II 

111TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. 2772 

To establish a criminal justice reinvestment grant program to help States 

and local jurisdictions reduce spending on corrections, control growth 

in the prison and jail populations, and increase public safety. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

NOVEMBER 16, 2009 

Mr. WHITEHOUSE (for himself, Mr. CORNYN, and Mr. LEAHY) introduced the 

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

Judiciary 

A BILL 

To establish a criminal justice reinvestment grant program 

to help States and local jurisdictions reduce spending 

on corrections, control growth in the prison and jail 

populations, and increase public safety. 

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 ‘‘Criminal Justice Rein5 vestment Act of 2009’’. 

6 SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 

7 Congress finds the following: 


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1 (1) A total of 2,200,000 American adults are 

2 incarcerated in State and local prisons and jails, a 

3 rate of about 1 out of every 100 adults. 

4 (2) State spending on corrections has increased 

5 over the last 20 years from approximately 

6 $12,600,000,000 in 1988 to more than 

7 $52,000,000,000 in 2008. According to ‘‘Public 

8 Safety, Public Spending: Forecasting America’s 

9 Prison Population 2007–2011’’, State and Federal 

10 prison populations are expected to increase by 

11 192,000 over that 5-year period, at an additional 

12 cost of $27,500,000,000. 

13 (3) Between 2000 and 2008, jail populations 

14 increased from approximately 621,000 to 785,000 

15 inmates. The 3,300 jails nationwide process approxi16 mately 13,500,000 inmates each year, 4,000,000 of 

17 whom are repeat offenders. 

18 (4) The number of persons on probation and 

19 parole in State correctional systems has been in20 creasing. Approximately 5,000,000 Americans, or 1 

21 out of every 45 adults, are on probation or parole, 

22 an increase of nearly 300 percent since 1980. 

23 (5) Policymakers have insufficient access to de24 tailed, data-driven explanations about changes in 


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1 crime, arrest, conviction, and prison and jail popu2 lation trends. 

3 (6) In the face of ever-increasing correctional 

4 costs, with bipartisan leadership, governors and leg5 islative leaders in Texas, Kansas, Rhode Island, 

6 Vermont, and other States around the country have 

7 initiated data-driven criminal justice reinvestment 

8 strategies that increase public safety, hold offenders 

9 accountable, and control corrections spending. 

10 SEC. 3. PURPOSE AND DEFINITION. 

11 (a) PURPOSE.—The purpose of this Act is to provide 

12 grants for criminal justice reinvestment strategies. 

13 (b) CRIMINAL JUSTICE REINVESTMENT.—In this 

14 Act, the term ‘‘criminal justice reinvestment’’ refers to a 

15 data-driven program that— 

16 (1) analyzes criminal justice trends to under17 stand what factors are driving the growth in prison 

18 and jail populations; 

19 (2) develops and implements policy options to 

20 manage the growth in corrections populations and 

21 increase the effectiveness of current spending and 

22 investment to increase public safety and improve in23 dividual and system accountability; and 


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1 (3) measures the impact of the policy changes 

2 and reinvestment resources and holds policymakers 

3 accountable for projected results. 

4 SEC. 4. PUBLIC SAFETY PERFORMANCE GRANTS TO IMPLE5 MENT CRIMINAL JUSTICE REINVESTMENT 

6 STRATEGIES. 

7 (a) PHASE 1—DATA ANALYSIS AND POLICY DEVEL8 OPMENT GRANTS.— 

9 (1) IN GENERAL.—The Attorney General may 

10 make grants to a State, unit of local government, 

11 territory, or Indian tribe (referred to in this Act as 

12 an ‘‘eligible entity’’) to analyze and improve the 

13 cost-effectiveness of State and local spending on 

14 prisons, jails, and community corrections (referred 

15 to in this Act as ‘‘Phase 1 grants’’). 

16 (2) OBJECTIVES.—The purposes of the Phase 1 

17 grants shall be for an eligible entity— 

18 (A) to conduct a comprehensive analysis of 

19 criminal justice data, including crime and arrest 

20 rates, conviction rates, pretrial and reentry 

21 services, and probation, parole, prison and jail 

22 populations; 

23 (B) to evaluate relevant criminal justice 

24 policies and the cost-effectiveness of current 


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1 spending on corrections and community correc2 tions; and 

3 (C) to develop data-driven policy options 

4 that can increase public safety and improve of5 fender accountability. 

