I 
108TH CONGRESS 
1ST SESSION H. R. 1994
To ensure that the incarceration of inmates is not provided by private contrac-
tors 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 6, 2003
Mr. STRICKLAND (for himself, Mr. HOLDEN, Mr. WAXMAN, Mr. CUMMINGS, 
Ms. BALDWIN, Mr. MCNULTY, Mr. HOEFFEL, Mr. PALLONE, Mr. RYAN 
of Ohio, Mr. SCOTT of Georgia, Mr. LEWIS of Georgia, and Mr. BROWN 
of Ohio) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Com-
mittee 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 main-
tained by Federal, State, or local governments.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-
tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled,
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 
This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Public Safety Act’’. 
SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 
The Congress finds the following:
(1) The issues of safety, liability, accountability, 
and cost are the paramount issues in running cor-
rections facilities. 
(2) In recent years, the privatization of facili-
ties for persons previously incarcerated by govern-
mental entities has resulted in frequent escapes by 
violent criminals, riots resulting in extensive dam-
age, prisoner violence, and incidents of prisoner 
abuse by staff. 
(3) In some instances, the courts have prohib-
ited the transfer of additional convicts to private 
prisons because of the danger to prisoners and the 
community. 
(4) Frequent escapes and riots at private facili-
ties result in expensive law enforcement costs for 
State and local governments. 
(5) The need to make profits creates incentives 
for private contractors to underfund mechanisms 
that provide for the security of the facility and the 
safety of the inmates, corrections staff, and neigh-
boring community. 
(6) The 1997 Supreme Court ruling in Richard-
son v. McKnight that the qualified immunity that 
shields State and local correctional officers does not 
apply to private prison personnel, and therefore ex-
poses State and local governments to liability for the 
actions of private corporations. 
(7) Additional liability issues arise when in-
mates are transferred outside the jurisdiction of the 
contracting State. 
(8) Studies on private correctional facilities 
have been unable to demonstrate any significant cost 
savings in the privatization of corrections facilities. 
(9) The imposition of punishment on errant 
citizens through incarceration requires State and 
local governments to exercise their coercive police 
powers over individuals. These powers, including the 
authority to use force over a private citizen, should 
not be delegated to another private party. 
SEC. 3. PROHIBITION ON USE OF FEDERAL FUNDS. 
(a) IN GENERAL.—Funds provided by the Federal 
Government to a State or local government for the pur-
pose of providing core correctional services may not be 
used to contract with private contractors or vendors to 
provide such activities. 
(b) DEFINITION.—For purposes of this section, the 
term ‘‘core correctional services’’ means the housing, safe-
guarding, protecting, and disciplining of persons charged 
or convicted of an offense.
SEC. 4. ENHANCING PUBLIC SAFETY AND SECURITY IN THE 
DUTIES OF THE BUREAU OF PRISONS. 
Section 4042(a) of title 18, United States Code, is 
amended—
(1) by redesignating paragraph (5) as para-
graph (7); 
(2) by striking ‘‘and’’ at the end of paragraph 
(4); and 
(3) by inserting after paragraph (4) the fol-
lowing: 
‘‘(5) provide that any penal or correctional fa-
cility or institution except for nonprofit community 
correctional confinement, such as halfway houses, 
confining any person convicted of offenses against 
the United States, shall be under the direction of the 
Director of the Bureau of Prisons and shall be man-
aged and maintained by employees of Federal, State, 
or local governments; 
‘‘(6) provide that the housing, safeguarding, 
protection, and disciplining of any person charged 
with or convicted of any offense against the United 
States, except such persons in community correc-
tional confinement such as halfway houses, will be 
conducted and carried out by individuals who are
employees of Federal, State, or local governments; 
and’’.
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