Federal law clarified: ATM theft now squarely federal crime
H.R. 1631 — Safe Access to Cash Act of 2025 · Filed by John Rose (R-TN) · 13 cosponsors · Introduced Feb 26, 2025 · Referred to committee
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What it does
This bill amends federal robbery law to clarify that ATMs—whether located on a bank's premises or elsewhere, and whether owned by the bank or not—are legally considered to be in the bank's care and custody for purposes of prosecuting ATM theft. This expands the definition of what constitutes bank robbery under federal law to cover off-premises ATMs and third-party-operated machines, making it easier to prosecute ATM theft as a federal crime.
Why we flagged it
The bill is a technical amendment to federal robbery statute that clarifies jurisdictional scope. It does not create new criminal liability—it removes ambiguity about whether off-premises ATMs fall within existing federal bank robbery law, enabling consistent prosecution.
What the text implies
- Expands federal criminal jurisdiction over what might previously have been prosecuted as state theft, shifting enforcement burden and resources to federal prosecutors and FBI.
- May increase federal sentencing exposure for ATM theft defendants, as federal bank robbery carries mandatory minimum sentences (10 years for robbery, 15 years if force/threat used) versus variable state penalties.
- Clarifies that cash in transit to/from ATMs is federally protected, potentially covering armored car services and third-party ATM operators in the chain of custody.
Section numbers refer to the bill text the analysis read — linked under Primary records below.
Who it affects
Ordinary people benefit from clearer federal law that enables prosecution of ATM theft as a serious federal crime, closing a jurisdictional gap that previously allowed some ATM robberies to escape federal prosecution. The clarification strengthens law enforcement's ability to deter and punish theft of cash from ATMs, protecting depositors' access to their own money.
Named in the bill
banks, credit unions, savings and loan associations, ATM operators, 18 USC § 2113, 18 USC § 1029
Where it stands
13 cosponsors: 8 Republicans, 5 Democrats.
- Feb 26, 2025 — Introduced · Congress.gov: “Introduced in House”
- Feb 26, 2025 — Referred to House Committee on the Judiciary · Congress.gov: “Referred to the House Committee on the Judiciary”
Dates and quoted wording are Congress.gov's action record; the timeline shows status changes, not every procedural step.
Money around this bill
7 lobbying clients named this bill on 12 disclosure filings across 2 quarters, Dec 2025 to Jun 2026. Those filings disclosed $5,530,000 in lobbying spend. A filing names 3 bills on average, so that figure is what each filing reported, not a share belonging to this bill.
More lobbying clients named this bill than 86% of bills with at least one filing.
John Rose, the sponsor, reported $19,000 in PAC receipts in the 2026 cycle.
- American Bankers Association — $5,210,000 on 2 filings
- Ncr Atleos — $200,000 on 2 filings
- Ncr Atleos — $60,000 on 2 filings
- Ncr Atleos — $40,000 on 2 filings
- American Society of Interior Designers — $20,000 on 1 filing
Lobbying Disclosure Act filings through Jul 21, 2026. A filing shows who paid to lobby on a bill it names, not what changed.
How this was measured
Analysis — Quorum's AI read the bill text published by Congress.gov (1,308 characters) on Aug 19, 2026. Section numbers in the findings refer to that text, linked below; transparency and hidden-provision scores are compared against the median of 16,222 analysed bills.
Status and sponsors — Congress.gov's bill record — actions, committee referrals and cosponsors — loaded nightly. The timeline shows status changes, not every procedural action.
Money — Senate Lobbying Disclosure Act filings whose specific-issue field names this bill for quarters ending Dec 2025 to Jun 2026. A filing's amount is reported whole beside the median number of bills a filing names; it is never divided across them. PAC receipts are FEC-reported contributions to the sponsor's candidate committee in the 2026 cycle.
As of — lobbying records through Jul 21, 2026 · page rendered 2026-10-20.
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