S. 234: Prosecutors Need to Prosecute Act of 2025

119th Congress · introduced 2025-01-23 · Crime and Law Enforcement · Latest: Read twice and referred to the Committee on the Judiciary.

federal

What does this mean?

Official title

Prosecutors Need to Prosecute Act of 2025

Plain summary

Prosecutors Need to Prosecute Act of 2025 This bill requires certain state and local prosecutors to report data on criminal referrals and outcomes of cases involving murder or non-negligent manslaughter, forcible rape, robbery, aggravated assault, burglary, larceny, motor vehicle theft, arson, or any offense involving the illegal use or possession of a firearm. The reporting requirement applies to state and local prosecutors in a jurisdiction that has 360,000 or more persons and receives funding under the Edward Byrne Memorial Justice Assistance Grant (JAG) program. The report must contain data on cases referred for prosecution, cases the prosecutor declined to prosecute or refer for diversion, cases for which the prosecutor declined to reach a plea agreement, cases that resulted in a plea agreement or referral for diversion, and offenses the prosecutor did not prosecute due to an internal policy. If a state or local prosecutor complies with these requirements, the bill requires (1) the Department of Justice to give priority in disbursing Byrne JAG program funds to the local government served by the prosecutor, and (2) the local government to ensure that the prosecutor receives a portion of the funds. Additionally, the bill prohibits states and local governments from receiving funds under the Byrne JAG program if they have in effect a policy that prohibits the use of cash bail for a defendant in a case involving the illegal use or illegal possession of a firearm.

Congressional Research Service summary (Introduced in Senate), quoted unchanged (nonpartisan). Read the source.

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What does this mean? (plain words)

Official text

Prosecutors Need to Prosecute Act of 2025

Source: Congressional Research Service summary (Introduced in Senate)

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Officials and money

Sponsor: Sen. Kennedy, John [R-LA] · 1 cosponsors

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Words on this page, explained (3)

Bail: Money or conditions a court sets so a person charged with a crime can leave jail while waiting for trial, to make sure they come back to court.
Bill: A proposed law. It becomes law only if it passes the legislature and is signed by the president or governor (or a veto is overridden).
Jurisdiction: The area or the matters a government or court has authority over.

Plain meanings written from linked sources. All words.

Sources

Congressional Research Service summary (Introduced in Senate)
Congress.gov
Data: GovInfo BILLSTATUS bulk data (Library of Congress), BILLSTATUS-119s234.xml <https://www.govinfo.gov/bulkdata/BILLSTATUS/119/s>

Record fed-us-cong119-s234 · catalog fed-us-congress-bills-cong119 · updated 2026-11-03 by psicol fed-bills