" in each section?

Domains
Criminal Justice District of Columbia

Key Definitions

Terms defined in this bill

1 term
"crime of violence/dangerous crime" §2

As defined in DC Code section 23-1331

We use a combination of our own taxonomy and classification in addition to large language models to assess meaning and potential beneficiaries. High confidence means strong textual evidence. Always verify with the original bill text.

Learn more about our methodology