I 
109TH CONGRESS 
1ST SESSION H. R. 3072 
To revive the system of parole for Federal prisoners, and for other purposes. 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
JUNE 27, 2005 
Mr. DAVIS of Illinois introduced the following bill; which was referred to the 
Committee on the Judiciary 
A BILL 
To revive the system of parole for Federal prisoners, and 
for other purposes. 
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-
tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 
SECTION 1. PAROLE. 
Part III of title 18, United States Code, is amended 
by inserting before chapter 313 the following: 
‘‘CHAPTER 312—PAROLE 
‘‘Sec. 
‘‘4201. Definitions. 
‘‘4202. Parole Commission created. 
‘‘4203. Powers and duties of the Commission. 
‘‘4204. Powers and duties of the Chairman. 
‘‘4205. Time of eligibility for release on parole. 
‘‘4206. Parole determination criteria. 
‘‘4207. Information considered. 
‘‘4208. Parole determination proceeding; time. 
‘‘4209. Conditions of parole.
‘‘4210. Jurisdiction of Commission. 
‘‘4211. Early termination of parole. 
‘‘4212. Aliens. 
‘‘4213. Summons to appear or warrant for retaking of parolee. 
‘‘4214. Revocation of parole. 
‘‘4215. Appeal. 
‘‘4216. Applicability of Administrative Procedure Act. 
‘‘§ 4201. Definitions 
‘‘As used in this chapter— 
‘‘(1) the term ‘Commission’ means the United 
States Parole Commission; 
‘‘(2) the term ‘Commissioner’ means any mem-
ber of the United States Parole Commission; 
‘‘(3) the term ‘Director’ means the Director of 
the Bureau of Prisons; 
‘‘(4) the term ‘eligible prisoner’ means any Fed-
eral prisoner who is eligible for parole pursuant to 
this title or any other law, including any Federal 
prisoner whose parole has been revoked and who is 
not otherwise ineligible for parole; 
‘‘(5) the term ‘parolee’ means any eligible pris-
oner who has been released on parole or deemed as 
if released on parole under section 4164 or section 
4205(f); and 
‘‘(6) the term ‘rules’ means rules made by the 
Commission under section 4203. 
‘‘§ 4202. Parole Commission created 
‘‘(a) GENERALLY.—There is hereby established, as 
an independent agency in the Department of Justice, a
United States Parole Commission which shall be com-
prised of nine members appointed by the President, by and 
with the advice and consent of the Senate. The President 
shall designate from among the Commissioners one to 
serve as Chairman. 
‘‘(b) TERM.—The term of office of a Commissioner 
shall be six years, except that the term of a person ap-
pointed as a Commissioner to fill a vacancy shall expire 
six years from the date upon which such person was ap-
pointed and qualified. Upon the expiration of a term of 
office of a Commissioner, the Commissioner shall continue 
to act until a successor has been appointed and qualified, 
except that no Commissioner may serve in excess of twelve 
years. 
‘‘(c) COMPENSATION.—Commissioners shall be com-
pensated at the highest rate now or hereafter prescribed 
for grade 18 of the General Schedule pay rates (5 U.S.C. 
5332). 
‘‘§ 4203. Powers and duties of the Commission 
‘‘(a) ADMINISTRATIVE POWERS.—The Commission 
shall meet at least quarterly, and by majority vote shall— 
‘‘(1) make rules establishing guidelines for the 
powers enumerated in subsection (b) of this section 
and such other rules and regulations as are nec-
essary to carry out a national parole policy and the 
purposes of this chapter; 
‘‘(2) create such regions as are necessary to 
carry out this chapter; and 
‘‘(3) ratify, revise, or deny any request for reg-
ular, supplemental, or deficiency appropriations, 
prior to the submission of the requests to the Office 
of Management and Budget by the Chairman, which 
requests shall be separate from those of any other 
agency of the Department of Justice. 
‘‘(b) SUBSTANTIVE POWERS.—The Commission, by 
majority vote, and pursuant to the procedures set out in 
this chapter, shall have the power to— 
‘‘(1) grant or deny an application or rec-
ommendation to parole any eligible prisoner; 
‘‘(2) impose reasonable conditions on an order 
granting parole; 
‘‘(3) modify or revoke an order paroling any eli-
gible prisoner; and 
‘‘(4) request probation officers and other indi-
viduals, organizations, and public or private agencies 
to perform such duties with respect to any parolee 
as the Commission deems necessary for maintaining 
proper supervision of and assistance to such parol-
ees; and so as to assure that no probation officers,
individuals, organizations, or agencies shall bear ex-
cessive caseloads. 
