II 

118TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. 2681 

To amend title 18, United States Code, to provide appropriate standards 

for the inclusion of a term of supervised release after imprisonment, 

and for other purposes. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

JULY 27, 2023 

Mr. COONS (for himself, Mr. CORNYN, Mr. DURBIN, Mr. LEE, Mr. BOOKER, 

Mr. TILLIS, Mr. WICKER, Mr. CRAMER, and Mr. LANKFORD) introduced 

the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee 

on the Judiciary 

A BILL 

To amend title 18, United States Code, to provide appropriate standards for the inclusion of a term of supervised 

release after imprisonment, and for other purposes. 

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Safer Supervision Act 

5 of 2023’’. 

6 SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 

7 Congress finds the following: 


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1 (1) Over 110,000 people were on Federal super2 vised release as of June 2021. 

3 (2) The Supreme Court of the United States 

4 explained in Johnson v. United States that ‘‘Super5 vised release departed from the parole system it re6 placed by giving district courts the freedom to pro7 vide postrelease supervision for those, and only 

8 those, who needed it. . . . Congress aimed, then, to 

9 use the district courts’ discretionary judgment to al10 locate supervision to those releasees who needed it 

11 most.’’. 

12 (3) Federal probation officers report significant 

13 caseloads that can exceed 100 cases per officer. This 

14 can create a difficult burden for the officers and 

15 limit their ability to provide appropriate supervision 

16 to those who need it. 

17 (4) The potential for early termination or other 

18 modifications of supervision, when consistent with 

19 public safety, can not only reduce burdens and save 

20 valuable judicial resources, but also create positive 

21 incentives for compliance and rehabilitation con22 sistent with the purposes of supervision. In the 12- 

23 month period ending in June 2021, early termi24 nations were 23 percent of successful supervised re25 lease closures. 


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1 (5) The Administrative Office of the United 

2 States Courts has explained that ‘‘excessive correc3 tional intervention for low-risk defendants may in4 crease the probability of recidivism by disrupting 

5 prosocial activities and exposing defendants to anti6 social associates.’’. 

7 (6) Supervised release is and should remain an 

8 important tool for the Federal courts to use, as ap9 propriate, to, among other items, protect the public 

10 from further crimes, deter future criminal conduct, 

11 and help the defendant become a contributing mem12 ber of society by recovering from substance use dis13 order, participating in rehabilitation and training 

14 programs, and providing restitution to victims, 

15 among other outcomes. 

16 (7) Better tailoring when and how supervised 

17 release is imposed, encouraging early termination 

18 when appropriate, and expanding judicial discretion 

19 on certain revocations will reduce burdens on law en20 forcement officers and taxpayers, encourage compli21 ance and improve public safety, and better assist de22 fendants in their pursuit of rehabilitation and re23 integration, to the benefit of themselves, victims, 

24 and communities. 


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1 SEC. 3. INCLUSION OF A TERM OF SUPERVISED RELEASE 

2 AFTER IMPRISONMENT. 

3 Section 3583 of title 18, United States Code, is 

4 amended— 

5 (1) in subsection (a)— 

6 (A) by striking ‘‘The court’’ and inserting 

7 the following: 

8 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—The court’’; and 

9 (B) by adding at the end the following: 

10 ‘‘(2) INDIVIDUALIZED ASSESSMENT.—When de11 termining whether to include a term of supervised 

12 release as part of the sentence, and except to the ex13 tent that a term of supervised release is required by 

14 statute as described in paragraph (1), the court 

15 shall— 

16 ‘‘(A) make an individualized assessment 

17 under the factors set forth in subsections (c) 

18 and (d) as to— 

19 ‘‘(i) whether such a term is appro20 priate; and 

21 ‘‘(ii) the appropriate length and condi22 tions of such a term; and 

23 ‘‘(B) provide the reasons of the court for 

24 imposing or not imposing such a term on the 

25 record.’’; 


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1 (2) in subsection (d), in the fifth sentence, by 

2 striking ‘‘shall also’’ and inserting ‘‘may also’’; 

3 (3) in subsection (e)— 

4 (A) by redesignating paragraphs (1) 

5 through (4) as subparagraphs (A) through (D), 

6 respectively, and adjusting the margins accord7 ingly; 

8 (B) by striking ‘‘The court may,’’ and in9 serting the following: 

10 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—Subject to paragraph (2), 

11 the court may,’’; 

12 (C) in subparagraph (A), as so redesig13 nated, by striking ‘‘after the expiration of one 

14 year of supervised release’’; 

15 (D) in subparagraph (C), as so redesig16 nated, by striking ‘‘this paragraph’’ and insert17 ing ‘‘this subparagraph’’; 

18 (E) in subparagraph (D), as so redesig19 nated, by striking ‘‘this paragraph’’ and insert20 ing ‘‘this subparagraph’’; and 

21 (F) by adding at the end the following: 

22 ‘‘(2) TERMINATION OF SUPERVISED RE23 LEASE.—For purposes of the termination of super24 vised release under paragraph (1)(A)— 


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1 ‘‘(A) after a defendant has served 50 per2 cent of the term of supervised release imposed 

3 on the defendant, the Administrative Office of 

4 the United States Courts shall provide notice to 

5 a defendant, defendant’s counsel, and any local 

6 Federal Public Defender Organization or Com7 munity Defender Organization of the oppor8 tunity to seek early termination of supervised 

9 release under paragraph (1)(A) and the process 

10 for doing so; 

11 ‘‘(B) there shall be a presumption of early 

12 termination of supervised release for a defend13 ant under supervision if— 

14 ‘‘(i)(I) for a defendant serving a term 

15 of supervised release imposed in connection 

16 with a conviction for an offense described 

17 in subsection (a) of section 16, the defend18 ant has served 66.6 percent of the term of 

