Proposed Rule2021-22613
FSA Time Credits
Primary source
Metadata and text below are from the Federal Register, a public-domain U.S. government work. Always verify the official published version before relying on it for any legal matter.
Published
October 18, 2021
Issuing agencies
Justice DepartmentPrisons Bureau
Abstract
On November 25, 2020, the Bureau of Prisons (Bureau) published a proposed rule to revise its procedures regarding time credits as authorized by the First Step Act of 2018 (FSA), hereinafter referred to as "FSA Time Credits." The comment period for that rule closed on January 25, 2021. The Bureau is reopening the comment period for an additional 30-day period to request further public comment on the applicability of the FSA Time Credits to D.C. Code Offenders.
Full Text
<html>
<head>
<title>Federal Register, Volume 86 Issue 198 (Monday, October 18, 2021)</title>
</head>
<body><pre>
[Federal Register Volume 86, Number 198 (Monday, October 18, 2021)]
[Proposed Rules]
[Pages 57612-57614]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [<a href="http://www.gpo.gov">www.gpo.gov</a>]
[FR Doc No: 2021-22613]
=======================================================================
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE
Bureau of Prisons
28 CFR Parts 523 and 541
[BOP-1176R]
RIN 1120-AB76
FSA Time Credits
AGENCY: Bureau of Prisons, Justice.
ACTION: Notice of proposed rulemaking; reopening of comment period.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
SUMMARY: On November 25, 2020, the Bureau of Prisons (Bureau) published
a proposed rule to revise its procedures regarding time credits as
authorized by the First Step Act of 2018 (FSA), hereinafter referred to
as ``FSA Time Credits.'' The comment period for that rule closed on
January 25, 2021. The Bureau is reopening the comment period for an
additional 30-day period to request further public comment on the
applicability of the FSA Time Credits to D.C. Code Offenders.
DATES: The comment period for the proposed rule published November 25,
2020, at 85 FR 75268, is reopened. Electronic comments must be
submitted, and written comments must be postmarked, no later than 11:59
p.m. on November 17, 2021.
ADDRESSES: Please submit electronic comments through the
<a href="http://regulations.gov">regulations.gov</a> website, or mail written comments to
[[Page 57613]]
the Rules Unit, Office of General Counsel, Bureau of Prisons, 320 First
Street NW, Washington, DC 20534.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Sarah Qureshi, Office of General
Counsel, Bureau of Prisons, phone (202) 353-8248.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
Posting of Public Comments
Please note that all comments received are considered part of the
public record and made available for public inspection online at
<a href="http://www.regulations.gov">www.regulations.gov</a>. Such information includes personal identifying
information (such as your name, address, etc.) voluntarily submitted by
the commenter.
If you want to submit personal identifying information (such as
your name, address, etc.) as part of your comment, but do not want it
to be posted online, you must include the phrase ``PERSONAL IDENTIFYING
INFORMATION'' in the first paragraph of your comment. You must also
locate all the personal identifying information you do not want posted
online in the first paragraph of your comment and identify what
information you want redacted.
If you want to submit confidential business information as part of
your comment but do not want it to be posted online, you must include
the phrase ``CONFIDENTIAL BUSINESS INFORMATION'' in the first paragraph
of your comment. You must also prominently identify confidential
business information to be redacted within the comment. If a comment
contains so much confidential business information that it cannot be
effectively redacted, all or part of that comment may not be posted
<a href="http://www.regulations.gov">www.regulations.gov</a>.
Personal identifying information identified and located as set
forth above will be placed in the agency's public docket file, but not
posted online. Confidential business information identified and located
as set forth above will not be placed in the public docket file. If you
wish to inspect the agency's public docket file in person by
appointment, please see the FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT paragraph.
Discussion
On November 25, 2020, the Bureau of Prisons (Bureau) published a
proposed rule to revise its procedures regarding time credits as
authorized by the First Step Act of 2018 (FSA) (85 FR 75268). The
public comment period closed on January 25, 2021. The Bureau received
more than two hundred and fifty responses to the publication of the
proposed rule. However, upon review of the comments, it is unclear to
the Bureau whether commenters had fully considered the issue of whether
D.C. Code offenders in Bureau of Prisons custody are eligible for time
credits under 18 U.S.C. 3632(d)(4), as added by the FSA.
The November 25, 2020, proposed rule would allow only an ``eligible
inmate'' to earn and apply FSA time credits and would expressly exclude
from time-credit eligibility any inmate serving a term of imprisonment
only for a conviction for an offense under the law of the District of
Columbia. The FSA, however, is ambiguous as to whether those with
convictions under the D.C. Code are eligible to apply toward prerelease
custody FSA time credits earned through their participation in
evidence-based recidivism reduction programs or productive activities,
and therefore the Bureau has decided to reopen the comment period in
order to ensure that it receives, reviews, and considers comments on
this issue.
