§4047 Prison impact assessments

Summary

Any bill or legislative proposal sent by the Judicial or Executive branch that might change how many people are held in Federal prisons must include a prison impact statement. The Attorney General, working with the United States Sentencing Commission and the Administrative Office of the United States Courts, must make and give prison impact assessments when Congress asks, and must do so within 21 days for pending bills. Each assessment must cover projected prison, probation, and post‑prison supervision populations; the federal cost, including construction and operation, for the current fiscal year and the 5 succeeding fiscal years; other major cost or system effects; and the methods and assumptions used. By March 1 each year the Attorney General must send Congress a yearly assessment showing the total effect of law changes that took effect in the previous calendar year.