By virtue of the Interstate Agreement on Detainers Act, Pub. The Agreement applies to transfers of sentenced prisoners for unrelated trials between two States, and to transfers from the Federal Government to the States, and from the States to the Federal Government. It does not apply to transfers of Federal prisoners between the several judicial districts for trial on Federal charges.
Article V provides a detailed procedure for obtaining temporary custody.
Prosecution on other charges upon which detainers have not been lodged is not authorized by the Agreement unless they arise from the same transaction. Whether trial of the latter is compulsory is not clear. The several Federal districts have been treated as separate States in this context. Other charges may not be prosecuted at the same time unless they arise from the same transaction. Again, whether trial of the latter is compulsory or only permissible is not clear.