PRIA Logo™
119-hr-7111119th Congress

Correctional Facility Disaster Preparedness Act of 2026

Sponsored By: Representative Lieu, Ted [D-CA-36]

Introduced

Summary

Emergency preparedness for federal prisons would be strengthened. This bill would require annual, facility-level disaster reports and change the National Institute of Corrections board to focus on emergency planning.

Show full summary
  • Inmates and staff: Facilities would have to report yearly on physical damage, injuries or deaths, and access to medical care, food, drinkable water, personal protective equipment, hygiene items, special diets, visitation, education and work programs, grievance outcomes, and whether home confinement or early release was considered.
  • Bureau of Prisons and contract prisons: Reports must include corrective actions, a timeline to modernize emergency plans, cost and repair estimates, legislative recommendations, and the Director would appoint an official to lead the corrective action plan within 90 days.
  • National Institute of Corrections and corrections leadership: The NIC board would expand from 10 to 14 members and add seats for a formerly incarcerated advocate, an emergency management accreditation expert, a public health expert on communicable disease, and a union representative. The NIC must hold at least one public field hearing within 1 year on integrating emergency preparedness and recovery into facility plans.

Personalized for You

How does this bill affect your finances?

Personalize government policy and PRIA will tell you what this bill means for your household, plus every other piece of legislation we track. PRIA reads each provision against your financial profile to show you exactly what matters to your wallet.

Free to download

Bill Overview

Analyzed Economic Effects

2 provisions identified: 2 benefits, 0 costs, 0 mixed.

New correctional emergency board members

If enacted, the bill would expand the National Institute of Corrections board from 10 to 14 members and add four new member types. New seats would include someone with lived prison experience or advocacy for incarcerated people, an emergency response coordinator who created an accreditation program, a public health expert on communicable disease, and a union representative for BOP staff. The Institute would also have to hold at least one public field hearing within one year on how correctional facilities should plan for and recover from disasters. Hearing topics would include inmate access to medical care, food, drinkable water, PPE, and hygiene; consideration of home confinement or early release; standards for visitation with legal counsel and when visits may be suspended; disability accommodations; use of Federal funds to restore damaged facilities; and FEMA/HHS/GAO risk-management best practices.

Prison disaster reporting and plans

If enacted, the bill would define when a prison event counts as a "major disaster." It would require the Bureau of Prisons to send an annual damage report for every BOP facility and contract prison hit by a major disaster to specified Congressional committees, the GAO, and the DOJ Inspector General. The report would list injuries and deaths, access to medical care, food, drinkable water, PPE, and hygiene supplies, and impacts on educational and work programs and staffing. It would include data and guidance used for early release or home confinement decisions, approvals and denials with justifications, access to cost-free legal visits and reasons for any suspension, accommodations for inmates with disabilities, inmate grievances, cost estimates to repair facilities, and other effects on health, safety, and civil rights. The report would also require a corrective action plan with a timeline and legislative recommendations. The BOP Director would have to appoint an official to carry out the corrective plan within 90 days after enactment.

Sponsors & CoSponsors

Sponsor

Lieu, Ted [D-CA-36]

CA • D

Cosponsors

  • Rep. Weber, Randy K. Sr. [R-TX-14]

    TX • R

    Sponsored 1/15/2026

Roll Call Votes

No roll call votes available for this bill.

View on Congress.gov
Back to Legislation