YourVoice.Now Summary
Criminal Justice & Due ProcessTransparency & AccountabilityFederal officers who fail to get urgent medical help for someone in custody could face up to 1 year in prison
Criminal Justice & Due Process
Federal police, prison staff, or U.S. Marshals who carelessly fail to get help for someone in distress in front of them could be fined and jailed up to 1 year. It applies only if the person suffers needless pain, injury, or death.
A state's attorney general could go to federal court when a resident is harmed this way. The court could order the agency to change course or declare its rights, but this does not award money.
Transparency & Accountability
The agency's Inspector General, or the Justice Department's if the agency has none, must look into each case. If the officer was careless, the case goes to the Attorney General for possible charges.
Each Inspector General would set up a way for anyone to report these incidents without giving away who they are.
More about this bill
If you are held in federal custody and show signs of a medical crisis, officers would have to get you help right away. Trouble breathing counts. The rule covers federal police, federal prison staff, and U.S. Marshals. An officer who carelessly fails to get help could be fined and jailed for up to 1 year. That applies only if the person suffers needless pain, injury, or death because of it. The agency's Inspector General (its inside watchdog) would have to look into each such case. If the officer was careless, the case would go to the Justice Department for possible charges. People could report these cases in secret. A state's attorney general could also sue in federal court to stop harm to its people. Agencies would have to train their officers on getting medical help.
Congressional Summary
Andrew Kearse Accountability for Denial of Medical Care Act of 2025 This bill establishes a new federal criminal offense for failing to obtain medical attention for an individual in federal custody who displays medical distress. Specifically, the bill requires federal law enforcement officers and the Bureau of Prisons' personnel to provide or obtain immediate medical attention for an individual in federal custody who displays medical distress. It criminalizes the negligent failure to obtain or provide such medical attention that results in unnecessary pain, injury, or death. A violator is subject to criminal penalties—a fine, a prison term of up to one year, or both.
Details
- Congress
- 119th
- Chamber
- Senate
- Status
- summarized
- Action
- Introduced in Senate
- Action Date
- 2025-05-22
- Date Added
- 2026-10-02
- Source
- Congress.gov →
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