The "Prosecutors Need to Prosecute Act" requires district attorneys in jurisdictions of 380,000+ people receiving Byrne grant funds to report data on prosecution of serious offenses to the Attorney General, who will then submit the data to Congress and publish it online.
Nicole Malliotakis
Representative
NY-11
The "Prosecutors Need to Prosecute Act" requires district attorneys in jurisdictions of 380,000+ people receiving Byrne grant funds to report annually to the Attorney General on prosecution data for specific offenses, including cases referred, declined, plea agreements, defendants with prior offenses, and bail requests. The Attorney General must then submit this data to the Judiciary Committees and publish it on a public website. This aims to increase transparency and oversight of prosecutorial decisions in large jurisdictions.
New Reporting Rules for DAs: "Prosecutors Need to Prosecute Act" Mandates Data Disclosure for Byrne Grant Recipients
The "Prosecutors Need to Prosecute Act" sets new data reporting rules for District Attorney's offices in jurisdictions with 380,000+ people that receive Byrne grant funding. These offices will now have to send detailed annual reports to the Attorney General about how they handle a wide range of "covered offenses."
Data Deep Dive
The bill requires DAs to report on everything from the number of cases referred to them for prosecution to how many they decline, plea agreement details, and data on repeat offenders. They also need to track defendants charged with covered offenses who are released without bail or had bail requested by the prosecutor. "Covered offenses", as defined in SEC. 2, include serious crimes like murder, rape, robbery, aggravated assault, burglary, larceny, motor vehicle theft, arson, and any offense involving the illegal use or possession of a firearm. This means tracking a substantial amount of data across various case types.
Real-World Rollout
Imagine a DA's office in a city like Austin, TX. Under this law (SEC. 2), they'd have to compile data on every case involving one of the "covered offenses." For instance, if a person is arrested for aggravated assault, that case, its progression, and its outcome would all be tracked. If that person has prior arrests or convictions, that gets tracked, too. This data then gets sent to the Attorney General, who will create uniform standards for all this reporting. Think of it like a standardized test, but for prosecutorial data.
The Bigger Picture: Transparency and Potential Challenges
This act aims for transparency. All this compiled data will be submitted to Congress and published on a public website (SEC. 2). The idea is to give a clearer picture of how DAs are handling serious crimes. However, it also means a potentially significant increase in workload for these offices, especially those that may not have robust data tracking systems in place. While more data can inform better policies, there's also the practical challenge of collecting and managing all this information, and ensuring it's used constructively, not just politically. It fits into the larger framework of the Omnibus Crime Control and Safe Streets Act of 1968, but adds a specific, data-heavy layer for offices receiving Byrne grants.