Title 18Crimes and Criminal ProcedureRelease 119-73

§3152 Establishment of pretrial services

Title 18 › Part PART II— - CRIMINAL PROCEDURE › Chapter CHAPTER 207— - RELEASE AND DETENTION PENDING JUDICIAL PROCEEDINGS › § 3152

Last updated Apr 6, 2026|Official source

Summary

The Director of the Administrative Office of the U.S. Courts must set up pretrial services in every federal judicial district except the District of Columbia. The Director does this under the Judicial Conference’s oversight and may run the services directly or hire others to do it, as money from Congress allows. Each district’s program will be run either by the chief probation officer (appointed under section 3654) or by a chief pretrial services officer chosen as described next. Starting eighteen months after the Pretrial Services Act of 1982 took effect, if a district court and the circuit judicial council both ask for pretrial services in a district, the Administrative Office must establish them. The district court will appoint the chief pretrial services officer for those programs, and that person cannot be someone already serving under authority of section 3602.

Full Legal Text

Title 18, §3152

Crimes and Criminal Procedure — Source: USLM XML via OLRC

(a)On and after the date of the enactment of the Pretrial Services Act of 1982, the Director of the Administrative Office of the United States Courts (hereinafter in this chapter referred to as the “Director”) shall, under the supervision and direction of the Judicial Conference of the United States, provide directly, or by contract or otherwise (to such extent and in such amounts as are provided in appropriation Acts), for the establishment of pretrial services in each judicial district (other than the District of Columbia). Pretrial services established under this section shall be supervised by a chief probation officer appointed under section 3654 of this title or by a chief pretrial services officer selected under subsection (c) of this section.
(b)Beginning eighteen months after the date of the enactment of the Pretrial Services Act of 1982, if an appropriate United States district court and the circuit judicial council jointly recommend the establishment under this subsection of pretrial services in a particular district, pretrial services shall be established under the general authority of the Administrative Office of the United States Courts.
(c)The pretrial services established under subsection (b) of this section shall be supervised by a chief pretrial services officer appointed by the district court. The chief pretrial services officer appointed under this subsection shall be an individual other than one serving under authority of section 3602 of this title.

Legislative History

Notes & Related Subsidiaries

Editorial Notes

References in Text

The date of enactment of the Pretrial Services Act of 1982, referred to in subsecs. (a) and (b), is the date of enactment of Pub. L. 97–267, which was approved Sept. 27, 1982.

Prior Provisions

A prior section 3152, as added by Pub. L. 89–465, § 3(a), June 22, 1966, 80 Stat. 216, defined the terms “judicial officer” and “offense”, prior to repeal by Pub. L. 93–619, § 201. See section 3156 of this title.

Amendments

2008—Subsec. (c). Pub. L. 110–406 added subsec. (c) and struck out former subsec. (c) which related to supervision of pretrial services. 1982—Pub. L. 97–267 struck out “agencies” after “services” in section catchline, divided previously unlettered text provisions into subsecs. (a), (b), and (c), and substituted revised provisions as so redesignated for provisions which required the Director of the Administrative Office of the United States Courts to establish, on a demonstration basis, in each of ten representative judicial districts (other than the District of Columbia), a pretrial services agency authorized to maintain effective supervision and control over, and to provide supportive services to, defendants released under this chapter such districts to be designated by the Chief Justice of the United States after consultation with the Attorney General, on the basis of such considerations as the number of criminal cases prosecuted annually in the district, the percentage of defendants in the district presently detained prior to trial, the incidence of crime charged against persons released pending trial under this chapter, and the availability of community resources to implement the conditions of release which may be imposed under this chapter.

Statutory Notes and Related Subsidiaries

Authorization of Appropriations Pub. L. 97–267, § 9, Sept. 27, 1982, 96 Stat. 1139, provided that: “(a) There are authorized to be appropriated, for the fiscal year ending
September 30, 1984, and each succeeding fiscal year thereafter, such sums as may be necessary to carry out the functions and powers of pretrial services established under section 3152(b) of title 18, United States Code. “(b) There are authorized to be appropriated for the fiscal year ending
September 30, 1983, and the fiscal year ending
September 30, 1984, such sums as may be necessary to carry out the functions and powers of the pretrial services agencies established under section 3152 of title 18 of the United States Code in effect before the date of enactment of this Act [Sept. 27, 1982].” Status of Pretrial Services Agencies in Effect Prior to
September 27, 1982 Pub. L. 97–267, § 8, Sept. 27, 1982, 96 Stat. 1139, provided that: “During the period beginning on the date of enactment of this Act [Sept. 27, 1982] and ending eighteen months after the date of the enactment of this Act, the pretrial services agencies established under section 3152 of title 18 of the United States Code in effect before the date of enactment of this Act may continue to operate, employ staff, provide pretrial services, and perform such functions and powers as are authorized under chapter 207 of title 18 of the United States Code [this chapter].”

Reference

Citations & Metadata

Citation

18 U.S.C. § 3152

Title 18Crimes and Criminal Procedure

Last Updated

Apr 6, 2026

Release point: 119-73