Criminal Offense Catalog and Index

Summary#

This bill requires the Department of Justice and many federal agencies to catalog federal criminal laws and regulations and report them to Congress. The main change is a one-time effort to list every federal criminal statute and every agency rule that can be enforced criminally, together with penalties, prosecution or referral counts for the prior 15 years, and the mens rea (mental-state) requirement for each offense. The stated goal is to make it easier to see what federal crimes exist and how often they are enforced.

• Creates two reports: one from the Attorney General listing all criminal statutory offenses (federal laws) and one from many agency heads listing criminal regulatory offenses (rules enforced by criminal penalty).
• Requires details for each offense: the legal elements, potential penalties, mens rea (the required mental state), and counts of prosecutions (for statutes) or referrals to DOJ (for agency rules) for each of the last 15 years.
• Public index: within two years the DOJ and each listed agency must publish an accessible, free online index of their listed criminal offenses.
• Deadlines: agency and DOJ reports due within 1 year of enactment; public indexes due within 2 years.
• No new penalties or changes to existing crimes: the bill only requires reporting and publishing information; it does not change criminal laws or penalties.
• No appropriations: the bill says it does not require or authorize appropriations (it does not itself provide new funding).

What it means for you#

• Federal agencies and the Department of Justice

  • Must spend staff time to identify and list every federal criminal statutory offense and every criminal regulatory offense enforceable by their agency.
  • Must compile and report 15 years of annual data on prosecutions (for DOJ) or referrals to DOJ (for agencies).
  • Must create and publish a public, searchable index on their websites.

• Members of Congress and congressional staff

  • Will receive consolidated reports intended to show the scope and enforcement history of federal criminal offenses.

• Researchers, lawyers, journalists, and members of the public

  • Could get easier access to a centralized, public list and history of federal crimes and how often they were prosecuted or referred.
  • May use the index to study enforcement trends or to locate the elements and mens rea requirements of federal offenses.

• People charged with federal offenses or their defense lawyers

  • May find the mens rea and elements for specific offenses more easily in a public index, but the bill does not change legal rights, penalties, or procedures.

• Businesses and regulated entities

  • May gain clearer information about which regulatory violations can carry criminal penalties and how often such violations were referred for prosecution.

Expenses#

No publicly available information. The bill itself says it does not require or authorize appropriations, and it contains no fiscal estimate.

• Agencies and DOJ would likely need staff time and administrative work to gather statutes, rules, elements, mens rea, and 15 years of prosecution/referral data.
• Creating and maintaining a public online index would add web-publishing and possible IT work for each agency.
• The bill does not specify who pays these costs or provide a budget, so agencies would likely reallocate existing resources to comply unless Congress provides funding later.

Proponents' View#

• The bill appears intended to make the universe of federal criminal law transparent and easier to analyze.
• A possible argument for the bill is that it could reveal duplication, overbreadth, or rarely enforced offenses by showing how many criminal provisions exist and how often they are used.
• Supporters may see public indexes as tools for lawmakers, courts, and the public to better understand and reform federal criminal law.
• Making mens rea requirements and elements public could improve legal clarity about what mental state a prosecutor must prove.

Opponents' View#

• One concern is the administrative burden: collecting accurate lists and 15 years of yearly prosecution or referral counts could be time-consuming and costly for the DOJ and many agencies.
• The bill does not explain how to count prosecutions when charges overlap, statutes change over time, or cases involve multiple offenses; that could make reported numbers inconsistent or misleading.
• It is unclear whether prosecution counts refer to charges, indictments, convictions, or some other measure; the bill does not define that distinction.
• Agencies might need extra funding to comply, but the bill explicitly does not authorize spending, creating a potential resource gap.
• The bill does not address how to keep the public index current after the initial publication, or how often agencies must update entries.