Title 18Crimes and Criminal ProcedureRelease 119-73

§4248 Civil commitment of a sexually dangerous person

Title 18 › Part PART III— - PRISONS AND PRISONERS › Chapter CHAPTER 313— - OFFENDERS WITH MENTAL DISEASE OR DEFECT › § 4248

Last updated Apr 6, 2026|Official source

Summary

Allows the Attorney General or certain federal prison officials to ask a court to keep someone in custody by saying the person is "sexually dangerous." The official files a certificate with the court where the person is confined. The court must notify the person and the government lawyer, and it must hold a hearing. The court can order mental exams and reports before the hearing. If the court finds by clear and convincing evidence that the person is sexually dangerous, the court must commit the person to the Attorney General. The Attorney General must try to transfer the person to the state where the person lives or was tried if that state will take responsibility. If no state will take responsibility, the Attorney General must place the person in a suitable federal treatment facility until a state accepts responsibility or the person is no longer sexually dangerous or can be safely released under a prescribed treatment plan. If the facility director decides the person is no longer sexually dangerous or can be safe with a treatment program, the director must file a certificate with the court and notify the parties. The court will either order discharge or hold a hearing. At that hearing, if the court finds by a preponderance of the evidence the person is not dangerous unconditionally, the person is discharged. If the court finds the person is safe only with a treatment plan, the court may order conditional release under a treatment regimen that the facility director certifies and the court approves, and the person must follow it. If the person fails to follow the regimen, the facility director must tell the Attorney General and the court; the person may be arrested and, after a hearing, returned to a facility. If a person’s criminal charges were dismissed for reasons not related to mental condition and the facility director certifies the person as sexually dangerous, the Attorney General must turn the person over to the appropriate state for civil commitment proceedings, or release the person if the state will not take responsibility, but not later than 10 days after the director’s certification.

Full Legal Text

Title 18, §4248

Crimes and Criminal Procedure — Source: USLM XML via OLRC

(a)In relation to a person who is in the custody of the Bureau of Prisons, or who has been committed to the custody of the Attorney General pursuant to section 4241(d), or against whom all criminal charges have been dismissed solely for reasons relating to the mental condition of the person, the Attorney General or any individual authorized by the Attorney General or the Director of the Bureau of Prisons may certify that the person is a sexually dangerous person, and transmit the certificate to the clerk of the court for the district in which the person is confined. The clerk shall send a copy of the certificate to the person, and to the attorney for the Government, and, if the person was committed pursuant to section 4241(d), to the clerk of the court that ordered the commitment. The court shall order a hearing to determine whether the person is a sexually dangerous person. A certificate filed under this subsection shall stay the release of the person pending completion of procedures contained in this section.
(b)Prior to the date of the hearing, the court may order that a psychiatric or psychological examination of the defendant be conducted, and that a psychiatric or psychological report be filed with the court, pursuant to the provisions of section 4247(b) and (c).
(c)The hearing shall be conducted pursuant to the provisions of section 4247(d).
(d)If, after the hearing, the court finds by clear and convincing evidence that the person is a sexually dangerous person, the court shall commit the person to the custody of the Attorney General. The Attorney General shall release the person to the appropriate official of the State in which the person is domiciled or was tried if such State will assume responsibility for his custody, care, and treatment. The Attorney General shall make all reasonable efforts to cause such a State to assume such responsibility. If, notwithstanding such efforts, neither such State will assume such responsibility, the Attorney General shall place the person for treatment in a suitable facility, until—
(1)such a State will assume such responsibility; or
(2)the person’s condition is such that he is no longer sexually dangerous to others, or will not be sexually dangerous to others if released under a prescribed regimen of medical, psychiatric, or psychological care or treatment;
(e)When the Director of the facility in which a person is placed pursuant to subsection (d) determines that the person’s condition is such that he is no longer sexually dangerous to others, or will not be sexually dangerous to others if released under a prescribed regimen of medical, psychiatric, or psychological care or treatment, he shall promptly file a certificate to that effect with the clerk of the court that ordered the commitment. The clerk shall send a copy of the certificate to the person’s counsel and to the attorney for the Government. The court shall order the discharge of the person or, on motion of the attorney for the Government or on its own motion, shall hold a hearing, conducted pursuant to the provisions of section 4247(d), to determine whether he should be released. If, after the hearing, the court finds by a preponderance of the evidence that the person’s condition is such that—
(1)he will not be sexually dangerous to others if released unconditionally, the court shall order that he be immediately discharged; or
(2)he will not be sexually dangerous to others if released under a prescribed regimen of medical, psychiatric, or psychological care or treatment, the court shall—
(A)order that he be conditionally discharged under a prescribed regimen of medical, psychiatric, or psychological care or treatment that has been prepared for him, that has been certified to the court as appropriate by the Director of the facility in which he is committed, and that has been found by the court to be appropriate; and
(B)order, as an explicit condition of release, that he comply with the prescribed regimen of medical, psychiatric, or psychological care or treatment.
(f)The director of a facility responsible for administering a regimen imposed on a person conditionally discharged under subsection (e) shall notify the Attorney General and the court having jurisdiction over the person of any failure of the person to comply with the regimen. Upon such notice, or upon other probable cause to believe that the person has failed to comply with the prescribed regimen of medical, psychiatric, or psychological care or treatment, the person may be arrested, and, upon arrest, shall be taken without unnecessary delay before the court having jurisdiction over him. The court shall, after a hearing, determine whether the person should be remanded to a suitable facility on the ground that he is sexually dangerous to others in light of his failure to comply with the prescribed regimen of medical, psychiatric, or psychological care or treatment.
(g)If the director of the facility in which a person is hospitalized or placed pursuant to this chapter certifies to the Attorney General that a person, against whom all charges have been dismissed for reasons not related to the mental condition of the person, is a sexually dangerous person, the Attorney General shall release the person to the appropriate official of the State in which the person is domiciled or was tried for the purpose of institution of State proceedings for civil commitment. If neither such State will assume such responsibility, the Attorney General shall release the person upon receipt of notice from the State that it will not assume such responsibility, but not later than 10 days after certification by the director of the facility.

Legislative History

Notes & Related Subsidiaries

Editorial Notes

Prior Provisions

A prior section 4248, act Sept. 7, 1949, ch. 535, § 1, 63 Stat. 688, related to the termination of custody by release or transfer, prior to its omission in the general amendment of this chapter by Pub. L. 98–473, title II, § 403(a), Oct. 12, 1984, 98 Stat. 2057.

Reference

Citations & Metadata

Citation

18 U.S.C. § 4248

Title 18Crimes and Criminal Procedure

Last Updated

Apr 6, 2026

Release point: 119-73