H.R. 6263 — No Free Pass for Felons Act of 2025

This section states congressional findings that (1) violent offenders released on unsecured or cashless bail pose a significant risk to public safety; (2) federal funds should not subsidize policies releasing repeat violent offenders without meaningful judicial review; (3) preventive detention is constitutional, as upheld by the Supreme Court in United States v. Salerno (481 U.S. 739 (1987)); and (4) conditioning federal grants on minimum public safety standards is a valid exercise of Congress's spending power.

This section conditions eligibility for Byrne Justice Assistance Grant (JAG) program funds under the Omnibus Crime Control and Safe Streets Act of 1968, Community Oriented Policing Services (COPS) grants, and transit security grants on state and local governments adopting and enforcing specified pretrial release policies and data-reporting systems, with noncompliance resulting in reduced awards. Specifically, it requires: (1) for Byrne JAG funds, certifications that applicants prohibit pretrial release on personal recognizance or unsecured appearance bond for covered defendants—defined as individuals charged with a covered violent offense (i.e., an offense with an element of use, attempted use, or threatened use of physical force against person or property), charged with any offense after a prior conviction for a covered violent offense from separate conduct, or charged while on probation, parole, or supervised release for a covered violent offense—unless a court holds a dangerousness hearing consistent with 18 U.S.C. §3142(e)–(g) and makes a written finding that release conditions will reasonably assure appearance and public safety; and that applicants annually collect and publish data on judicial release determinations for covered violent offenses, rearrests for such offenses, and failures to appear (disaggregated by release type), with grant awards reduced to not more than 85% of the otherwise allocable amount after notice and opportunity to cure; (2) for COPS grants, a similar certification under new eligibility criteria, with failure to maintain it constituting noncompliance; and (3) for transit security grants, a state-level certification of the same pretrial policy and data requirements (with a temporary waiver authority for acute site-specific security threats). The section includes a severability clause and states that amendments apply to grant applications. (As background, Byrne JAG and COPS grants provide federal funding to states and localities for law enforcement, prosecution, courts, corrections, crime prevention, and community policing; transit security grants support public transportation security enhancements.)