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[Congressional Bills 111th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 2772 Introduced in Senate (IS)]

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.

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

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

    This Act may be cited as the ``Criminal Justice Reinvestment Act of 
2009''.

SEC. 2. FINDINGS.

    Congress finds the following:
            (1) A total of 2,200,000 American adults are incarcerated 
        in State and local prisons and jails, a rate of about 1 out of 
        every 100 adults.
            (2) State spending on corrections has increased over the 
        last 20 years from approximately $12,600,000,000 in 1988 to 
        more than $52,000,000,000 in 2008. According to ``Public 
        Safety, Public Spending: Forecasting America's Prison 
        Population 2007-2011'', State and Federal prison populations 
        are expected to increase by 192,000 over that 5-year period, at 
        an additional cost of $27,500,000,000.
            (3) Between 2000 and 2008, jail populations increased from 
        approximately 621,000 to 785,000 inmates. The 3,300 jails 
        nationwide process approximately 13,500,000 inmates each year, 
        4,000,000 of whom are repeat offenders.
            (4) The number of persons on probation and parole in State 
        correctional systems has been increasing. Approximately 
        5,000,000 Americans, or 1 out of every 45 adults, are on 
        probation or parole, an increase of nearly 300 percent since 
        1980.
            (5) Policymakers have insufficient access to detailed, 
        data-driven explanations about changes in crime, arrest, 
        conviction, and prison and jail population trends.
            (6) In the face of ever-increasing correctional costs, with 
        bipartisan leadership, governors and legislative leaders in 
        Texas, Kansas, Rhode Island, Vermont, and other States around 
        the country have initiated data-driven criminal justice 
        reinvestment strategies that increase public safety, hold 
        offenders accountable, and control corrections spending.

SEC. 3. PURPOSE AND DEFINITION.

    (a) Purpose.--The purpose of this Act is to provide grants for 
criminal justice reinvestment strategies.
    (b) Criminal Justice Reinvestment.--In this Act, the term 
``criminal justice reinvestment'' refers to a data-driven program 
that--
            (1) analyzes criminal justice trends to understand what 
        factors are driving the growth in prison and jail populations;
            (2) develops and implements policy options to manage the 
        growth in corrections populations and increase the 
        effectiveness of current spending and investment to increase 
        public safety and improve individual and system accountability; 
        and
            (3) measures the impact of the policy changes and 
        reinvestment resources and holds policymakers accountable for 
        projected results.

SEC. 4. PUBLIC SAFETY PERFORMANCE GRANTS TO IMPLEMENT CRIMINAL JUSTICE 
              REINVESTMENT STRATEGIES.

