# Plain Language Summary: Pretrial Integrity and Safety Act of 2021

This bill provides federal grant money to help states, cities, and tribal governments replace their money bail systems with alternatives that don't require people to pay to get out of jail before trial. Right now, when someone is arrested, a judge often sets bail—a sum of money they must pay to be released while awaiting trial. If they can't afford it, they stay in jail, sometimes for months or years, even if they're eventually found not guilty. This bill aims to change that system by funding jurisdictions that want to shift toward releasing people based on other factors instead of their ability to pay.

The bill is built on the finding that money bail systems are unfair and ineffective. According to the research cited in the bill, African American men face bail amounts 35 percent higher than white men charged with similar crimes, and Latino men face 19 percent higher bail. Poor people often can't afford bail and end up stuck in jail, sometimes pressuring them to plead guilty to crimes they didn't commit just to get out. Meanwhile, studies show that even short jail stays—just two or three days—make people more likely to commit new crimes later. The bill notes that taxpayers spend about $14 billion annually to jail people awaiting trial, most of whom haven't been convicted of anything.

Under this bill, jurisdictions receiving grants would need to implement specific reforms. These include using citations instead of arrest when possible, ensuring everyone has a lawyer at their first court appearance, and creating a strong presumption that people should be released before trial unless they're charged with serious violent crimes, domestic violence, stalking, or hate crimes. When judges do impose conditions for release, they must be nonfinancial—things like court reminders, check-ins, or electronic monitoring—rather than money. The bill also requires that judges hold a hearing within 24 hours to decide whether someone should be detained, and they must document in writing why detention is necessary. Importantly, judges cannot keep someone in jail simply because they can't afford to pay fines or fees.

The bill provides $15 million in federal funding, with grants lasting three years. Jurisdictions must track detailed data on how their new systems work, broken down by race, age, gender, and type of charge, to measure whether they're meeting goals like 95 percent court appearance rates and 95 percent release rates. This bill affects anyone who gets arrested—particularly poor people and communities of color who are most harmed by current bail systems—as well as taxpayers funding the jail system and communities concerned about public safety.

Pretrial Integrity and Safety Act of 2021

Lieu, Ted

Pretrial Integrity and Safety Act of 2021 This bill requires the Office of Justice Programs within the Department of Justice to make grants (1) to replace bail systems that use payment of money as a condition of pretrial release in criminal cases, and (2) to implement a National Pretrial Reporting Program to collect data on the processing of defendants by state and local courts.