I 

113TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 3669 

To amend title 18, United States Code, to provide for increased supervision 

of persons required to wear an electronic monitoring device as a condition 

of release from prison, to criminalize disabling such an electronic monitoring device, to establish the Office of the Inspector General for Probation and Pretrial Services, and for other purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

DECEMBER 5, 2013 

Mr. MAFFEI introduced the following bill; which was referred to the 

Committee on the Judiciary 

A BILL 

To amend title 18, United States Code, to provide for increased supervision of persons required to wear an electronic monitoring device as a condition of release from 

prison, to criminalize disabling such an electronic monitoring device, to establish the Office of the Inspector 

General for Probation and Pretrial Services, 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 ‘‘Federal Probation Sys5 tem Reform Act’’. 


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1 SEC. 2. SUPERVISION OF A PERSON ASSIGNED AN ELEC2 TRONIC MONITORING DEVICE AS A CONDI3 TION OF RELEASE; PENALTY FOR DISABLING 

4 AN ELECTRONIC MONITORING DEVICE. 

5 (a) IN GENERAL.—Part II of title 18, United States 

6 Code, is amended by inserting after chapter 237 the fol7 lowing new chapter: 

8 ‘‘CHAPTER 239—ELECTRONIC 

9 MONITORING DEVICES 

‘‘Sec. 

‘‘3801. Supervision of a person assigned an electronic monitoring device as a 

condition of release. 

‘‘3802. Penalty for disabling an electronic monitoring device. 

10 ‘‘§ 3801. Supervision of a person assigned an elec11 tronic monitoring device as a condition 

12 of release 

13 ‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—In the case of a person who was 

14 convicted of a Federal offense who has been sentenced to 

15 probation pursuant to subchapter B of chapter 227, 

16 placed on probation pursuant to the provisions of chapter 

17 403, or placed on supervised release pursuant to section 

18 3583, or a person accused of such an offense who has been 

19 released pending trial, sentence, or appeal pursuant to 

20 chapter 207, who is required to wear an electronic moni21 toring device as a condition of such probation or release, 

22 the Director of the Administrative Office of the United 

23 States Courts shall ensure that an appropriate probation 


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1 officer or pretrial services officer supervises the person by 

2 doing the following: 

3 ‘‘(1) Conducting a daily review of any data pro4 duced by the electronic monitoring device worn by 

5 the person. 

6 ‘‘(2) In the case of an alert produced by an 

7 electronic monitoring system that the Director deter8 mines requires an investigation, conducting an inves9 tigation immediately following the alert, including— 

10 ‘‘(A) contacting the person; 

11 ‘‘(B) inspecting the electronic monitoring 

12 device; and 

13 ‘‘(C) documenting the alert and the re14 sponse taken. 

15 ‘‘(b) UNIFORM STANDARDS.—Not later than 60 days 

16 after the date of the enactment of this section, the Direc17 tor of the Administrative Office of the United States 

18 Courts shall issue uniform standards in order to imple19 ment subsection (a). 

20 ‘‘§ 3802. Penalty for disabling an electronic moni21 toring device 

22 ‘‘(a) OFFENSE.—Whoever— 

23 ‘‘(1) intentionally disables an electronic moni24 toring device that was assigned to a person as a con25 dition of probation pursuant to subchapter B of 


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1 chapter 227 or chapter 403, supervised release pur2 suant to section 3583, or release pending trial, sen3 tence, or appeal pursuant to chapter 207; or 

4 ‘‘(2) having been assigned an electronic moni5 toring device as a condition of probation pursuant to 

6 subchapter B of chapter 227 or chapter 403, super7 vised release pursuant to section 3583, or release 

8 pending trial, sentence, or appeal pursuant to chap9 ter 207, intentionally allows another person to dis10 able such device; 

11 shall be punished as provided in subsection (b). 

12 ‘‘(b) PUNISHMENT.—The punishment for an offense 

13 under subsection (a) is— 

14 ‘‘(1) if the person to whom the electronic moni15 toring device was assigned commits a Federal, State, 

16 or local offense in addition to violating subsection 

17 (a) upon the disabling of such device, a fine under 

18 this title or imprisonment for not more than 4 years; 

19 or 

20 ‘‘(2) if the person to whom the electronic moni21 toring device was assigned does not commit a Fed22 eral, State or local crime in addition to violating 

23 subsection (a) upon the disabling of such device, a 

24 fine under this title or imprisonment for not more 

25 than 1 year.’’. 


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1 (b) CLERICAL AMENDMENT.—The table of chapters 

2 for part II of title 18, United States Code, is amended 

3 by inserting after the item relating to chapter 237 the fol4 lowing: 

‘‘239. Electronic Monitoring Devices ....................................................... 3801’’. 

5 SEC. 3. INSPECTOR GENERAL FOR PROBATION AND PRE6 TRIAL SERVICES. 

7 (a) IN GENERAL.—Chapter 207 of part II of title 18, 

8 United States Code, is amended— 

9 (1) by redesignating sections 3155 and 3156 as 

10 sections 3156 and 3157, respectively; 

11 (2) after section 3154, by inserting the fol12 lowing: 

13 ‘‘§ 3155. Inspector General for Probation and Pretrial 

14 Services 

15 ‘‘(a) ESTABLISHMENT.—There is established within 

16 pretrial services (commonly referred to as the United 

17 States Probation and Pretrial Services System) the Office 

18 of the Inspector General for Probation and Pretrial Serv19 ices (referred to in this section as the ‘Office’). 