‘‘(c) DELEGATION.—The Commission, by majority 
vote, and pursuant to rules and regulations— 
‘‘(1) may delegate to any Commissioner or com-
missioners powers enumerated in subsection (b) of 
this section; 
‘‘(2) may delegate to administrative law judges 
any powers necessary to conduct hearings and pro-
ceedings, take sworn testimony, obtain and make a 
record of pertinent information, make findings of 
probable cause and issue subpoenas for witnesses or 
evidence in parole revocation proceedings, and rec-
ommend disposition of any matters enumerated in 
subsection (b) of this section, except that any such 
findings or recommendations shall be based upon the 
concurrence of not less than two hearing examiners; 
‘‘(3) may delegate authority to conduct hear-
ings held pursuant to section 4214 to any officer or 
employee of the executive or judicial branch of Fed-
eral or State government; and 
‘‘(4) may review, or may delegate to the Na-
tional Appeals Board the power to review, any deci-
sion made pursuant to subparagraph (1) of this sub-
section except that any such decision so reviewed
must be reaffirmed, modified or reversed within thir-
ty days of the date the decision is rendered, and, in 
case of such review, the individual to whom the deci-
sion applies shall be informed in writing of the Com-
mission’s actions with respect thereto and the rea-
sons for such actions. 
‘‘(d) QUORUM.—Except as otherwise provided by law, 
any action taken by the Commission pursuant to sub-
section (a) of this section shall be taken by a majority 
vote of all individuals currently holding office as members 
of the Commission which shall maintain and make avail-
able for public inspection a record of the final vote of each 
member on statements of policy and interpretations adopt-
ed by it. In so acting, each Commissioner shall have equal 
responsibility and authority, shall have full access to all 
information relating to the performance of such duties and 
responsibilities, and shall have one vote. 
‘‘(e) COOPERATION WITH STATES.— 
‘‘(1) 
GENERALLY.—The 
Commission 
shall, 
upon the request of the head of any law enforcement 
agency of a State or of a unit of local government 
in a State, make available as expeditiously as pos-
sible to such agency, with respect to individuals who 
are under the jurisdiction of the Commission, who 
have been convicted of felony offenses against the
United States, and who reside, are employed, or are 
supervised in the geographical area in which such 
agency has jurisdiction, the following information 
maintained by the Commission (to the extent that 
the Commission maintains such information)— 
‘‘(A) the names of such individuals; 
‘‘(B) the addresses of such individuals; 
‘‘(C) the dates of birth of such individuals; 
‘‘(D) the Federal Bureau of Investigation 
numbers assigned to such individuals; 
‘‘(E) photographs and fingerprints of such 
individuals; and 
‘‘(F) the nature of the offenses against the 
United States of which each such individual has 
been convicted and the factual circumstances 
relating to such offense. 
‘‘(2) NONDISSEMINATION REQUIREMENT.—Any 
law enforcement agency which receives information 
under this subsection shall not disseminate such in-
formation outside of such agency. 
‘‘§ 4204. Powers and duties of the Chairman 
‘‘(a) GENERALLY.—The Chairman shall— 
‘‘(1) convene and preside at meetings of the 
Commission under section 4203 and such additional 
meetings of the Commission as the Chairman may
call or as may be requested in writing by at least 
three Commissioners; 
‘‘(2) appoint, fix the compensation of, assign, 
and supervise all personnel employed by the Com-
mission except that— 
‘‘(A) the appointment of any administra-
tive law judge shall be subject to approval of 
the Commission within the first year of judge’s 
employment; and 
‘‘(B) regional Commissioners shall appoint 
and supervise such personnel employed regu-
larly and full time in their respective regions as 
are compensated at a rate up to and including 
grade 11 of the General Schedule pay rates (5 
U.S.C. 5332); 
‘‘(3) assign duties among officers and employ-
ees of the Commission, including Commissioners, so 
as to balance the workload and provide for orderly 
administration; 
‘‘(4) direct the preparation of requests for ap-
propriations for the Commission, and the use of 
funds made available to the Commission; 
‘‘(5) designate not fewer than three Commis-
sioners to serve on the National Appeals Board of 
whom one shall be so designated to serve as vice
chairman of the Commission (who shall act as 
Chairman of the Commission in the absence or dis-
ability of the Chairman or in the event of the va-
cancy of the Chairmanship), and designate, for each 
such region established under section 4203, one 
Commissioner to serve as regional Commissioner in 
each such region, but in each such designation the 
Chairman shall consider years of service, personal 
preference and fitness, and no such designation shall 
take effect unless concurred in by the President, or 
his designee; 
‘‘(6) serve as spokesman for the Commission 
and report annually to Congress on the activities of 
the Commission; and 
‘‘(7) exercise such other powers and duties and 
perform such other functions as may be necessary to 
carry out the purposes of this chapter or as may be 
otherwise provided by law. 