Potentially relevant statutory provisions include:
<bullet> The FSA's definition of ``prisoner'' as ``a person who has
been sentenced to a term of imprisonment pursuant to a conviction for a
Federal criminal offense, or a person in the custody of the Bureau of
Prisons,'' 18 U.S.C. 3635(4);
<bullet> The statement in section 105 of the FSA that nothing in
the Act ``may be construed to provide authority to place a prisoner in
prerelease custody or supervised release who is serving a term of
imprisonment pursuant to a conviction for an offense under the laws of
one of the 50 States, or of a territory or possession of the United
States;''
<bullet> The FSA's identification of certain prisoners as
ineligible to receive or apply time credits, including those convicted
of certain enumerated, violent federal offenses, 18 U.S.C.
3632(d)(4)(D), and those convicted before the date on which federal
parole was abolished, FSA section 102(b)(3);
<bullet> The FSA provisions that require the Attorney General to
develop and release a risk and needs assessment system that will, among
other things, ``assess and determine to the extent practicable, the
risk of violent or serious misconduct of each prisoner'' and
``determine when a prisoner is ready to transfer into prerelease
custody or supervised release in accordance with section 3624,'' and
will also ``reassess the recidivism risk of each prisoner periodically,
based on factors . . . that are dynamic and can reasonably be expected
to change while in prison,'' and represent an ``objective and
statistically validated method through which information is collected
and evaluated to determine . . . the risk that a prisoner will
recidivate upon release from prison,'' 18 U.S.C. 3632(a)(2, 4, 7),
3635(6);
<bullet> The FSA's requirement that the Attorney General, in
consultation with the Assistant Director for the Office of Probation
and Pretrial Services, issue guidelines for use by the Bureau of
Prisons in determining ``the appropriate type of prerelease custody or
supervised release and level of supervision for a prisoner placed on
prerelease custody'' and ``consequences for a violation of a condition
of such prerelease custody by such a prisoner, including a return to
prison and a reassessment of evidence-based recidivism risk level under
the System,'' FSA section 102(b)(6);
<bullet> The D.C. Code's specification that ``felons sentenced
pursuant to the D.C. Code'' are to be placed in the Bureau's custody
and made subject to federal laws and regulations that are ``consistent
with the sentence imposed,'' D.C. Code section 24-101(b);
<bullet> The D.C. Code's provision that offenders sentenced to
imprisonment for felonies committed after August 5, 2000, ``may receive
good time credit toward service of the sentence only as provided in 18
U.S.C. 3624(b),'' D.C. Code section 24-403.01(d);
<bullet> The D.C. Code's specification that those sentenced to
imprisonment after August 5, 2000, ``for a nonviolent offense may
receive up to a one-year reduction'' for completing a substance-abuse-
treatment program in accordance with 18 U.S.C. 3621(e)(2), D.C. Code
section 24-403.01(d-1)(1); and
<bullet> The D.C. Code's provision that certain D.C. Code offenders
who committed their crimes before age 25 have an opportunity to be
resentenced to a reduced term in accordance with D.C. Code section 24-
403.03.
Making D.C. Code offenders eligible to apply time credits would
enable some persons with convictions for violent offenses to benefit
from the FSA time-credit program when those convicted for similar
offenses under federal law would be ineligible. Conversely, making D.C.
Code offenders ineligible would prevent some nonviolent offenders from
benefiting from that program when those with convictions for similar
offenses under federal law would be eligible. Accordingly, the Bureau
is reopening the comment period and will accept comments for an
additional 30 days after publication of this notice of proposed
rulemaking.
The Bureau is seeking comments only on this issue of whether D.C.
Code offenders in the Bureau's custody are
[[Page 57614]]
eligible to apply time credits under 18 U.S.C. 3632(d)(4)--including
the extent to which any of the statutory provisions listed in this
notice might affect the ability of some or all D.C. Code offenders to
apply time credits--and not on the other contents of the November 25,
2020, proposed rule.
Issued under rulemaking authority vested in the Attorney General in
5 U.S.C. 301; 28 U.S.C. 509, 510 and delegated to the Director, Bureau
of Prisons in 28 CFR 0.96.
Michael D. Carvajal,
Director, Federal Bureau of Prisons.
[FR Doc. 2021-22613 Filed 10-15-21; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE P
</pre></body>
</html>Indexed from Federal Register on October 18, 2021.
This is legal information, not legal advice. Laws vary by jurisdiction and change frequently. Always verify current law with official sources and consult a licensed attorney in your jurisdiction for advice on your specific situation.