No Funding for Lawless Jurisdictions Act
This bill, titled the No Funding for Lawless Jurisdictions Act, would condition federal crime control grants under the Omnibus Crime Control and Safe Streets Act of 1968 on the recipient jurisdiction’s criminal justice policies. Specifically, it would prohibit the Attorney General from awarding, renewing, or extending grants to states or units of local government that have policies restricting cash bail (or that allow pretrial release for felons on personal recognizance) for covered offenses. It would also restrict grants to “covered jurisdictions” (urbanized areas) that reduced a law enforcement agency’s budget in the prior year, unless the reduction was due to an overall, proportionate budget shortfall across all government departments. The bill defines “covered offenses” as violent or sexual offenses and offenses that promote public disorder. The aim appears to be tying federal crime-funding eligibility to certain bail and law enforcement budgeting practices.
Key Points
- 1Prohibition on grant eligibility based on bail and pretrial release policies (Section 502(c)(1)):
- 2- Beginning in the first fiscal year after enactment, states or local governments cannot receive, renew, or have existing grants extended if they have policies that substantially limit cash bail for those charged with a covered offense or that permit pretrial release on personal recognizance for felons.
- 3- Defines “covered offense” to include violent/sexual offenses (e.g., murder, rape, robbery, assault) and offenses that promote public disorder (e.g., looting, vandalism, rioting, or fleeing from law enforcement).
- 4Scope and definitions (Section 502(c)(2)):
- 5- Clears what constitutes a “covered offense” and ties it to public safety threats.
- 6Prohibition on grant eligibility for jurisdictions with reduced law enforcement budgets (Section 1702(e)):
- 7- Beginning in the first fiscal year after enactment, a “covered jurisdiction” (an urbanized area that is a unit of local government) cannot receive, renew, or have a grant extended if it reduced a law enforcement agency’s budget in the previous year.
- 8- Reduction is only permissible if it resulted from an overall budget shortfall applied proportionately across all government departments.
- 9Definition of “covered jurisdiction” (Section 1702(e)(2)):
- 10- A unit of local government that is also an urbanized area as defined by the U.S. Census Bureau.
- 11Effective date and enforcement:
- 12- Applies starting with the first fiscal year after enactment and would be enforced by the Attorney General through the grant-awarding process.