S. 234 — Prosecutors Need to Prosecute Act of 2025

This section redesignates subsections (g) and (h) of Section 501 of the Omnibus Crime Control and Safe Streets Act of 1968 (34 U.S.C. 10151)—which governs the Edward Byrne Memorial Justice Assistance Grant Program (Byrne JAG), providing formula grants to states and localities for criminal justice purposes—as subsections (h) and (i), respectively, and inserts a new subsection (g) establishing annual reporting requirements for covered prosecutors. A covered prosecutor is the chief executive of a district attorney or prosecutor's office serving a local government jurisdiction with a population of not less than 360,000 that receives Byrne JAG funds. Beginning one year after enactment of the Prosecutors Need to Prosecute Act of 2025 and annually thereafter, covered prosecutors must report to the Attorney General, for the previous fiscal year: (1) total covered offense cases referred for prosecution; (2) covered offense cases declined for prosecution, diversion, or plea agreements; (3) for plea agreements or diversions involving covered offenses, the number of cases where the defendant had a prior arrest or conviction, an open case, probation, or parole for a separate covered offense; and (4) covered offenses not prosecuted due to internal policies, specifying each covered offense and non-covered offense affected. Covered offenses include murder or non-negligent manslaughter, forcible rape, robbery, aggravated assault, burglary, larceny, motor vehicle theft, arson, and offenses involving illegal firearm use or possession. Compliance grants priority in Byrne JAG fund disbursement to the local government served, which must allocate a portion to the covered prosecutor; the Attorney General must establish uniform reporting standards, submit the information to the Senate and House Judiciary Committees, and publish it on a public website.

This section prohibits the Attorney General from distributing Byrne Justice Assistance Grant (Byrne-JAG) funds to states or local governments that prohibit cash bail for defendants charged with illegal use or possession of a firearm. (Byrne-JAG provides formula grants to states and localities for law enforcement, prosecution, courts, corrections, crime prevention, and victim services.)