Title 18Crimes and Criminal ProcedureRelease 119-73

§3634 Report

Title 18 › Part PART II— - CRIMINAL PROCEDURE › Chapter CHAPTER 229— - POSTSENTENCE ADMINISTRATION › Subchapter SUBCHAPTER D— - RISK AND NEEDS ASSESSMENT SYSTEM › § 3634

Last updated Apr 6, 2026|Official source

Summary

The Attorney General must send a report to Congress starting two years after this law is passed, and then once a year for five years. The reports go to the Senate and House Judiciary Committees and to the Appropriations subcommittees on Commerce, Justice, Science, and Related Agencies. Each report must describe what the Attorney General has done and evaluate the prison programs. It must review which evidence-based recidivism-reduction programs work, how many people can join each program at each prison (including each prisoner’s recidivism risk), and any gaps in program capacity. The report must show recidivism rates for people released from Federal prison broken down by primary offense, sentence length, facility, programs and productive activities completed, and assessed risk. It must report on prison work programs, including a plan to expand them without taking jobs from workers outside prison, an assessment of how to reach a goal that, five years after enactment, at least 75 percent of eligible minimum- and low-risk offenders can work at least 20 hours per week, and any legal changes needed. The Attorney General must assess compliance with section 3621(h), note savings from transfers into prerelease custody under section 3624(g) and from reduced recidivism, explain how savings can be reinvested (including support for law enforcement, HIDTA and task forces, hiring and training officers and prosecutors, and more recidivism programs), and give statistics on dyslexia in prisoners and any change in dyslexia treatment effectiveness after screening was added.

Full Legal Text

Title 18, §3634

Crimes and Criminal Procedure — Source: USLM XML via OLRC

Beginning on the date that is 2 years after the date of enactment of this subchapter, and annually thereafter for a period of 5 years, the Attorney General shall submit a report to the Committees on the Judiciary of the Senate and the House of Representatives and the Subcommittees on Commerce, Justice, Science, and Related Agencies of the Committees on Appropriations of the Senate and the House of Representatives that contains the following:
(1)A summary of the activities and accomplishments of the Attorney General in carrying out this Act.
(2)A summary and assessment of the types and effectiveness of the evidence-based recidivism reduction programs and productive activities in prisons operated by the Bureau of Prisons, including—
(A)evidence about which programs have been shown to reduce recidivism;
(B)the capacity of each program and activity at each prison, including the number of prisoners along with the recidivism risk of each prisoner enrolled in each program; and
(C)identification of any gaps or shortages in capacity of such programs and activities.
(3)Rates of recidivism among individuals who have been released from Federal prison, based on the following criteria:
(A)The primary offense of conviction.
(B)The length of the sentence imposed and served.
(C)The Bureau of Prisons facility or facilities in which the prisoner’s sentence was served.
(D)The evidence-based recidivism reduction programming that the prisoner successfully completed, if any.
(E)The prisoner’s assessed and reassessed risk of recidivism.
(F)The productive activities that the prisoner successfully completed, if any.
(4)The status of prison work programs at facilities operated by the Bureau of Prisons, including—
(A)a strategy to expand the availability of such programs without reducing job opportunities for workers in the United States who are not in the custody of the Bureau of Prisons, including the feasibility of prisoners manufacturing products purchased by Federal agencies that are manufactured overseas;
(B)an assessment of the feasibility of expanding such programs, consistent with the strategy required under subparagraph (A), with the goal that 5 years after the date of enactment of this subchapter, not less than 75 percent of eligible minimum- and low-risk offenders have the opportunity to participate in a prison work program for not less than 20 hours per week; and
(C)a detailed discussion of legal authorities that would be useful or necessary to achieve the goals described in subparagraphs (A) and (B).
(5)An assessment of the Bureau of Prisons’ compliance with section 3621(h).
(6)An assessment of progress made toward carrying out the purposes of this subchapter, including any savings associated with—
(A)the transfer of prisoners into prerelease custody or supervised release under section 3624(g), including savings resulting from the avoidance or deferral of future construction, acquisition, and operations costs; and
(B)any decrease in recidivism that may be attributed to the System or the increase in evidence-based recidivism reduction programs required under this subchapter.
(7)An assessment of budgetary savings resulting from this subchapter, including—
(A)a summary of the amount of savings resulting from the transfer of prisoners into prerelease custody under this chapter, including savings resulting from the avoidance or deferral of future construction, acquisition, or operations costs;
(B)a summary of the amount of savings resulting from any decrease in recidivism that may be attributed to the implementation of the risk and needs assessment system or the increase in recidivism reduction programs and productive activities required by this subchapter;
(C)a strategy to reinvest the savings described in subparagraphs (A) and (B) in other—
(i)Federal, State, and local law enforcement activities; and
(ii)expansions of recidivism reduction programs and productive activities in the Bureau of Prisons; and
(D)a description of how the reduced expenditures on Federal corrections and the budgetary savings resulting from this subchapter are currently being used and will be used to—
(i)increase investment in law enforcement and crime prevention to combat gangs of national significance and high-level drug traffickers through the High Intensity Drug Trafficking Areas Program and other task forces;
(ii)hire, train, and equip law enforcement officers and prosecutors; and
(iii)promote crime reduction programs using evidence-based practices and strategic planning to help reduce crime and criminal recidivism.
(8)Statistics on—
(A)the prevalence of dyslexia among prisoners in prisons operated by the Bureau of Prisons; and
(B)any change in the effectiveness of dyslexia mitigation programs among such prisoners that may be attributed to the incorporation of dyslexia screening into the System and of dyslexia treatment into the evidence-based recidivism reduction programs, as required under this chapter.

Legislative History

Notes & Related Subsidiaries

Editorial Notes

References in Text

The date of enactment of this subchapter, referred to in text, is the date of enactment of Pub. L. 115–391, which was approved Dec. 21, 2018. This Act, referred to in par. (1), is Pub. L. 115–391, Dec. 21, 2018, 132 Stat. 5194, known as the First Step Act of 2018. For complete classification of this Act to the Code, see

Short Title

of 2018 Amendment note under section 1 of this title and Tables.

Reference

Citations & Metadata

Citation

18 U.S.C. § 3634

Title 18Crimes and Criminal Procedure

Last Updated

Apr 6, 2026

Release point: 119-73