‘‘(b) ADMINISTRATIVE
POWERS.—The Chairman 
shall have the power to— 
‘‘(1) without regard to section 3324(a) and (b) 
of title 31, enter into and perform such contracts, 
leases, cooperative agreements, and other trans-
actions as may be necessary in the conduct of the 
functions of the Commission, with any public agen-
cy, or with any person, firm, association, corpora-
tion, educational institution, or nonprofit organiza-
tion; 
‘‘(2) accept voluntary and uncompensated serv-
ices, notwithstanding section 1342 of title 31; 
‘‘(3) procure for the Commission temporary and 
intermittent services under section 3109(b) of title 
5, United States Code; 
‘‘(4) collect systematically the data obtained 
from studies, research, and the empirical experience 
of public and private agencies concerning the parole 
process; 
‘‘(5) carry out programs of research concerning 
the parole process to develop classification systems 
which describe types of offenders, and to develop 
theories and practices which can be applied to the 
different types of offenders; 
‘‘(6) publish data concerning the parole process; 
‘‘(7) devise and conduct, in various geographical 
locations, seminars, workshops and training pro-
grams providing continuing studies and instruction 
for personnel of Federal, State and local agencies 
and private and public organizations working with 
parolees and connected with the parole process; and
‘‘(8) use the services, equipment, personnel, in-
formation, facilities, and instrumentalities with or 
without reimbursement therefor of other Federal, 
State, local, and private agencies with their consent. 
‘‘(c) POLICIES TO BE FOLLOWED.—In carrying out 
his functions under this section, the Chairman shall be 
governed by the national parole policies promulgated by 
the Commission. 
‘‘§ 4205. Time of eligibility for release on parole 
‘‘(a) GENERALLY.—Whenever confined and serving a 
definite term or terms of one year or more, a prisoner 
shall be eligible for release on parole after serving one- 
third of such term or terms or after serving ten years of 
a life sentence or of a sentence of over 25 years notwith-
standing any other statute to the contrary. A prisoner con-
victed under the law of the District of Columbia shall be 
subject to the guidelines used by the former District of 
Columbia board of parole. 
‘‘(b) COURTS’ POWER AT TIME OF SENTENCING.— 
Upon entering a judgment of conviction, the court having 
jurisdiction to impose sentence, when in its opinion the 
ends of justice and best interest of the public require that 
the defendant be sentenced to imprisonment for a term 
exceeding one year, may—
‘‘(1) designate in the sentence of imprisonment 
imposed a minimum term at the expiration of which 
the prisoner shall become eligible for parole, which 
term may be less than but shall not be more than 
ten years; or 
‘‘(2) fix the maximum sentence of imprisonment 
to be served in which event the court may specify 
that the prisoner may be released on parole at such 
time as the Commission may determine. 
‘‘(c) INFORMATION FOR COURT.— 
‘‘(1) COMMITMENT FOR STUDY.—If the court 
desires more detailed information as a basis for de-
termining the sentence to be imposed, the court may 
commit the defendant to the custody of the Attorney 
General, which commitment shall be deemed to be 
for the maximum sentence of imprisonment pre-
scribed by law, for a study as described in subsection 
(d). 
‘‘(2) REPORT TO COURT.—The results of such 
study, together with any recommendations which the 
Director of the Bureau of Prisons believes would be 
helpful in determining the disposition of the case, 
shall be furnished to the court within three months 
unless the court grants time, not to exceed an addi-
tional three months, for further study.