S 2768119th CongressIntroduced

No Bail Post-Jail Act

Introduced: Sep 11, 2025

Civil Rights & Justice

Standard Summary

Comprehensive overview in 1-2 paragraphs

No Bail Post-Jail Act, introduced in the Senate by Senator Cotton, would amend federal pretrial release rules to deny pretrial release for certain individuals. Specifically, it adds a new ground for ineligibility: if a person is charged with a felony offense, is an adult or an adult-charged juvenile, and has a prior felony conviction for a crime of violence in which the person served at least 30 days in a state or federal correctional facility (excluding time spent in pretrial detention before conviction), then the judicial officer must treat that person as a danger to the community and deny pretrial release. In short, certain individuals with a documented history of violent crime and recent incarceration would be kept in custody pending trial rather than being allowed to post bond or await release. The bill’s aim is to increase public safety by ensuring that high-risk individuals with violent prior records are not released before trial. It relies on existing standards for “danger to the safety of the community” but ties that assessment to a specific threshold of prior violent conviction and prior time served in custody.

Key Points

1Adds a new ground for denying pretrial release: a person charged with a felony who is an adult (or an adult-lichen juvenile) and has a prior felony conviction for a crime of violence with at least 30 days served in a correctional facility makes them ineligible for release pretrial.
2The 30-day threshold is based on time served in prison or similar correctional facilities, and does not include time spent in pretrial detention before conviction.
3The determination centers on whether the person “poses a danger to the safety of the community,” as found by a judicial officer, using the new criteria.
4Applies to individuals who are currently charged with a felony offense, extending pretrial detention for those meeting the prior-violence-and-incarceration criteria.
5The bill is titled the “No Bail Post-Jail Act” and amends 18 U.S.C. 3124(e) to add this new factor for ineligibility.

Impact Areas

Primary group/area affected: Individuals charged with a felony who have a prior violent felony conviction with at least 30 days served in prison; the pretrial detention population; federal judges and prosecutors handling bail hearings.Secondary group/area affected: Defendants’ defense counsel, public defenders, and the broader criminal justice system (courts, detention facilities) due to potentially increased pretrial custody and related administrative processes (verification of prior convictions and time served).Additional impacts: Potential constitutional and civil rights considerations around due process and equal protection; possible impacts on jail populations and related costs; data and records requirements to verify prior violent convictions and time served; potential for disparities in enforcement and effects on different communities.

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