H.R. 8365 — Monitor Accountability Act

This section directs the Judicial Conference of the United States to establish, within 180 days, rules imposing conditions on court-appointed monitors overseeing the conduct of a State or unit of local government. The conditions limit fees to maximum rates set by the Judicial Conference and authorize pro bono or reduced-rate services; restrict any monitor to one monitorship at a time, a term of no more than 5 years, and no reappointment under the same court order; bar a subsequent monitor from employment with the prior monitor’s employer; require public notice and comment before appointment; and permit revision of a monitorship only after a hearing and only as to requirements for which the monitored entity has not achieved substantial and sustained compliance. The section also requires transfer of any monitorship case to a different judge in the district after 6 years, mandates annual public accountings of services and fees by monitors, and applies the new limits retroactively to monitorships already in effect for 6 years on the date of enactment by requiring appointment of a new monitor within 180 days and case transfer within 1 year.