# 119-s-1102: Quality Defense Act of 2025

119-s-1102, Quality Defense Act of 2025, is a 119th Congress bill sponsored by Sen. Booker, Cory A. [D-NJ] (D-NJ); status introduced (as of 2026-09-26).

- Canonical: https://policyrisk.com/legislation/119-s-1102
- As of: 2026-09-26
- Plain-text twin of the page above; the HTML and this file carry the same facts.

## Facts
- Bill: 119-s-1102
- Congress: 119
- Title: Quality Defense Act of 2025
- Status: introduced
- Introduced: 2025-03-25
- Sponsor: Sen. Booker, Cory A. [D-NJ] (D-NJ)
- Cosponsors: 2
- Policy area: Crime and Law Enforcement
- Touches household money: no
- Last recorded action: 2026-09-26

## Summary

**Strengthen public defense by funding hiring and collecting national data.** It would create two federal grant programs to boost public defender pay, expand staffing, and require standardized reporting to guide reforms and protect the right to counsel for adults and juveniles. - Public defenders and panel attorneys would get grant support to hire more staff, increase compensation to better match prosecutor pay, and establish loan or retention programs. Grants run 3-year terms and cannot replace existing local funding. - Defendants and juveniles would benefit from measures aimed at protecting the constitutional right to counsel. The bill directs studies on caseload limits, best practices, and compensation to shape policy changes. - States, local governments, and Tribal organizations would be eligible for two grant types: data grants and hiring grants. Data grants require annual, case-level reporting for three years with possible renewal. The bill authorizes $250 million per year for five years for the grant program and $5 million per year for defender training. States that report data could receive a 5 percent increase in certain Department of Justice funds. *This bill would increase federal spending by authorizing $250 million per year for five years for grants and $5 million per year for defender training.*

## Cosponsors (2)

- Sen. Durbin, Richard J. [D-IL] (D-IL), 2025-03-25T00:00:00.000Z
- Sen. Welch, Peter [D-VT] (D-VT), 2025-03-25T00:00:00.000Z

## Provisions PRIA read

- Federal grants to strengthen public defense: benefit, medium. This bill would create Department of Justice grants to improve public defense and data collection. It would authorize $250 million each year for five years to run the program. The grants would fund 3-year data grants to build case-level reporting and 3-year hiring grants to hire defenders, raise pa…
- Studies on public defender workloads: benefit, low. This bill would require DOJ to study public defender caseload limits and pay. The Bureau of Justice Assistance and the Office for Access to Justice would analyze submitted data, publish best practices, and update the caseload study at least every five years. The bill would also require a national s…
- Training grants for public defenders: benefit, low. This bill would fund grants for ongoing training and support for public defenders and court-appointed lawyers. It would authorize $5 million each year for five years for programs on trial skills, negotiation, pretrial practice, client-centered lawyering, implicit bias, leadership, and ongoing suppo…

## Related bills

- 119-s-5066: Health Equity and Accountability Act of 2026
- 119-s-3990: PrEP Access and Coverage Act of 2026
- 119-s-2823: FAMILY Act
- 119-s-2763: Keep Billionaires Out of Social Security Act
- 119-s-3869: Healthy Families Act
- 119-s-51: Washington, D.C. Admission Act

## Sources
- [119-s-1102 on Congress.gov](https://www.congress.gov/bill/119th-congress/senate-bill/1102)

## Related
- [119-s-5066: Health Equity and Accountability Act of 2026](https://policyrisk.com/legislation/119-s-5066)
- [119-s-3990: PrEP Access and Coverage Act of 2026](https://policyrisk.com/legislation/119-s-3990)
- [119-s-2823: FAMILY Act](https://policyrisk.com/legislation/119-s-2823)
- [119-s-2763: Keep Billionaires Out of Social Security Act](https://policyrisk.com/legislation/119-s-2763)
- [119-s-3869: Healthy Families Act](https://policyrisk.com/legislation/119-s-3869)
- [119-s-51: Washington, D.C. Admission Act](https://policyrisk.com/legislation/119-s-51)
- [All bills in Congress](https://policyrisk.com/legislation)

Source: PRIA, https://policyrisk.com/legislation/119-s-1102 (as of 2026-09-26).