Citizens’ Right to Know Act of 2019

I 116TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION H. R. 5320 To require States and units of local government receiving funds under grant programs operated by the Department of Justice, which use such funds for pretrial services programs, to submit to the Attorney General a report relating to such program, and for other purposes. IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES DECEMBER 5, 2019 Mr. HIGGINS of Louisiana introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on the Judiciary A BILL To require States and units of local government receiving funds under grant programs operated by the Department of Justice, which use such funds for pretrial services programs, to submit to the Attorney General a report relating to such program, and for other purposes. Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa- 1 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 2 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 3 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Citizens’ Right to 4 Know Act of 2019’’. 5 VerDate Sep 11 2014 03:45 Dec 11, 2019 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H5320.IH H5320 2 •HR 5320 IH SEC. 2. REPORTING REQUIREMENT FOR DEPARTMENT OF 1 JUSTICE GRANT RECIPIENTS USING FUNDS 2 FOR PRETRIAL SERVICES PROGRAMS. 3 (a) IN GENERAL.—For each fiscal year in which a 4 State or unit of local government receives funds under any 5 grant program operated by the Department of Justice, in- 6 cluding the Edward Byrne Memorial Justice Assistance 7 grant program under subpart I of part E of title I of the 8 Omnibus Crime Control and Safe Streets Act of 1968 (42 9 U.S.C. 3750 et seq.), and which uses funds received under 10 such program for a pretrial services program, the State 11 or unit of local government shall submit to the Attorney 12 General a report which contains the following: 13 (1) The name of each defendant participating 14 in a pretrial release program administered by the 15 pretrial services program, and whether, as applica- 16 ble, each occasion on which such defendant failed to 17 make an appearance. 18 (2) Information relating to any prior convic- 19 tions of each defendant participating in the pretrial 20 services program. 21 (3) The amount of money allocated for the pre- 22 trial services program. 23 (b) PUBLICATION REQUIREMENT.—Subject to any 24 applicable confidentiality requirements, the Attorney Gen- 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 03:45 Dec 11, 2019 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H5320.IH H5320 3 •HR 5320 IH eral shall, on an annual basis, make publicly available the 1 information received under subsection (a). 2 (c) REDUCTION IN FUNDING.—The Attorney General 3 shall, for State or unit of local government which fails to 4 comply with the requirement under subsection (a) for a 5 fiscal year, reduce the amount that the State or local gov- 6 ernment would otherwise receive under each grant pro- 7 gram described in subsection (a) in the following fiscal 8 year by 100 percent. 9 (d) REALLOCATION.—Amounts not allocated to a 10 State or unit of local government under subsection (c) 11 shall be reallocated under each such grant program to 12 States and units of local government that comply with the 13 requirement under subsection (a). 14 (e) DEFINITION.—The term ‘‘failed to make an ap- 15 pearance’’ means an action whereby any defendant has 16 been charged with an offense before a court and who is 17 participating in a pretrial release program for which funds 18 received under a grant program referred to in subsection 19 (a) are used as a condition of pretrial release— 20 (1) does not appear for any court date regard- 21 ing such charge; 22 (2) does not appear for any one appointment 23 with the pretrial services program; or 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 03:45 Dec 11, 2019 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H5320.IH H5320 4 •HR 5320 IH (3) does not appear for any post-release appear- 1 ance the court may require. 2 Æ VerDate Sep 11 2014 03:45 Dec 11, 2019 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6301 E:\BILLS\H5320.IH H5320