I

104TH CONGRESS

1ST SESSION H. R. 461

To close the Lorton Correctional Complex, to prohibit the incarceration of

individuals convicted of felonies under the laws of the District of Columbia in facilities of the District of Columbia Department of Corrections,

and for other purposes.

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

JANUARY 9, 1995

Mr. WOLF (for himself, Mr. MORAN, and Mr. DAVIS) introduced the following

bill; which was referred to the Committee on Government Reform and

Oversight and, in addition, to the Committee on the Judiciary, for a period to be subsequently determined by the Speaker, in each case for

consideratrion of such provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the

committee concerned

A BILL

To close the Lorton Correctional Complex, to prohibit the

incarceration of individuals convicted of felonies under

the laws of the District of Columbia in facilities of the

District of Columbia Department of Corrections, 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 ‘‘Lorton Correctional

5 Complex Closure Act’’.
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1 SEC. 2. CLOSURE OF THE LORTON CORRECTIONAL

2 COMPLEX.

3 (a) IN GENERAL.—Notwithstanding any other provi4 sion of law, not later than 6 years after the date of the

5 enactment of this Act, all real property and improvements

6 thereon comprising the Lorton Correctional Complex as

7 of the date of the enactment of this Act (other than any

8 such property retained by the District of Columbia under

9 the Implementation Plan described in section 4) shall be

10 transferred to the Administrator of General Services for

11 disposal in accordance with the Implementation Plan de12 scribed in section 4.

13 (b) PROHIBITING PLACEMENT OF FUTURE DISTRICT

14 OF COLUMBIA PRISON FACILITIES IN VIRGINIA.—No pris15 on, penitentiary, jail, correctional institution, or related fa16 cility of the District of Columbia may be established in

17 the Commonwealth of Virginia after the date of the enact18 ment of this Act without the approval of the Governor of

19 Virginia.

20 SEC. 3. INCARCERATION OF DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA

21 FELONS.

22 (a) TRANSFER TO FEDERAL CUSTODY.—

23 (1) IN GENERAL.—Notwithstanding any other

24 provision of law, any District of Columbia felon who

25 is committed to the custody of the Attorney General

26 for a term of imprisonment on or after the date of
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1 the enactment of this Act shall be incarcerated in a

2 facility designated by the Director of the Bureau of

3 Prisons, in accordance with such rules as the Attor4 ney General may establish to assure that the treat5 ment of District of Columbia felons is similar to the

6 treatment of other individuals under the control of

7 the Director of the Bureau of Prisons.

8 (2) TRANSITION RULE.—In the case of an indi9 vidual convicted of a felony in the Superior Court of

10 the District of Columbia who is under the custody

11 and control of the Director of the District of Colum12 bia Department of Corrections as of the date of the

13 enactment of this Act, the individual shall be trans14 ferred to the control of the Director of the Bureau

15 of Prisons not later than 5 years after the date of

16 the enactment of this Act.

17 (3) CONFORMING AMENDMENT.—Section 4042

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

19 (A) by striking ‘‘and’’ at the end of para20 graph (4);

21 (B) by striking the period at the end of

22 paragraph (5) and inserting ‘‘; and’’; and

23 (C) by adding at the end the following new

24 paragraph:
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1 ‘‘(6) provide suitable quarters and provide for

2 the safekeeping, care and subsistence and for the

3 protection, instruction and discipline of all District

4 of Columbia felons (as defined in section 3(b) of the

5 Lorton Correctional Complex Closure Act) who are

6 sentenced to death or committed to the custody of

7 the Attorney General for a term of imprisonment.’’.

8 (b) DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA FELON DEFINED.—The

9 term ‘‘District of Columbia felon’’ means an individual

10 convicted in the Superior Court of the District of Colum11 bia of an offense punishable by death or imprisonment for

12 a term exceeding one year (without regard to the sentence

13 actually imposed), but does not include any individual con14 victed in the Superior Court of the District of Columbia

15 of a misdemeanor offense, as a juvenile offender, or any

16 person detained pending trial in the Superior Court of the

17 District of Columbia.

18 SEC. 4. IMPLEMENTATION PLAN.

19 (a) DESCRIPTION OF PLAN.—In accordance with the

20 process described in subsection (b), not later than 18

21 months after the date of the enactment of this Act, the

22 Administrator of General Services shall submit to Con23 gress an Implementation Plan for the closure of the

24 Lorton Correctional Complex which shall identify actions

25 with respect to each of the following:
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1 (1) The future use of the land on which the

2 Complex is located, including (if appropriate) plans

3 for a regional park at the site.