    (a) Phase 1--Data Analysis and Policy Development Grants.--
            (1) In general.--The Attorney General may make grants to a 
        State, unit of local government, territory, or Indian tribe 
        (referred to in this Act as an ``eligible entity'') to analyze 
        and improve the cost-effectiveness of State and local spending 
        on prisons, jails, and community corrections (referred to in 
        this Act as ``Phase 1 grants'').
            (2) Objectives.--The purposes of the Phase 1 grants shall 
        be for an eligible entity--
                    (A) to conduct a comprehensive analysis of criminal 
                justice data, including crime and arrest rates, 
                conviction rates, pretrial and reentry services, and 
                probation, parole, prison and jail populations;
                    (B) to evaluate relevant criminal justice policies 
                and the cost-effectiveness of current spending on 
                corrections and community corrections; and
                    (C) to develop data-driven policy options that can 
                increase public safety and improve offender 
                accountability.
            (3) Details.--The comprehensive analysis, evaluation, and 
        policy development required by paragraph (2) shall include--
                    (A) an analysis of reported crime and arrest data;
                    (B) an analysis of felony conviction data to 
                understand the percent of offenders who are sentenced 
                to prison or jail for particular offenses;
                    (C) an analysis of prison or jail admission and 
                length-of-stay data over a 3- to 5-year time period to 
                determine which cohorts of offenders account for the 
                growth of the population;
                    (D) an analysis of probation and parole data to 
                determine which offenders are violating the conditions 
                of supervision and being revoked to prison or jail;
                    (E) an analysis of the current capacity and quality 
                of crime prevention and crime-fighting programs, 
                including institutional and community-based risk-
                reduction programs such as drug treatment, mental 
                health, education, job training, housing, and other 
                human services to divert individuals from prisons or 
                jails and to reduce recidivism among offenders on 
                community supervision;
                    (F) consultation with criminal justice 
                stakeholders, including State corrections departments, 
                community corrections agencies, local jail systems, and 
                relevant governmental agencies and nonprofit 
                organizations;
                    (G) an analysis of criminal justice policies and 
                expenditures, including the cost-effectiveness of 
                current spending on corrections and community 
                corrections, to understand how the existing system 
                accounts for criminal justice trends;
                    (H) the development of a prison or jail population 
                projection using a simulation model based on collected 
                data to test the impact of various policy changes; and
                    (I) the development of practical, data-driven 
                policy options that can increase public safety, improve 
                offender accountability, reduce recidivism, and manage 
                the growth of spending on corrections in the relevant 
                criminal justice system.
            (4) Applications.--To be eligible to receive a grant under 
        this subsection, an eligible entity shall submit to the 
        Attorney General an application, in such form and manner and at 
        such time as specified by the Attorney General that includes a 
        proposal that describes how the grant will fulfill the 
        objectives required by paragraph (2).
            (5) Priority.--The Attorney General, in awarding funds 
        under this subsection, shall give priority to eligible entities 
        that--
                    (A) demonstrate a commitment from the chief 
                executive officer, legislative body, judiciary, law 
                enforcement officials, correctional agencies and 
                prosecutors of the eligible entity to work together in 
                a collaborative bipartisan approach to analyze the data 
                and develop criminal justice policy options;
                    (B) establish or designate a multibranch, 
                bipartisan, intergovernmental, interagency task force 
                of elected and appointed officials to address the 
                criminal justice and public safety challenges facing 
                the jurisdiction;
                    (C) demonstrate access to data from across the 
                criminal justice system, including crime and arrest, 
                court and conviction, jail, prison, community 
                corrections data, and standards for analysis;
                    (D) identify agency or consultant capacity to 
                objectively analyze data, utilize simulation models for 
                prison or jail population projections, and develop 
                concise written reports and policy options for 
                policymakers to review; or
                    (E) demonstrate that the projected growth over a 
                10-year period is expected to exceed current 
                corrections capacity.
            (6) Completion of grant.--The analysis, evaluation, and 
        policy development required for a grant under this subsection 
        shall be completed not later than 12 months after the receipt 
        of funding for the grant unless granted an extension of time by 
        the Attorney General.
    (b) Phase 2--Implementation Grants.--
            (1) In general.--The Attorney General may make grants to 
        eligible entities to implement policies and programs designed 
        to help jurisdictions manage the growth in spending on 
        corrections and increase public safety (referred to in this Act 
        as ``Phase 2 grants'').
            (2) Objectives.--The purposes of the Phase 2 grants shall 
        be for an eligible entity to--
                    (A) fund programs identified by prior data analysis 
                and policy development that provide training and 
                technical assistance, support the delivery of risk-
                reduction programs, or otherwise enhance public safety 
                and improve offender accountability by strengthening 
                the criminal justice system;
                    (B) reinvest averted prison or jail costs into 
                programs that enhance public safety by strengthening 
                the criminal justice system or high-risk communities 
                and individuals; and
                    (C) measure performance of policies and programs 
                enacted or established in subparagraphs (A) and (B).
