Monitor Accountability Act

Sponsor: Andy Biggs (Republican-AZ)April 20, 2026

AI-generated ?

Report an error

Introduced

In Committee

Passed One Chamber

Passed Both Chambers

Signed into Law

Received in the Senate and Read twice and referred to the Committee on the Judiciary.

New rules would make court-appointed monitors for local governments more transparent.

This bill would set new federal rules for people appointed by courts to oversee state or local governments. These rules would cap fees, limit how long monitors can serve, and require public input before a monitor is chosen. The goal is to make these monitorships more open and accountable to the public.

What Would Change

Today, there are no uniform federal rules for how district courts appoint people to monitor state or local governments, including no specific limits on fees or terms. If this bill becomes law, federal judges would create new rules to cap monitor fees, limit terms to 5 years, require public input before appointments, and make monitor financial reports public.

Key Provisions

Requires a group of federal judges to create new rules for how courts appoint monitors for state and local governments within 180 days.
Caps the fees that court-appointed monitors can charge for their services.
Requires courts to announce who they plan to appoint as a monitor and allow the public to comment.
Limits monitors to serving only one case at a time and for no more than 5 years.
Requires monitors to submit annual reports on their services and fees, which courts would make public.
Requires cases with monitorships lasting 6 years or more to be transferred to a different judge.

View on Congress.gov

HR 8365 · 119th Congress · April 20, 2026 · AI Summary by gemini-2.5-flash · 8/10

Monitor Accountability Act

What Would Change

Key Provisions

Lobbying Activity