19 supervised release imposed on the defend20 ant; or 

21 ‘‘(II) for a defendant other than a de22 fendant described in subclause (I), the de23 fendant has served 50 percent of the term 

24 of supervised release imposed on the de25 fendant; 


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1 ‘‘(ii) the defendant has demonstrated 

2 good conduct and compliance while on su3 pervised release; and 

4 ‘‘(iii) the early termination will not 

5 jeopardize public safety; 

6 ‘‘(C) the Government shall have an oppor7 tunity to object to a request for termination of 

8 supervised release and to present evidence, 

9 which the defendant shall have the opportunity 

10 to rebut, in any proceeding relating to such re11 quest; and 

12 ‘‘(D) crime victims’ rights under section 

13 3771 shall apply to any proceeding relating to 

14 a request for early termination of supervised re15 lease. 

16 ‘‘(3) PUBLIC SAFETY.—In assessing whether 

17 early termination will not jeopardize public safety 

18 under this subsection, the court shall consider the 

19 nature of the offense committed by the defendant, 

20 the defendant’s criminal history, the defendant’s 

21 record while incarcerated (including good behavior 

22 and violations of prison rules), the defendant’s ef23 forts to reintegrate into the community and to avoid 

24 recidivism, any statements or information provided 


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1 by victims of the offense, and other factors the court 

2 may find relevant to public safety. 

3 ‘‘(4) ASSISTANCE OF COUNSEL.—The court 

4 may appoint a Federal public defender, a community 

5 defender, or other counsel qualified to be appointed 

6 under section 3006A to assist a defendant seeking 

7 early termination of supervised release under para8 graph (1)(A) or modification of conditions under 

9 paragraph (1)(B). 

10 ‘‘(5) RULE OF CONSTRUCTION.—Paragraph 

11 (2)(B) shall not be construed to limit the discretion 

12 of a court under paragraph (1).’’; 

13 (4) in subsection (g)— 

14 (A) in the subsection heading, by striking 

15 ‘‘POSSESSION OF CONTROLLED SUBSTANCE OR

16 FIREARM OR FOR REFUSAL TO COMPLY WITH

17 DRUG TESTING’’ and inserting ‘‘DISTRIBUTION

18 OF A CONTROLLED SUBSTANCE OR POSSES19 SION OF A FIREARM’’; 

20 (B) by amending paragraph (1) to read as 

21 follows: 

22 ‘‘(1)(A) possesses a controlled substance with 

23 the intent to distribute; or 


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1 ‘‘(B) possesses a controlled substance, the pos2 session of which may be punished by imprisonment 

3 for a term exceeding 1 year;’’; 

4 (C) in paragraph (2), by inserting ‘‘or’’ at 

5 the end; 

6 (D) by amending paragraph (3) to read as 

7 follows: 

8 ‘‘(3) willfully refuses to comply with drug test9 ing imposed as a condition of supervised release;’’; 

10 (E) by striking paragraph (4); and 

11 (F) in the matter following paragraph (4), 

12 by striking ‘‘subsection (e)(3)’’ and inserting 

13 ‘‘subsection (e)(1)(C)’’; and 

14 (5) in subsection (k), in the second sentence, by 

15 striking ‘‘subsection (e)(3)’’ and inserting ‘‘sub16 section (e)(1)(C)’’. 

17 SEC. 4. LAW ENFORCEMENT AVAILABILITY PAY FOR PRO18 BATION AND PRETRIAL SERVICES OFFICERS. 

19 Not later than 180 days after the date of enactment 

20 of this Act, the Director of the Administrative Office of 

21 the United States Courts, in consultation with the Direc22 tor of the Office of Personnel Management, shall submit 

23 to the Committee on the Judiciary of the Senate and the 

24 Committee on the Judiciary of the House of Representa25 tives a report containing a legislative proposal, and considVerDate Sep 11 2014 03:01 Aug 17, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00009 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S2681.IS S2681

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1 erations for implementation of the proposal, that would 

2 provide law enforcement availability pay to Federal proba3 tion officers and pre-trial services officers that is equal 

4 to that provided to criminal investigators under section 

5 5545a of title 5, United States Code. 

6 SEC. 5. GAO REPORT. 

7 (a) INITIATION OF STUDY.—Not later than 1 year 

8 after the date of enactment of this Act, the Comptroller 

9 General of the United States shall initiate a study on Fed10 eral post-release supervision and reentry services. 

11 (b) REPORT.—The Comptroller General of the 

12 United States shall submit to Congress a report regarding 

13 the study under subsection (a), which shall include find14 ings and potential recommendations related to— 

15 (1) the number of individuals that have been 

16 placed on Federal probation or supervised release 

17 since 2019; 

18 (2) the process for transitioning an individual 

19 from the custody of the Bureau of Prisons to the Of20 fice of Probation and Pretrial Services or the cus21 tody of the United States Marshals Service; 

22 (3) a review of Federal programs or funding 

23 sources that aim to assist individuals from the cus24 tody of the Bureau of Prisons with reentry, includ25 ing— 


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1 (A) ongoing mental health and substance 

2 use counseling, housing, medical care, edu3 cation, and job placement; and 

4 (B) any changes in such programs or fund5 ing since 2019; and 

6 (4) a workforce assessment of judicial districts, 

7 including an analysis of— 

8 (A) during 2020 and 2021, the number of 

9 officers, officer caseloads, and overtime hours 

10 worked, reported, or accrued; and 

11 (B) the system for tracking overtime hours 

12 worked by officers of the Office of Probation 

13 and Pretrial Services. 

Æ 


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