4 (2) The need to address the impact of such fu5 ture uses on local and regional transportation re6 sources.

7 (3) If appropriate, the transfer of real property

8 and improvements thereon to Federal agencies (in9 cluding the Bureau of Prisons) for Federal use, the

10 Government of the District of Columbia, or any

11 other governmental entity.

12 (4) If appropriate, the disposal of real property

13 or improvements thereon.

14 (5) Changes in law or regulation necessary to

15 effect the purposes of this Act and the closure of the

16 Lorton Correctional Complex.

17 (6) Such other actions as considered appro18 priate by the Administrator to effectively implement

19 this Act.

20 (b) PROCESS FOR SUBMISSION OF FINAL IMPLEMEN21 TATION PLAN.—

22 (1) DEVELOPMENT AND SUBMISSION OF INI23 TIAL PROPOSAL BY COMMISSION.—Not later than 13

24 months after the date of the enactment of this Act,
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1 the Commission shall develop and submit to the Ad2 ministrator a proposal for the Implementation Plan.

3 (2) REVIEW OF COMMISSION PROPOSAL.—Not

4 later than 4 months after receiving the proposal for

5 the Implementation Plan from the Commission

6 under paragraph (1), the Administrator shall submit

7 a proposal for the Plan to the Commission for com8 ment and review.

9 (3) COMMENTS OF COMMISSION.—During the 1

10 month period beginning on the date the Adminis11 trator submits the proposed final Implementation

12 Plan to the Commission under paragraph (2), the

13 Commission and each of its members may submit

14 comments on the Plan to the Administrator. Any

15 comments made by the Commission or any individ16 ual commissioner shall be transmitted by the Admin17 istrator with the final Implementation Plan under

18 paragraph (4).

19 (4) SUBMISSION OF FINAL PLAN.—Not later

20 than 18 months after the date of the enactment of

21 this Act, the Administrator shall submit to Congress

22 the final Implementation Plan for the closure of the

23 Lorton Correctional Complex.

24 (c) AUTOMATIC IMPLEMENTATION OF PLAN.—The

25 Implementation Plan submitted by the Administrator
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1 under subsection (b)(4) shall take effect at the end of the

2 60-day period beginning on the day such plan is transmit3 ted to the Speaker of the House of Representatives and

4 the President of the Senate.

5 SEC. 5. COMMISSION ON CLOSURE OF LORTON CORREC6 TIONAL COMPLEX.

7 (a) ESTABLISHMENT.—There is hereby established a

8 commission to be known as the Commission on Closure

9 of the Lorton Correctional Complex.

10 (b) MEMBERSHIP.—

11 (1) NUMBER AND APPOINTMENT.—The Com12 mission shall be composed of 11 members appointed

13 not later than 1 month after the date of the enact14 ment of this Act as follows:

15 (A) The Fairfax County Board of Super16 visors shall appoint 5 members, one of which

17 shall be specially qualified by training and expe18 rience in matters relating to regional transpor19 tation problems and issues.

20 (B) The Prince William County Board of

21 Supervisors shall appoint 3 members.

22 (C) The Mayor of the District of Colum23 bia, with the advice and consent of the District

24 of Columbia City Council, shall appoint 2 mem25 bers.
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1 (D) The Administrator shall serve as an ex

2 officio member.

3 (2) CONTINUATION OF MEMBERSHIP.—

4 (A) GENERAL RULE.—Except as provided

5 in subparagraph (B), if a member was ap6 pointed to the Commission because the member

7 was an officer or employee of any government

8 or if a member is appointed to the Commission

9 and later becomes an officer or employee of a

10 government, the member may continue service

11 on the Commission for not longer than the 30-

12 day period beginning on the date the member

13 ceases to be such an officer or employee or be14 comes such an officer or employee, as the case

15 may be.

16 (B) EXCEPTION.—Service as a member of

17 the Commission shall not be discontinued pur18 suant to subparagraph (A) in the case of a

19 member who has served on the Commission for

20 not less than 3 months.

21 (3) TERMS.—Each member of the Commission

22 shall be appointed for the life of the Commission.

23 (4) VACANCIES.—Any member appointed to fill

24 a vacancy occurring before the expiration of the

25 term for which the member’s predecessor was ap-
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1 pointed shall be appointed only for the remainder of

2 that term, except that a member may serve after the

3 expiration of that member’s term until a successor

4 has taken office. A vacancy in the Commission shall

5 be filled in the manner in which the original appoint6 ment was made.