6 (3) DETAILS.—The comprehensive analysis, 

7 evaluation, and policy development required by para8 graph (2) shall include— 

9 (A) an analysis of reported crime and ar10 rest data; 

11 (B) an analysis of felony conviction data to 

12 understand the percent of offenders who are 

13 sentenced to prison or jail for particular of14 fenses; 

15 (C) an analysis of prison or jail admission 

16 and length-of-stay data over a 3- to 5-year time 

17 period to determine which cohorts of offenders 

18 account for the growth of the population; 

19 (D) an analysis of probation and parole 

20 data to determine which offenders are violating 

21 the conditions of supervision and being revoked 

22 to prison or jail; 

23 (E) an analysis of the current capacity and 

24 quality of crime prevention and crime-fighting 

25 programs, including institutional and commuVerDate Nov 24 2008 02:45 Nov 17, 2009 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S2772.IS S2772

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1 nity-based risk-reduction programs such as 

2 drug treatment, mental health, education, job 

3 training, housing, and other human services to 

4 divert individuals from prisons or jails and to 

5 reduce recidivism among offenders on commu6 nity supervision; 

7 (F) consultation with criminal justice 

8 stakeholders, including State corrections de9 partments, community corrections agencies, 

10 local jail systems, and relevant governmental 

11 agencies and nonprofit organizations; 

12 (G) an analysis of criminal justice policies 

13 and expenditures, including the cost-effective14 ness of current spending on corrections and 

15 community corrections, to understand how the 

16 existing system accounts for criminal justice 

17 trends; 

18 (H) the development of a prison or jail 

19 population projection using a simulation model 

20 based on collected data to test the impact of 

21 various policy changes; and 

22 (I) the development of practical, data-driv23 en policy options that can increase public safe24 ty, improve offender accountability, reduce re25 cidivism, and manage the growth of spending 


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1 on corrections in the relevant criminal justice 

2 system. 

3 (4) APPLICATIONS.—To be eligible to receive a 

4 grant under this subsection, an eligible entity shall 

5 submit to the Attorney General an application, in 

6 such form and manner and at such time as specified 

7 by the Attorney General that includes a proposal 

8 that describes how the grant will fulfill the objectives 

9 required by paragraph (2). 

10 (5) PRIORITY.—The Attorney General, in 

11 awarding funds under this subsection, shall give pri12 ority to eligible entities that— 

13 (A) demonstrate a commitment from the 

14 chief executive officer, legislative body, judici15 ary, law enforcement officials, correctional 

16 agencies and prosecutors of the eligible entity to 

17 work together in a collaborative bipartisan ap18 proach to analyze the data and develop criminal 

19 justice policy options; 

20 (B) establish or designate a multibranch, 

21 bipartisan, intergovernmental, interagency task 

22 force of elected and appointed officials to ad23 dress the criminal justice and public safety 

24 challenges facing the jurisdiction; 


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1 (C) demonstrate access to data from across 

2 the criminal justice system, including crime and 

3 arrest, court and conviction, jail, prison, com4 munity corrections data, and standards for 

5 analysis; 

6 (D) identify agency or consultant capacity 

7 to objectively analyze data, utilize simulation 

8 models for prison or jail population projections, 

9 and develop concise written reports and policy 

10 options for policymakers to review; or 

11 (E) demonstrate that the projected growth 

12 over a 10-year period is expected to exceed cur13 rent corrections capacity. 

14 (6) COMPLETION OF GRANT.—The analysis, 

15 evaluation, and policy development required for a 

16 grant under this subsection shall be completed not 

17 later than 12 months after the receipt of funding for 

18 the grant unless granted an extension of time by the 

19 Attorney General. 

20 (b) PHASE 2—IMPLEMENTATION GRANTS.— 

21 (1) IN GENERAL.—The Attorney General may 

22 make grants to eligible entities to implement policies 

23 and programs designed to help jurisdictions manage 

24 the growth in spending on corrections and increase 


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1 public safety (referred to in this Act as ‘‘Phase 2 

2 grants’’). 

3 (2) OBJECTIVES.—The purposes of the Phase 2 

4 grants shall be for an eligible entity to— 

5 (A) fund programs identified by prior data 

6 analysis and policy development that provide 

7 training and technical assistance, support the 

8 delivery of risk-reduction programs, or other9 wise enhance public safety and improve offender 

10 accountability by strengthening the criminal 

11 justice system; 

12 (B) reinvest averted prison or jail costs 

13 into programs that enhance public safety by 

14 strengthening the criminal justice system or 

15 high-risk communities and individuals; and 

16 (C) measure performance of policies and 

17 programs enacted or established in subpara18 graphs (A) and (B). 

