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To direct courts to award attorneys fees in criminal cases that do not result in a conviction, and for other purposes.
Summary
This bill requires courts to award reasonable attorneys fees and litigation expenses to prevailing parties in criminal cases that proceed to trial and result in a verdict that is not a conviction. Previously, courts could only award such fees if they found the government's position was vexatious, frivolous, or in bad faith; this bill removes that requirement and makes such awards mandatory. The bill also amends federal law to make it mandatory (rather than discretionary) for courts to award attorneys fees and costs in civil cases under section 2412 of title 28. The criminal case provisions apply to cases pending after the bill's enactment.
AI-generated plain-language summary of the bill text — neutral, and may be imperfect. See the full text below for the exact wording.
Sponsor (1)
1 cosponsor
- Rep. Ezell, Mike [R-MS-4] (R-MS)
Money behind the sponsor
Top reported contributors to Richard Mccormick’s campaign committee (2024 cycle) — who funds the bill’s sponsor, not a claim about this bill. Data from FEC.
- NULL $21,624
- INFO REQUESTED $18,600
- CEO $15,700
- EXECUTIVE $12,900
- SANKRANTI / VENSAI TECHNOLOGIES $12,505
Organizations whose employees gave the most — itemized individual contributions grouped by the donor’s reported employer (FEC Schedule A). Full finance for Richard Mccormick → · Outside spending →
Actions (2)
- Sep 18, 2025 Referred to the House Committee on the Judiciary. · house
- Sep 18, 2025 Introduced in House
Similar bills (6)
Bills with similar text or summary — includes reintroductions across Congresses. Ranked by semantic similarity of the bill text (computed locally); a neutral discovery aid, not a claim the bills are duplicates.
Text versions (1)
Bills are re-published as they move (Introduced → Reported → Engrossed → Enrolled …). Each stage below is a separate text; pick two to see what changed. Data from Congress.gov.
Full text
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
September 18, 2025
Mr. McCormick (for himself and Mr. Ezell) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on the Judiciary
A BILL
To direct courts to award attorneys fees in criminal cases that do not result in a conviction, and for other purposes.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled,
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.
This Act may be cited as the “Litigation Reimbursement Act”.
SEC. 2. AWARD OF ATTORNEYS FEES REQUIRED IN CRIMINAL CASES THAT DO NOT RESULT IN A CONVICTION.
Section 617 of the Departments of Commerce, Justice, and State, the Judiciary, and Related Agencies Appropriations Act, 1998 (18 U.S.C. 3006A note) is amended—
(1) by striking “fiscal year 1998” and inserting “fiscal year 2026”;
(2) by striking “pending on or after the date of the enactment of this Act” and inserting “pending on or after the date of the enactment of the Litigation Reimbursement Act”; and
(3) by striking “may award to a prevailing party, other than the United States, a reasonable attorney’s fee and other litigation expenses, where the court finds that the position of the United States was vexatious, frivolous, or in bad faith,” and inserting “shall award to a prevailing party, other than the United States, a reasonable attorney’s fee and other litigation expenses, in any case that proceeds to trial and with respect to which a verdict is rendered by the judge or jury that is not a conviction,”.
SEC. 3. AWARD OF COSTS AND FEES REQUIRED IN CIVIL CASES.
Section 2412 of title 28, United States Code, is amended—
(1) in subsection (a), by striking “may be awarded” and inserting “shall be awarded”; and
(2) in subsection (b), by striking “may be awarded” and inserting “shall be awarded”. <all>
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