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Justice Served Act of 2018

Public Law 115-257 · H.R. 4854 · 115th Congress · began in the House

Signed by Donald Trump (R) on Oct 9, 2018 · Crime and Law Enforcement

Sponsor: Rep. John Carter (R-TX-31)

Cosponsors (15): Rep. Lamar Smith,

Passage votesYeaNay

  • HouseRecorded vote: 377 yea, 1 nay377–1
  • SenateVoice vote
Data notes

The final version of the law, as each chamber passed it. A chamber that passed it by voice vote or unanimous consent has no count. “Method not stated” means the record does not say how the chamber voted. Where the record has a member-by-member vote, the “Who voted for it” section shows who voted yea.

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Summary

The Congressional Research Service’s plain-language summary of what the law does.

Justice Served Act of 2018

(Sec. 2) This bill amends the DNA Analysis Backlog Elimination Act of 2000 to add, as a purpose area under the Debbie Smith DNA Backlog Grant Program, increasing the capacity of prosecutors to address the backlog of violent crime cases involving suspects identified through DNA evidence. The Department of Justice (DOJ) must allocate a specified percentage of grant funds for such purpose, subject to limitations.

Additionally, of amounts made available over FY2019-FY2022 for a DNA analysis and capacity enhancement program and for other forensic activities, DOJ must allocate at least 5% for grants to prosecute cold cases involving violent crime, where suspects have been identified through DNA evidence.

Who voted for it

Every House member of the 115th Congress on the ideology compass. Highlighted: the 377 who voted yea on final passage. Faded: everyone else, including those who voted nay, did not vote, or had not yet taken office.

377 yea1 nay49 present or did not vote

ProEstablishmentAnti
Economic left–right
More liberalMore conservative

Democrats who voted yea(164)

Republicans who voted yea(213)

Data notes

The House’s recorded vote on the final version of the law (roll call 889 in Voteview), matched to the vote the record cites and checked against its totals. Positions are each member’s DW-NOMINATE score for that Congress, as on the Ideology page; left to right is more liberal to more conservative. Paired and announced yea votes count as yea. Lists follow the compass, most liberal first. A name links to a profile only for members of the current Congress. A law passed by voice vote or unanimous consent has no member list, and neither does a vote Voteview has not yet recorded.

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Committees

The committees the bill was sent to, and what each did with it.

  • Judiciary Committee · House · referred toSubcommittee: Crime and Federal Government Surveillance Subcommittee
Data notes

A committee links to its page only where it exists in the current Congress; older and renamed committees are named without a link.

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Related bills

1 bill the Library of Congress relates to this one.

  • S. 2345Identical bill

    Justice Served Act of 2018

Data notes

Related bills are identified by the Congressional Research Service, the House and the Senate: companion and identical bills, bills with similar text, bills that were folded into this law, and rules that brought it to the floor. A bill that is itself a public law in this site’s data links here; the others link to Congress.gov.

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Timeline

From introduction to signing, newest first: the committees, the floor and the president. 16 actions.

  1. Oct 9, 2018Became lawBecame law · Became Public Law No: 115-257.
  2. Became lawBecame law · Signed by President.
  3. Sep 28, 2018FloorFloor · Presented to President.
  4. Sep 27, 2018FloorFloor · Message on Senate action sent to the House.
  5. Sep 26, 2018FloorFloor · Passed Senate without amendment by Voice Vote.
  6. May 16, 2018CommitteeCommittee · Received in the Senate, read twice.
  7. May 15, 2018FloorFloor · Motion to reconsider laid on the table Agreed to without objection.
  8. FloorFloor · On motion to suspend the rules and pass the bill Agreed to by the Yeas and Nays: (2/3 required): 377 - 1 (Roll no. 182).House roll call 182
  9. FloorFloor · Considered as unfinished business.
  10. FloorFloor · At the conclusion of debate, the Yeas and Nays were demanded and ordered. Pursuant to the provisions of clause 8, rule XX, the Chair announced that further proceedings on the motion would be postponed.
  11. FloorFloor · DEBATE - The House proceeded with forty minutes of debate on H.R. 4854.
  12. FloorFloor · Considered under suspension of the rules.
  13. FloorFloor · Mr. Goodlatte moved to suspend the rules and pass the bill.
  14. Jan 24, 2018CommitteeCommittee · Referred to the Subcommittee on Crime, Terrorism, Homeland Security, and Investigations.
  15. Jan 19, 2018CommitteeCommittee · Referred to the House Committee on the Judiciary.
  16. IntroducedIntroduced · Introduced in House
Data notes

Every action the Library of Congress lists for the bill, from introduction to signing, plus the dated committee hearings. The source lists many steps twice (the chamber’s own entry and the Library of Congress copy, or a presidential and a became-law entry with the same words); those are shown once. Amendments are listed in their own section.

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Amendments

No amendments to this bill are on record.

Data notes

Amendments offered to this bill in either chamber, as the Library of Congress records them: each with a status read from its last recorded step: agreed to, rejected, withdrawn, ruled out of order, fell with another amendment, or offered with no vote recorded (most Senate amendments are only ever offered). The wording of each amendment is the source’s. Amendments to amendments and amendments to other bills are not listed.

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Official record

The bill’s full text is on Congress.gov. Data through Oct 7, 2026.