20 ‘‘(b) APPOINTMENT, TERM, AND REMOVAL OF IN21 SPECTOR GENERAL.— 

22 ‘‘(1) APPOINTMENT.—The head of the Office 

23 shall be the Inspector General, who shall be ap24 pointed by the Chief Justice of the United States 

25 after consultation with the majority and minority 


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1 leaders of the Senate and the Speaker and minority 

2 leader of the House of Representatives. 

3 ‘‘(2) TERM.—The Inspector General shall serve 

4 for a term of four years and may be reappointed by 

5 the Chief Justice of the United States for any num6 ber of additional terms. 

7 ‘‘(3) REMOVAL.—The Inspector General may be 

8 removed from office by the Chief Justice of the 

9 United States. The Chief Justice shall communicate 

10 the reasons for any such removal to both Houses of 

11 Congress. 

12 ‘‘(c) DUTIES.—With respect to probation and pretrial 

13 services, the Office shall— 

14 ‘‘(1) conduct investigations of alleged mis15 conduct; 

16 ‘‘(2) conduct and supervise audits and inves17 tigations; 

18 ‘‘(3) prevent and detect waste, fraud, and 

19 abuse; and 

20 ‘‘(4) recommend changes in laws or regulations 

21 governing probation and pretrial services. 

22 ‘‘(d) POWERS.— 

23 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—In carrying out the duties 

24 of the Office, the Inspector General shall have the 

25 power— 


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1 ‘‘(A) to make investigations and reports; 

2 ‘‘(B) to obtain information or assistance 

3 from any Federal, State, or local governmental 

4 agency, or other entity, or unit thereof, includ5 ing all information kept in the normal course of 

6 business by probation and pretrial services in 

7 any judicial district; 

8 ‘‘(C) to require, by subpoena or otherwise, 

9 the attendance and testimony of such witnesses, 

10 and the production of such books, records, cor11 respondence memoranda, papers, and docu12 ments; which subpoena, in the case of contu13 macy or refusal to obey, shall be enforceable by 

14 civil action; 

15 ‘‘(D) to administer to or take from any 

16 person an oath, affirmation, or affidavit; 

17 ‘‘(E) to employ such officers and employ18 ees, subject to the provisions of title 5, gov19 erning appointments in the competitive service, 

20 and the provisions of chapter 51 and sub21 chapter III of chapter 53 of such title relating 

22 to classification and General Schedule pay 

23 rates; 

24 ‘‘(F) to obtain services authorized by sec25 tion 3109 of title 5 at daily rates not to exceed 


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1 the equivalent rate prescribed for grade GS–18 

2 of the General Schedule by section 5332 of title 

3 5; and— 

4 ‘‘(G) to the extent and in such amounts as 

5 may be provided in advance by appropriations 

6 Acts, to enter into contracts and other arrange7 ments for audits, studies, analyses, and other 

8 services with public agencies and with private 

9 persons, and to make such payments as may be 

10 necessary to carry out the duties of the Office. 

11 ‘‘(2) LIMITATION.—The Inspector General shall 

12 not have the authority to— 

13 ‘‘(A) investigate or review any matter that 

14 is directly related to the merits of a decision or 

15 procedural ruling by any judge or court; or 

16 ‘‘(B) punish or discipline any pretrial serv17 ices officer or probation officer. 

18 ‘‘(e) REPORTS.— 

19 ‘‘(1) WHEN TO BE MADE.—The Inspector Gen20 eral shall— 

21 ‘‘(A) make an annual report to the Direc22 tor of the Administrative Office of the United 

23 States Courts and to Congress relating to the 

24 activities of the Office; and 


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1 ‘‘(B) make prompt reports to the Director 

2 and to Congress on matters that may require 

3 action by them. 

4 ‘‘(2) SENSITIVE MATTER.—If a report contains 

5 sensitive matter, the Inspector General may so indi6 cate and Congress may receive that report in closed 

7 session. 

8 ‘‘(3) DUTY TO INFORM ATTORNEY GENERAL.— 

9 In carrying out the duties of the Office, the Inspec10 tor General shall report expeditiously to the Attor11 ney General whenever the Inspector General has rea12 sonable grounds to believe there has been a violation 

13 of Federal criminal law. 

14 ‘‘(f) WHISTLEBLOWER PROTECTION.— 

15 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—No officer, employee, 

16 agent, contractor, or subcontractor of pretrial serv17 ices may discharge, demote, threaten, suspend, har18 ass, or in any other manner discriminate against an 

19 employee in the terms and conditions of employment 

20 because of any lawful act done by the employee to 

21 provide information, cause information to be pro22 vided, or otherwise assist in an investigation regard23 ing any possible violation of Federal law or regula24 tion, or misconduct, by a pretrial services officer or 

25 probation officer, which may assist the Inspector 


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1 General in the performance of duties under this 

2 chapter. 

3 ‘‘(2) CIVIL ACTION.—An employee injured in 

4 violation of paragraph (1) may, in a civil action, ob5 tain appropriate relief. 

6 ‘‘(g) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—There 

7 is authorized to be appropriated such sums as may be nec8 essary to carry out this section.’’. 

9 (b) CLERICAL AMENDMENTS.—Chapter 207 of part 

10 II of title 18, United States Code, is amended— 

11 (1) in section 3157(b) (as redesignated by this 

12 Act) is amended by striking ‘‘3152–3155’’ and in13 serting ‘‘3152–3156’’; and 

14 (2) in the table of sections, after the item relat15 ing to section 3154, by inserting the following: 

‘‘3155. Inspector General for Probation and Pretrial Services.’’. 

Æ 


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