7 (5) COMPENSATION.—No member of the Com8 mission may receive additional pay, allowances, or

9 benefits by reason of service on the Commission.

10 (6) QUORUM.—6 members of the Commission

11 shall constitute a quorum but a lesser number may

12 hold hearings.

13 (7) CHAIRPERSON; VICE CHAIRPERSON.—The

14 Chairperson and Vice Chairperson of the Commis15 sion shall be elected by a majority of the members

16 of the Commission.

17 (c) DIRECTOR AND STAFF; EXPERTS AND CONSULT18 ANTS.—

19 (1) DIRECTOR.—The Commission shall, without

20 regard to section 5311(b) of title 5, United States

21 Code, have a Director who shall be appointed by the

22 Commission and paid at the rate of basic pay pay23 able for Level III of the Executive Schedule.

24 (2) APPOINTMENT AND PAY OF STAFF.—The

25 Commission may appoint such personnel as it con-
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1 siders appropriate without regard to the provisions

2 of title 5, United States Code, governing appoint3 ment to the competitive service. Such personnel shall

4 be paid in accordance with the provisions of chapter

5 51 and subchapter III of chapter 53 of title 5, Unit6 ed States Code, relating to classification and Gen7 eral Schedule pay rates.

8 (3) EXPERTS AND CONSULTANTS.—The Com9 mission may procure temporary and intermittent

10 services under section 3109(b) of title 5, United

11 States Code.

12 (4) STAFF OF FEDERAL AGENCIES.—Upon re13 quest of the Commission, the head of any Federal

14 department or agency may detail, on a reimbursable

15 basis, any of the personnel of that department or

16 agency to the Commission to assist it in carrying out

17 its duties.

18 (d) POWERS.—

19 (1) HEARINGS AND SESSIONS.—

20 (A) IN GENERAL.—The Commission may

21 hold hearings, sit and act at times and places,

22 take testimony, and receive evidence as the

23 Commission considers appropriate to carry out

24 its duties under this Act. The Commission may
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1 administer oaths or affirmations to witnesses

2 appearing before it.

3 (B) MAXIMIZATION OF LOCAL INVOLVE4 MENT.—The Commission shall hold its hearings

5 in a place and manner which maximizes local

6 community involvement, input, and participa7 tion.

8 (2) POWERS OF MEMBERS AND AGENTS.—Any

9 member or agent of the Commission may, if author10 ized by the Commission, take any action which the

11 Commission is authorized to take by this section.

12 (3) INFORMATION.—The Commission may se13 cure directly from any department or agency of the

14 United States any information necessary to enable it

15 to carry out its duties under this Act. Upon request

16 of the Chairperson or Vice Chairperson of the Com17 mission, the head of that department or agency shall

18 furnish that information to the Commission to the

19 extent otherwise permitted by law.

20 (4) GIFTS AND DONATIONS.—The Commission

21 may accept, use, and dispose of gifts or donations of

22 services or property.

23 (5) MAILS.—The Commission may use the

24 United States mails in the same manner and under
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1 the same conditions as other departments and agen2 cies of the United States.

3 (6) ADMINISTRATIVE SUPPORT SERVICES.—The

4 Administrator shall provide to the Commission, on a

5 reimbursable basis, such administrative support

6 services as the Commission may request.

7 (e) TERMINATION.—The Commission shall terminate

8 30 days after submitting its final comments pursuant to

9 section 4(b)(3).

10 (f) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—There is

11 authorized to be appropriated to the Commission for car12 rying out its duties under this Act an amount not to ex13 ceed $200,000.

14 SEC. 6. DEFINITIONS.

15 In this Act, the following definitions apply:

16 (1) The term ‘‘Administrator’’ means the Ad17 ministrator of General Services or the Administra18 tor’s designated representative.

19 (2) The term ‘‘Commission’’ means the Com20 mission on Closure of the Lorton Correctional Com21 plex established under section 5(a).

22 (3) The term ‘‘Lorton Correctional Complex’’

23 means any District of Columbia correctional, reform24 atory, or related facility which is located in the Com25 monwealth of Virginia and which is operated under
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1 the authority, control, supervision or management of

2 the District of Columbia Department of Corrections,

3 the Mayor of the District of Columbia, or any other

4 agency or official of the District of Columbia.

5 (4) The term ‘‘Implementation Plan’’ means

6 the Implementation Plan described in section 4.

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