II 

114TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. 449 

To reduce recidivism and increase public safety. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

FEBRUARY 11, 2015 

Mr. PORTMAN introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred 

to the Committee on the Judiciary 

A BILL 

To reduce recidivism 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. PROMOTING SUCCESSFUL REENTRY. 

4 (a) FEDERAL REENTRY DEMONSTRATION

5 PROJECTS.— 

6 (1) EVALUATION OF EXISTING BEST PRACTICES

7 FOR REENTRY.—Not later than 2 years after the 

8 date of enactment of this Act, the Attorney General, 

9 in consultation with the Administrative Office of the 

10 United States Courts, shall— 

11 (A) evaluate best practices used for the re12 entry into society of individuals released from 


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1 the custody of the Bureau of Prisons, includ2 ing— 

3 (i) conducting examinations of reentry 

4 practices in State and local justice sys5 tems; and 

6 (ii) consulting with Federal, State, 

7 and local prosecutors, Federal, State, and 

8 local public defenders, nonprofit organiza9 tions that provide reentry services, and 

10 criminal justice experts; and 

11 (B) submit to the Committee on the Judi12 ciary of the Senate and the Committee on the 

13 Judiciary of the House of Representatives a re14 port that details the evaluation conducted under 

15 subparagraph (A). 

16 (2) CREATION OF REENTRY DEMONSTRATION

17 PROJECTS.—Not later than 3 years after the date of 

18 enactment of this Act, the Attorney General, in con19 sultation with the Administrative Office of the 

20 United States Courts, shall, subject to the avail21 ability of appropriations, select an appropriate num22 ber of Federal judicial districts to conduct Federal 

23 reentry demonstration projects using the best prac24 tices identified in the evaluation conducted under 

25 paragraph (1). The Attorney General shall deterVerDate Sep 11 2014 23:27 Feb 18, 2015 Jkt 049200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S449.IS S449

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1 mine the appropriate number of Federal judicial dis2 tricts to conduct demonstration projects under this 

3 paragraph. 

4 (3) PROJECT DESIGN.—For each Federal judi5 cial district selected under paragraph (2), the United 

6 States Attorney, in consultation with the Chief 

7 Judge, the Chief Federal Defender, the Chief Proba8 tion Officer, the Bureau of Justice Assistance, the 

9 National Institute of Justice, and criminal justice 

10 experts, shall design a Federal reentry demonstra11 tion project for the Federal judicial district in ac12 cordance with paragraph (4). 

13 (4) PROJECT ELEMENTS.—A project designed 

14 under paragraph (3) shall coordinate efforts by Fed15 eral agencies to assist participating prisoners in pre16 paring for and adjusting to reentry into the commu17 nity and may include, as appropriate— 

18 (A) the use of community correctional fa19 cilities and home confinement, as determined to 

20 be appropriate by the Bureau of Prisons; 

21 (B) a reentry review team for each pris22 oner to develop a reentry plan specific to the 

23 needs of the prisoner, and to meet with the 

24 prisoner following transfer to monitor the re25 entry plan; 


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1 (C) steps to assist the prisoner in obtain2 ing health care, housing, and employment, be3 fore the prisoner’s release from a community 

4 correctional facility or home confinement; 

5 (D) regular drug testing for participants 

6 with a history of substance abuse; 

7 (E) substance abuse treatment, which may 

8 include addiction treatment medication, if ap9 propriate, medical treatment, including mental 

10 health treatment, occupational, vocational and 

11 educational training, life skills instruction, re12 covery support, conflict resolution training, and 

13 other programming to promote effective re14 integration into the community; 

15 (F) the participation of volunteers to serve 

16 as advisors and mentors to prisoners being re17 leased into the community; 

18 (G) steps to ensure that the prisoner 

19 makes satisfactory progress toward satisfying 

20 any obligations to victims of the prisoner’s of21 fense, including any obligation to pay restitu22 tion; and 

23 (H) the appointment of a reentry coordi24 nator in the United States Attorney’s Office. 


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1 (5) REVIEW OF PROJECT OUTCOMES.—Not 

2 later than 5 years after the date of enactment of 

3 this Act, the Administrative Office of the United 

4 States Courts, in consultation with the Attorney 

5 General, shall— 

6 (A) evaluate the results from each Federal 

7 judicial district selected under paragraph (2), 

8 including the extent to which participating pris9 oners released from the custody of the Bureau 

10 of Prisons were successfully reintegrated into 

11 their communities, including whether the par12 ticipating prisoners maintained employment, 

13 and refrained from committing further offenses; 

14 and 

15 (B) submit to the Committee on the Judi16 ciary of the Senate and the Committee on the 

17 Judiciary of the House of Representatives a re18 port that contains— 

19 (i) the evaluation of the best practices 

20 identified in the report required under 

21 paragraph (1); and 

22 (ii) the results of the demonstration 

23 projects required under paragraph (2). 