            (3) Programs.--The programs described by paragraphs (2)(A) 
        and (2)(B) shall--
                    (A) provide training and technical assistance 
                including--
                            (i) training of corrections and community 
                        corrections, judicial, substance abuse or 
                        mental healthstaff and other key staff on 
                        evidence-based practices for reducing 
                        recidivism; or
                            (ii) training and technical assistance to 
                        assist jurisdictions in implementing and 
                        validating new risk and needs assessment tools; 
                        or technical assistance to implement evidence-
                        based policies in corrections or community 
                        corrections agencies;
                    (B) establish risk-reduction programs including--
                            (i) substance abuse or mental health 
                        treatment;
                            (ii) education or job training;
                            (iii) job placement, development, and 
                        creation;
                            (iv) intermediate sanction programs and 
                        facilities, including community-based reentry 
                        programs, day reporting centers and electronic 
                        monitoring; or
                            (v) supportive housing programs;
                    (C) reduce the number of rearrests, reconvictions, 
                and revocations of people currently on probation and 
                parole and increase the number of successful 
                completions of probation and parole;
                    (D) establish policies and practices that will 
                avert growth in the prison and jail population and, as 
                a result, avert the need to appropriate funds for the 
                construction or operation of a new prison and jail 
                facilities; or
                    (E) establish comparable programs that enhance 
                public safety by strengthening the criminal justice 
                system.
            (4) Performance measurement.--The performance measures 
        described by paragraph (2)(C) shall track key criminal justice 
        trends across agencies and departments to measure the impact of 
        the programs described in paragraph (3), and include the 
        following measurements where applicable:
                    (A) Reduction in rearrest, reconviction, and 
                revocations of people currently on probation and 
                parole.
                    (B) Increases in the number of successful 
                completions of probation and parole.
                    (C) General crime trends.
                    (D) Prison and jail populations.
                    (E) Number of program and treatment slots added to 
                reduce recidivism.
            (5) Applications.--To be eligible to receive a grant under 
        this subsection, an eligible entity shall submit to the 
        Attorney General an application, in such form and manner and at 
        such time as specified by the Attorney General that includes a 
        proposal that describes how the grant will fulfill the 
        objectives required by paragraph (2).
            (6) Priority.--Priority consideration shall be given to 
        applications under this subsection that demonstrate that--
                    (A) the proposed programs will improve public 
                safety and improve individual and system accountability 
                while reducing or maintaining criminal justice growth 
                through policies which ensure that--
                            (i) violent offenders are incarcerated;
                            (ii) nonviolent offenders who pose a 
                        minimal risk of harm to the community are 
                        supervised through effective probation and 
                        parole systems and provided with effective 
                        risk-reduction programs; and
                            (iii) effective diversion and reentry 
                        programs are integrated into a new overall 
                        criminal reinvestment strategy;
                    (B) the proposed programs will have a significant 
                impact on the geographic areas identified by the 
                analysis as having disproportionate numbers of people 
                returning from prison or jail; and
                    (C) data analysis through a Phase 1 grant or 
                similar work has been completed.
    (c) Annual Report.--The Attorney General shall report to the 
Committees on the Judiciary of the Senate and the House of 
Representatives on November 1 of each year concerning the development 
and implementation of grants under this section and strategies 
developed, which shall include information concerning--
            (1) the number and identity of the grantees who have 
        received analyses and program development grants;
            (2) the progress of grantees in conducting analyses and 
        program development;
            (3) the number and identity of the grantees receiving 
        implementation grants;
            (4) the progress of grantees in implementing criminal 
        justice reinvestment strategies; and
            (5) the performance of entities implementing criminal 
        justice reinvestment strategies, including relevant data on--
                    (A) the reduction, if any, in the number of 
                rearrests, reconvictions, and revocations of people 
                currently on probation and parole;
                    (B) the increase, if any, in the number of 
                successful completions of probation and parole;
                    (C) the reduction, if any, in the growth of the 
                prison and jail population;
                    (D) the portion of averted costs that has been or 
                will be reinvested and used to target high-risk 
                communities and individuals to reduce the rate of 
                rearrest, reconviction, and revocation to increase 
                public safety; and
                    (E) the reduction, if any, in rearrest rates by 
                people under the supervision of the criminal justice 
                system.
    (d) Sharing Information.--The Attorney General shall establish an 
information clearinghouse for data collected and for best practices 
developed by eligible grantees developed in carrying out grants under 
this section.
    (e) Administration.--Applications for grants shall be considered on 
a rolling basis and be responded to in a timely fashion in order to 
provide assistance to policymakers facing various budget timelines.
    (f) Authorization of Appropriations.--There are authorized to be 
appropriated $35,000,000 to carry out this section for each of the 
fiscal years 2010 through 2014.
                                 <all>
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