HR 5214 United States House · 119th Congress

District of Columbia Cash Bail Reform Act of 2025

This bill revises Washington D.C. law to require cash bail for individuals charged with "public safety or order crimes" (such as failure to appear, obstruction, rioting, or certain burglaries/robberies not involving weapons) and mandates pretrial detention for those charged with "crime of violence" or "dangerous crime" (expanding definitions to include first-degree or weapon-enhanced offenses). It removes exceptions allowing release without cash bail for violent crimes and replaces existing pretrial release procedures with new criteria focusing on public safety risks. The changes apply to offenses committed 30 days after enactment and define key terms like "secured appearance bond" (requiring property or money as collateral). This modifies D.C.'s existing bail framework to increase detention or financial requirements for specific offenses.

Issues: ✗ Criminal Justice

Bill status passed 3 of 5 stages cleared

Introduction

Sep 2025

Committee Review

Nov 2025

House Passage

Nov 2025

Senate Passage

President

Introduced Sep 8, 2025 Last action Nov 20, 2025

Maddy AI version diff · 1 comparison

What changed between versions

Introduced in House → Engrossed in House · 3 edits · Nov 19, 2025

MINOR

The engrossed version makes several corrections and clarifications to the introduced bill. The most substantive change clarifies the definition of 'public safety or order crime' so that both burglary and robbery are properly excluded from that category when they involve first-degree offenses or a dangerous weapon (those remain covered under mandatory detention for crimes of violence). A typo ('burglar' instead of 'burglary') was also fixed, and subsection lettering was corrected to account for a newly added provision.

DEFINITION

The definition of 'public safety or order crime' was revised so that the exclusion for first-degree offenses and offenses with a dangerous weapon now clearly applies to both burglary AND robbery together, rather than only to burglary. This ensures first-degree burglary/robbery and burglary/robbery with a dangerous weapon are not classified as 'public safety or order crimes' (and thus do not trigger the cash bail requirement) but remain subject to mandatory detention under the crime of violence/dangerous crime provisions.

TECHNICAL

Corrected a typo in the amendment to the 'crime of violence' definition: 'burglar with a dangerous weapon' was changed to 'burglary with a dangerous weapon.'

The new subsection added at the end of Section 23-1325 (post-conviction detention) was relabeled from subsection (d) to subsection (e), and the conforming redesignation in section 2(e)(2) was updated accordingly to reflect the correct number of existing subsections.

Floor votes · House Nov 19, 2025

How they voted

237–179

Passed · 17 other

Total votes 433

Nov 19, 2025

D Democratic214

28 Yea 179 Nay 7

83% Nay

I Independent1

1 Yea

100% Yea

R Republican218

208 Yea 10

95% Yea

Vote distribution

All Yea All Nay Mixed No data

Full legislative history

Actions timeline

Total actions

Key actions

Committee

Amendments

Nov 19, 2025

Lower · Passed

On passage Passed by the Yeas and Nays: 237 - 179 (Roll no. 298). (text of amendment in the nature of a substitute: CR H4796)

lower

Nov 19, 2025

Lower · Passed

Passed/agreed to in House: On passage Passed by the Yeas and Nays: 237 - 179 (Roll no. 298). (text of amendment in the nature of a substitute: CR H4796)

lower

Nov 18, 2025

Lower · Passed

Rule H. Res. 879 passed House.

lower

Nov 17, 2025

Lower · Passed

Rules Committee Resolution H. Res. 879 Reported to House. Rule provides for consideration of S.J. Res. 80, H.J. Res. 130, H.J. Res. 131, H. Con. Res. 58, H.R. 1949, H.R. 3109, H.R. 5107 and H.R. 5214. The resolution provides for consideration of S.J. Res. 80, H.J. Res. 130, H.J. Res. 131, H. Con. Res. 58, H.R. 1949, H.R. 3109, H.R. 5107, and H.R. 5214 under a closed rule with one hour of general debate on each measure. The resolution also provides for one motion to recommit on H.J. Res. 130, H.J. Res. 131, H.R. 1949, H.R. 3109, H.R. 5107, and H.R. 5214, and one motion to commit S.J. Res. 80.

lower

Sep 30, 2025

Lower · Passed

Reported (Amended) by the Committee on Oversight and Government Reform. H. Rept. 119-315.

lower

Sep 10, 2025

Introduced

Ordered to be Reported (Amended) by the Yeas and Nays: 26 - 19.

lower

Sep 10, 2025

Lower · Passed

Committee Consideration and Mark-up Session Held

lower

Sep 8, 2025

Committee

Referred to the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform.

lower

Sep 8, 2025

Introduced

Introduced in House

lower

1 primary · 3 co-sponsors