24 (b) STUDY ON THE IMPACT OF REENTRY ON CER25 TAIN COMMUNITIES.— 


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1 (1) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 2 years after 

2 the date of enactment of this Act, the Attorney Gen3 eral, in consultation with the Administrative Office 

4 of the United States Courts, shall submit to the 

5 Committee on the Judiciary of the Senate and the 

6 Committee on the Judiciary of the House of Rep7 resentatives a report on the impact of reentry of 

8 prisoners on communities in which a dispropor9 tionate number of individuals reside upon release 

10 from incarceration. 

11 (2) CONTENTS.—The report required under 

12 paragraph (1) shall analyze the impact of reentry of 

13 individuals released from both State and Federal 

14 correctional systems as well as State and Federal ju15 venile justice systems, and shall include— 

16 (A) an assessment of the reentry burdens 

17 borne by local communities; 

18 (B) a review of the resources available in 

19 such communities to support successful reentry, 

20 including resources provided by the Federal 

21 Government and State and local governments, 

22 and the extent to which those resources are 

23 used effectively; and 

24 (C) recommendations to strengthen the re25 sources in such communities available to supVerDate Sep 11 2014 23:27 Feb 18, 2015 Jkt 049200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S449.IS S449

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1 port successful reentry and to lessen the burden 

2 placed on such communities by the need to sup3 port reentry. 

4 SEC. 2. ADDITIONAL TOOLS TO PROMOTE RECOVERY AND 

5 PREVENT DRUG AND ALCOHOL ABUSE AND 

6 DEPENDENCE. 

7 (a) REENTRY AND RECOVERY PLANNING.— 

8 (1) PRESENTENCE REPORTS.—Section 3552 of 

9 title 18, United States Code, is amended— 

10 (A) by redesignating subsections (b), (c), 

11 and (d) as subsections (c), (d), and (e), respec12 tively; 

13 (B) by inserting after subsection (a) the 

14 following: 

15 ‘‘(b) REENTRY AND RECOVERY PLANNING.— 

16 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—In addition to the informa17 tion required by rule 32(d) of the Federal Rules of 

18 Criminal Procedure, the report submitted pursuant 

19 to subsection (a) shall contain the following informa20 tion, unless such information is required to be ex21 cluded pursuant to rule 32(d)(3) of the Federal 

22 Rules of Criminal Procedure or except as provided 

23 in paragraph (2): 


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1 ‘‘(A) Information about the defendant’s 

2 history of substance abuse and addiction, if ap3 plicable. 

4 ‘‘(B) Information about the defendant’s 

5 service in the Armed Forces of the United 

6 States and veteran status, if applicable. 

7 ‘‘(C) A detailed plan, which shall include 

8 the identification of programming provided by 

9 the Bureau of Prisons that is appropriate for 

10 the defendant’s needs, that the probation officer 

11 determines will— 

12 ‘‘(i) reduce the likelihood the defend13 ant will abuse drugs or alcohol if the de14 fendant has a history of substance abuse; 

15 ‘‘(ii) reduce the defendant’s likelihood 

16 of recidivism by addressing the defendant’s 

17 specific recidivism risk factors; and 

18 ‘‘(iii) assist the defendant preparing 

19 for reentry into the community. 

20 ‘‘(2) EXCEPTIONS.—The information described 

21 in paragraph (1)(C)(iii) shall not be required to be 

22 included under paragraph (1), in the discretion of 

23 the Probation Officer, if the applicable sentencing 

24 range under the sentencing guidelines, as deterVerDate Sep 11 2014 23:27 Feb 18, 2015 Jkt 049200 PO 00000 Frm 00008 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S449.IS S449

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1 mined by the probation officer, includes a sentence 

2 of life imprisonment or a sentence of probation.’’; 

3 (C) in subsection (c), as redesignated, in 

4 the first sentence, by striking ‘‘subsection (a) or 

5 (c)’’ and inserting ‘‘subsection (a) or (d)’’; and 

6 (D) in subsection (d), as redesignated, by 

7 striking ‘‘subsection (a) or (b)’’ and inserting 

8 ‘‘subsection (a) or (c)’’. 

9 (2) TECHNICAL AND CONFORMING AMEND10 MENT.—Section 3672 of title 18, United States 

11 Code, is amended in the eighth undesignated para12 graph by striking ‘‘subsection (b) or (c)’’ and insert13 ing ‘‘subsection (c) or (d)’’. 

