# H.R. 5214 (119th): District of Columbia Cash Bail Reform Act of 2025

District of Columbia Cash Bail Reform Act of 2025 This bill mandates, in the District of Columbia (DC), pretrial and post-conviction detention for crimes of violence and dangerous crimes and cash bail to obtain pretrial release for public safety or order crimes. Under current DC law, a court may generally order a defendant released before trial based on the judge’s assessment of the risks posed by the defendant's release. If the defendant is charged with a crime of violence or a dangerous crime, the court must determine conditions for release; if the defendant has a prior history of such crimes, is charged with a crime that involves deadly weapons, or is charged with a crime of violence, there is a rebuttable presumption that the defendant must be detained. The bill requires defendants charged with a crime of violence or a dangerous crime to be detained while awaiting trial. It also prohibits a court from releasing a defendant charged with a public safety or order crime without a secured appearance bond (i.e., money or property subject to forfeiture). Public safety or order crimes include fleeing from a law enforcement officer, rioting, and stalking. Current DC law also allows individuals who are convicted of an offense to be released pending sentencing or an appeal if the court finds the individual is unlikely to flee or pose a danger to others. The bill requires individuals who are convicted of a crime of violence or a dangerous crime to be detained in these circumstances.

## How this bill is scored

Tier: no Tier 1 record. A bill with no record cannot newly become Tier 1.
Lane: bail_reform. Category: not stored. Lane tag: not stored.
Lane: criminal_justice. Category: not stored. Lane tag: not stored.
Lane: district_of_columbia. Category: not stored. Lane tag: not stored.
Lane: justice. Category: not stored. Lane tag: not stored.
Lane: public_safety. Category: not stored. Lane tag: not stored.
Tier 1 sign-off: no record. A bill with no record cannot newly become Tier 1.
Stored polarity: mixed. Only tags the rules mark scoreable on a mixed bill are scored. A yea can draw a penalty or a credit according to the tag. A nay on a tag scored as good can draw a penalty.
Roll 298: On Passage. Vote type: final_passage.
Polarity rationale: Reviewed enrichment (llm_import) polarity: The bill combines a legitimate public-safety aim of detaining dangerous defendants with concerns about mandatory detention without individualized hearings and money-bail conditions that may burden poorer defendants. Those concerns are real but mostly prudential and procedural rather than a direct advancement of moral evil, so a mixed classification fits better than good or evil.
Theological note: Scripture grants civil authority the task of restraining evil and protecting the public (Romans 13:4), which gives this bill real relevance to public order and the protection of victims. Equity also requires that pretrial detention be justly grounded, that the innocent presumed under law not be penalized for poverty, and that individualized judgment not be displaced by rigid rules. The issue therefore raises prudential questions about balancing public safety against wealth-based detention and due process.

## Recorded votes

Roll 298: On Passage. Yea 237 · Nay 179 · Other 17.

HTML: https://justmeasure.org/bill/hr-5214-119/