I

107TH CONGRESS

1ST SESSION H. R. 1764

To ensure that the incarceration of inmates is not provided by private contractors or vendors and that persons charged or convicted of an offense

against the United States shall be housed in facilities managed and

maintained by Federal, State, or local governments.

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

MAY 8, 2001

Mr. STRICKLAND (for himself, Mr. ABERCROMBIE, Ms. BALDWIN, Mr. BRADY

of Pennsylvania, Mrs. CAPPS, Mr. CAPUANO, Mr. CONDIT, Mr.

DELAHUNT, Mr. FRANK, Mr. GILMAN, Mr. HOEFFEL, Mr. HOLDEN, Mr.

HORN, Ms. JACKSON-LEE of Texas, Mr. KILDEE, Ms. KILPATRICK, Mr.

KIND, Mr. LAFALCE, Mr. LANTOS, Mr. MCNULTY, Mr. MCGOVERN, Mrs.

MINK of Hawaii, Mr. OLVER, Mr. OWENS, Mr. PAYNE, Ms. PELOSI, Mr.

RUSH, Mr. STUPAK, Mr. SWEENEY, Mr. TIERNEY, Mr. EVANS, Mr.

UDALL of New Mexico, and Mr. BROWN of Ohio) introduced the following

bill; which was referred to the Committee on the Judiciary

A BILL

To ensure that the incarceration of inmates is not provided

by private contractors or vendors and that persons

charged or convicted of an offense against the United

States shall be housed in facilities managed and maintained by Federal, State, or local governments.

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 ‘‘Public Safety Act’’.
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1 SEC. 2. FINDINGS.

2 The Congress finds the following:

3 (1) The issues of safety, liability, accountability,

4 and cost are the paramount issues in running cor5 rections facilities.

6 (2) In recent years, the privatization of facili7 ties for persons previously incarcerated by govern8 mental entities has resulted in frequent escapes by

9 violent criminals, riots resulting in extensive dam10 age, prisoner violence, and incidents of prisoner

11 abuse by staff.

12 (3) In some instances, the courts have prohib13 ited the transfer of additional convicts to private

14 prisons because of the danger to prisoners and the

15 community.

16 (4) Frequent escapes and riots at private facili17 ties result in expensive law enforcement costs for

18 State and local governments.

19 (5) The need to make profits creates incentives

20 for private contractors to underfund mechanisms

21 that provide for the security of the facility and the

22 safety of the inmates, corrections staff, and neigh23 boring community.

24 (6) The 1997 Supreme Court ruling in Richard25 son v. McKnight that the qualified immunity that

26 shields State and local correctional officers does not
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1 apply to private prison personnel, and therefore ex2 poses State and local governments to liability for the

3 actions of private corporations.

4 (7) Additional liability issues arise when in5 mates are transferred outside the jurisdiction of the

6 contracting State.

7 (8) Studies on private correctional facilities

8 have been unable to demonstrate any significant cost

9 savings in the privatization of corrections facilities.

10 (9) The imposition of punishment on errant

11 citizens through incarceration requires State and

12 local governments to exercise their coercive police

13 powers over individuals. These powers, including the

14 authority to use force over a private citizen, should

15 not be delegated to another private party.

16 SEC. 3. ELIGIBILITY FOR GRANTS.

17 (a) IN GENERAL.—To be eligible to receive a grant

18 under subtitle A of title II of the Violent Crime Control

19 and Law Enforcement Act of 1994, an applicant shall pro20 vide assurances to the Attorney General that if selected

21 to receive funds under such subtitle the applicant shall not

22 contract with a private contractor or vendor to provide

23 core correctional services related to the incarceration of

24 an inmate.
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1 (b) EFFECTIVE DATE.—Subsection (a) shall apply to

2 grant funds received after the date of enactment of this

3 Act.

4 (c) EFFECT ON EXISTING CONTRACTS.—

5 (1) IN GENERAL.—Except as provided in para6 graph (2), subsection (a) shall not apply to a con7 tract in effect on the date of the enactment of this

8 Act between a grantee and a private contractor or

9 vendor to provide core correctional services related

10 to correctional facilities or the incarceration of in11 mates.

12 (2) RENEWALS AND EXTENSIONS.—Subsection

13 (a) shall apply to renewals or extensions of an exist14 ing contract entered into after the date of the enact15 ment of this Act.

16 (d) DEFINITION.—For purposes of this section, the

17 term ‘‘core correctional service’’ means the housing, safe18 guarding, protecting, and disciplining of persons charged

19 or convicted of an offense.

20 SEC. 4. ENHANCING PUBLIC SAFETY AND SECURITY IN THE

21 DUTIES OF THE BUREAU OF PRISONS.

22 Section 4042(a) of title 18, United States Code, is

23 amended—

24 (1) by redesignating paragraph (5) as para25 graph (7);
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1 (2) by striking ‘‘and’’ at the end of paragraph

2 (4); and

3 (3) by inserting after paragraph (4) the fol4 lowing:

5 ‘‘(5) provide that any penal or correctional fa6 cility or institution except for nonprofit community

7 correctional confinement, such as halfway houses,

8 confining any person convicted of offenses against

9 the United States, shall be under the direction of the

10 Director of the Bureau of Prisons and shall be man11 aged and maintained by employees of Federal, State,

12 or local governments;

13 ‘‘(6) provide that the housing, safeguarding,

14 protection, and disciplining of any person charged

15 with or convicted of any offense against the United

16 States, except such persons in community correc17 tional confinement such as halfway houses, will be

18 conducted and carried out by individuals who are

19 employees of Federal, State, or local governments;

20 and’’.

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