14 (b) SUPERVISED RELEASE PILOT PROGRAM TO RE15 DUCE RECIDIVISM AND IMPROVE RECOVERY FROM ALCO16 HOL AND DRUG ABUSE.— 

17 (1) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 2 years after 

18 the date of enactment of this Act, the Administrative 

19 Office of the United States Courts shall establish a 

20 recidivism reduction and recovery enhancement pilot 

21 program, premised on high-intensity supervision and 

22 the use of swift, predictable, and graduated sanc23 tions for noncompliance with program rules, in Fed24 eral judicial districts selected by the Administrative 


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1 Office of the United States Courts in consultation 

2 with the Attorney General. 

3 (2) REQUIREMENTS OF PROGRAM.—Participa4 tion in the pilot program required under paragraph 

5 (1) shall be subject to the following requirements: 

6 (A) Upon entry into the pilot program, the 

7 court shall notify program participants of the 

8 rules of the program and consequences for vio9 lating such rules, including the penalties to be 

10 imposed as a result of such violations pursuant 

11 to subparagraph (E). 

12 (B) Probation officers shall conduct reg13 ular drug testing of all pilot program partici14 pants with a history of substance abuse. 

15 (C) In the event that a probation officer 

16 determines that a participant has violated a 

17 term of supervised release, the officer shall no18 tify the court within 24 hours of such deter19 mination, absent good cause. 

20 (D) As soon as is practicable, and in no 

21 case more than 1 week after the violation was 

22 reported by the probation officer, absent good 

23 cause, the court shall conduct a hearing on the 

24 alleged violation. 


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1 (E) If the court determines that a program 

2 participant has violated a term of supervised re3 lease, it shall impose an appropriate sanction, 

4 which may include the following, if appropriate: 

5 (i) Modification of the terms of such 

6 participant’s supervised release, which may 

7 include imposition of a period of home con8 finement. 

9 (ii) Referral to appropriate substance 

10 abuse treatment. 

11 (iii) Revocation of the defendant’s su12 pervised release and the imposition of a 

13 sentence of incarceration that is no longer 

14 than necessary to punish the participant 

15 for such violation and deter the participant 

16 from committing future violations. 

17 (iv) For participants who habitually 

18 fail to abide by program rules or pose a 

19 threat to public safety, termination from 

20 the program. 

21 (3) STATUS OF PARTICIPANT IF INCARCER22 ATED.— 

23 (A) IN GENERAL.—In the event that a pro24 gram participant is sentenced to incarceration 

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1 ticipant shall remain in the program upon re2 lease from incarceration unless terminated from 

3 the program in accordance with paragraph 

4 (2)(E)(iv). 

5 (B) POLICIES FOR MAINTAINING EMPLOY6 MENT.—The Bureau of Prisons, in consultation 

7 with the Chief Probation Officers of the Federal 

8 judicial districts selected for participation in the 

9 pilot program required under paragraph (1), 

10 shall develop policies to enable program partici11 pants sentenced to terms of incarceration as de12 scribed in paragraph (2)(E)(iii) to, where prac13 ticable, serve the terms of incarceration while 

14 maintaining employment, including allowing the 

15 terms of incarceration to be served on week16 ends. 

17 (4) ADVISORY SENTENCING POLICIES.— 

18 (A) IN GENERAL.—The United States Sen19 tencing Commission, in consultation with the 

20 Chief Probation Officers, United States Attor21 neys, Federal Defenders, and Chief Judges of 

22 the districts selected for participation in the 

23 pilot program required under paragraph (1), 

24 shall establish advisory sentencing policies to be 

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1 tences of incarceration in accordance with para2 graph (2)(E)(iii). 

3 (B) REQUIREMENT.—The advisory sen4 tencing policies established under subparagraph 

5 (A) shall be consistent with the stated goal of 

6 the pilot program to impose predictable and 

7 graduated sentences that are no longer than 

8 necessary for violations of program rules. 

9 (5) DURATION OF PROGRAM.—The pilot pro10 gram required under paragraph (1) shall continue 

11 for not less than 5 years and may be extended for 

12 not more than 5 years by the Administrative Office 

13 of the United States Courts. 

14 (6) ASSESSMENT OF PROGRAM OUTCOMES AND

15 REPORT TO CONGRESS.— 

16 (A) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 6 years 

17 after the date of enactment of this Act, the Ad18 ministrative Office of the United States Courts 

19 shall conduct an evaluation of the pilot program 

20 and submit to Congress a report on the results 

21 of the evaluation. 

22 (B) CONTENTS.—The report required 

23 under subparagraph (A) shall include— 

24 (i) the rates of substance abuse 

25 among program participants; 


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1 (ii) the rates of violations of the terms 

2 of supervised release by program partici3 pants, and sanctions imposed; 

4 (iii) information about employment of 

5 program participants; 

6 (iv) a comparison of outcomes among 

7 program participants with outcomes among 

8 similarly situated individuals under the su9 pervision of United States Probation and 

10 Pretrial Services not participating in the 

11 program; and 

12 (v) an assessment of the effectiveness 

13 of each of the relevant features of the pro14 gram. 

Æ 


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