§12103 — Title 34 Navy | U.S. Code

§12103 Violent offender incarceration grants

Title 34 › Subtitle Subtitle I— - Comprehensive Acts › Chapter CHAPTER 121— - VIOLENT CRIME CONTROL AND LAW ENFORCEMENT › Subchapter SUBCHAPTER I— - PRISONS › Part Part A— - Violent Offender Incarceration and Truth-in-Sentencing Incentive Grants › § 12103

Last updated Apr 6, 2026|Official source

Summary

States must apply to the Attorney General to get a minimum grant. The application must promise the State has put in place, or will put in place, prison rules and programs (including truth-in-sentencing laws that make offenders serve most of their time) so that violent offenders serve sentences that match the danger they pose and protect the public. A State that gets the minimum grant can get extra money if it shows that, since 1993, it raised either the share of people arrested for a Part I violent crime who are sent to prison or the average time (or percent of sentence) those offenders actually serve. A State can also get extra funds if, since 1993, it both raised the share sent to prison and the average percent of sentence served, or if new prison commitments for Part I violent crimes rose by 10 percent or more over the most recent 3-year period.

Title 34, §12103

Navy — Source: USLM XML via OLRC

(a)To be eligible to receive a minimum grant under this section, a State shall submit an application to the Attorney General that provides assurances that the State has implemented, or will implement, correctional policies and programs, including truth-in-sentencing laws that ensure that violent offenders serve a substantial portion of the sentences imposed, that are designed to provide sufficiently severe punishment for violent offenders, including violent juvenile offenders, and that the prison time served is appropriately related to the determination that the inmate is a violent offender and for a period of time deemed necessary to protect the public.

(b)A State that received a grant under subsection (a) is eligible to receive additional grant amounts if such State demonstrates that the State has, since 1993—

(1)increased the percentage of persons arrested for a part 1 violent crime sentenced to prison; or

(2)increased the average prison time actually served or the average percent of sentence served by persons convicted of a part 1 violent crime.

(c)A State that received a grant under subsection (a) is eligible to receive additional grant amounts if such State demonstrates that the State has—

(1)since 1993, increased the percentage of persons arrested for a part 1 violent crime sentenced to prison, and has increased the average percent of sentence served by persons convicted of a part 1 violent crime; or

(2)has increased by 10 percent or more over the most recent 3-year period the number of new court commitments to prison of persons convicted of part 1 violent crimes.

Notes & Related Subsidiaries

Editorial Notes

Codification Section was formerly classified to section 13703 of Title 42, The Public Health and Welfare, prior to editorial reclassification and renumbering as this section.

Prior Provisions

A prior section 20103 of Pub. L. 103–322, title II, Sept. 13, 1994, 108 Stat. 1817, related to Violent Offender Incarceration Grants prior to the general amendment of subtitle A of title II of Pub. L. 103–322 by Pub. L. 104–134.

Statutory Notes and Related Subsidiaries

Controlled Substance Testing and Intervention; Availability of Funds Pub. L. 104–208, div. A, title I, § 101(a) [title I], Sept. 30, 1996, 110 Stat. 3009, 3009–14, provided in part: “That beginning in fiscal year 1999, and thereafter, no funds shall be available to make grants to a State pursuant to section 20103 or section 20104 of the Violent Crime Control and Law

Enforcement

Act of 1994 [34 U.S.C. 12103, 12104] unless no later than September 1, 1998, such State has implemented a program of controlled substance testing and intervention for appropriate categories of convicted offenders during periods of incarceration and criminal justice supervision, with sanctions including denial or revocation of release for positive controlled substance tests, consistent with guidelines issued by the Attorney General”.