19 (3) PROGRAMS.—The programs described by 

20 paragraphs (2)(A) and (2)(B) shall— 

21 (A) provide training and technical assist22 ance including— 

23 (i) training of corrections and commu24 nity corrections, judicial, substance abuse 

25 or mental healthstaff and other key staff 


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1 on evidence-based practices for reducing 

2 recidivism; or 

3 (ii) training and technical assistance 

4 to assist jurisdictions in implementing and 

5 validating new risk and needs assessment 

6 tools; or technical assistance to implement 

7 evidence-based policies in corrections or 

8 community corrections agencies; 

9 (B) establish risk-reduction programs in10 cluding— 

11 (i) substance abuse or mental health 

12 treatment; 

13 (ii) education or job training; 

14 (iii) job placement, development, and 

15 creation; 

16 (iv) intermediate sanction programs 

17 and facilities, including community-based 

18 reentry programs, day reporting centers 

19 and electronic monitoring; or 

20 (v) supportive housing programs; 

21 (C) reduce the number of rearrests, re22 convictions, and revocations of people currently 

23 on probation and parole and increase the num24 ber of successful completions of probation and 

25 parole; 


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1 (D) establish policies and practices that 

2 will avert growth in the prison and jail popu3 lation and, as a result, avert the need to appro4 priate funds for the construction or operation of 

5 a new prison and jail facilities; or 

6 (E) establish comparable programs that 

7 enhance public safety by strengthening the 

8 criminal justice system. 

9 (4) PERFORMANCE MEASUREMENT.—The per10 formance measures described by paragraph (2)(C) 

11 shall track key criminal justice trends across agen12 cies and departments to measure the impact of the 

13 programs described in paragraph (3), and include 

14 the following measurements where applicable: 

15 (A) Reduction in rearrest, reconviction, 

16 and revocations of people currently on proba17 tion and parole. 

18 (B) Increases in the number of successful 

19 completions of probation and parole. 

20 (C) General crime trends. 

21 (D) Prison and jail populations. 

22 (E) Number of program and treatment 

23 slots added to reduce recidivism. 

24 (5) APPLICATIONS.—To be eligible to receive a 

25 grant under this subsection, an eligible entity shall 


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1 submit to the Attorney General an application, in 

2 such form and manner and at such time as specified 

3 by the Attorney General that includes a proposal 

4 that describes how the grant will fulfill the objectives 

5 required by paragraph (2). 

6 (6) PRIORITY.—Priority consideration shall be 

7 given to applications under this subsection that dem8 onstrate that— 

9 (A) the proposed programs will improve 

10 public safety and improve individual and system 

11 accountability while reducing or maintaining 

12 criminal justice growth through policies which 

13 ensure that— 

14 (i) violent offenders are incarcerated; 

15 (ii) nonviolent offenders who pose a 

16 minimal risk of harm to the community 

17 are supervised through effective probation 

18 and parole systems and provided with ef19 fective risk-reduction programs; and 

20 (iii) effective diversion and reentry 

21 programs are integrated into a new overall 

22 criminal reinvestment strategy; 

23 (B) the proposed programs will have a sig24 nificant impact on the geographic areas identi25 fied by the analysis as having disproportionate 


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1 numbers of people returning from prison or jail; 

2 and 

3 (C) data analysis through a Phase 1 grant 

4 or similar work has been completed. 

5 (c) ANNUAL REPORT.—The Attorney General shall 

6 report to the Committees on the Judiciary of the Senate 

7 and the House of Representatives on November 1 of each 

8 year concerning the development and implementation of 

9 grants under this section and strategies developed, which 

10 shall include information concerning— 

11 (1) the number and identity of the grantees 

12 who have received analyses and program develop13 ment grants; 

14 (2) the progress of grantees in conducting anal15 yses and program development; 

16 (3) the number and identity of the grantees re17 ceiving implementation grants; 

18 (4) the progress of grantees in implementing 

19 criminal justice reinvestment strategies; and 

20 (5) the performance of entities implementing 

21 criminal justice reinvestment strategies, including 

22 relevant data on— 

23 (A) the reduction, if any, in the number of 

24 rearrests, reconvictions, and revocations of peo25 ple currently on probation and parole; 


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1 (B) the increase, if any, in the number of 

2 successful completions of probation and parole; 

3 (C) the reduction, if any, in the growth of 

4 the prison and jail population; 

5 (D) the portion of averted costs that has 

6 been or will be reinvested and used to target 

7 high-risk communities and individuals to reduce 

8 the rate of rearrest, reconviction, and revoca9 tion to increase public safety; and 

10 (E) the reduction, if any, in rearrest rates 

11 by people under the supervision of the criminal 

12 justice system. 

13 (d) SHARING INFORMATION.—The Attorney General 

14 shall establish an information clearinghouse for data col15 lected and for best practices developed by eligible grantees 

16 developed in carrying out grants under this section. 

17 (e) ADMINISTRATION.—Applications for grants shall 

18 be considered on a rolling basis and be responded to in 

19 a timely fashion in order to provide assistance to policy20 makers facing various budget timelines. 

21 (f) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—There 

22 are authorized to be appropriated $35,000,000 to carry 

23 out this section for each of the fiscal years 2010 through 

24 2014. 

Æ 


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