Title 24 — Prisoners and Their Treatment.

Repealed Repealed.

(a) Except as provided in subsection (b) of this section, the number of sentenced persons housed at the District of Columbia Jail (Central Detention Facility) by the Department of Corrections shall not exceed 2,050 at any time. (b) If the Department of Corrections requires an exe…

(a) The number of inmates housed at any one time in the Central Detention Facility shall not exceed the number of persons established by an independent consultant pursuant to subsection (c) of this section. (b) Within 90 days of January 30, 2004, the Mayor shall develop and submi…

(a) After January 30, 2004, all new housing or facilities purchased, leased, constructed, or converted by the Department for use as a prison, except as provided in subsection (b) of this section, shall have only single occupancy rooms or cells and shall comply with all applicable…

There is created in and for the District of Columbia a Department of Corrections to be under the charge of a Director who shall be appointed by the Mayor of the District of Columbia.

(a) Said Department of Corrections under the general direction and supervision of the Mayor of the District of Columbia shall have charge of the management and regulation of the Workhouse at Occoquan in the State of Virginia, the Reformatory at Lorton in the State of Virginia, an…

(a) The Department of Corrections shall process and release inmates from the Central Detention Facility as follows: (1) Except as provided in paragraphs (2) and (3) of this subsection, the Department of Corrections shall have the obligation to ensure that all inmates are released…

With respect to the said institutions, the Mayor of the District of Columbia shall succeed to all the powers and authority, and to all the duties and obligations vested in or imposed by law upon the Board of Public Welfare of the District of Columbia. Where powers are vested in o…

All rules and regulations promulgated by the Board of Public Welfare with respect to said institutions shall continue in force and effect until amended or repealed by the Council of the District of Columbia.

No contract for services or supplies made by the Board pursuant to authority granted to it by law shall be invalidated by this enactment and the unexpended balances of all appropriations heretofore or hereafter made for the Board with respect to said institutions shall become ava…

The cost of the care and custody of persons confined in the said institutions charged with or convicted of offenses under any law of the United States not applicable exclusively to the District of Columbia shall be charged against the department or agency of the United States pri…

(a) The District of Columbia is authorized to comply with civil detainer requests from United States Immigration and Customs Enforcement (“ICE”) by holding inmates for an additional 24-hour period, excluding weekends and holidays, after they would otherwise be released, but only …

For the purposes of this part, the term: (1) “Applicant” means all persons who have filed any written employment application forms to work at the Department. (2) “Council” means the Council of the District of Columbia. (3) “Department” means the District of Columbia Department of…

(a) The following Department employees shall be tested for drug and alcohol use: (1) Applicants; (2) Those employees who have had a reasonable suspicion referral; (3) Post-accident employees, as soon as reasonably possible after the accident; and (4) HPR employees. (b) Only HPR e…

(a) Testing shall be performed by an outside contractor. The contractor shall be a laboratory certified by the United States Department of Health and Human Services (“HHS”) to perform job related drug and alcohol forensic testing. (b) For random testing, the contractor shall come…

The drug testing policy shall be issued in advance to inform employees and allow them the opportunity to seek treatment. Thereafter, any confirmed positive test results or a refusal to submit to the test shall be grounds for termination of employment in accordance with subchapter…

(a) The Director of the Department of Corrections (“Director”) shall conduct, on a biennial basis, National Crime Information Center (“NCIC”) criminal background investigations on all Department employees including non-probationary employees. (b) At the Director’s discretion, the…

The Department of Corrections shall not house any misdemeanants, felons, ex-offenders, or persons awaiting trial or sentencing for offenses committed in the District of Columbia in any facility on the D.C. General Hospital Campus (Reservation 13) other than the District of Columb…

(a) Every person whose conduct complies with institutional rules and who demonstrates a desire for self-improvement by successfully participating in an academic or vocational program, including special education and Graduate Equivalency Diploma programs, shall earn educational go…

(a) In the discretion of the Director of the Department of Corrections, a prisoner may be allowed meritorious good time credit for performing exceptionally meritorious service or performing duties of outstanding importance in connection with institutional operations. (b) Meritori…

Educational and meritorious good time credits shall not reduce the minimum sentence of any inmate convicted of a crime of violence as defined by § 22-4501, by more than 15%.

(a) A person sentenced for a misdemeanor whose conduct complies with institutional rules shall be eligible to receive good time credits of up to 3 credits per calendar month for good behavior, as prescribed by applicable rules. (b) A person sentenced for a misdemeanor who demonst…

(a)(1) The Mayor shall administer the award of good time credits. (2) The Mayor shall promulgate proposed rules for granting, withholding, forfeiting, cancelling, and restoring good time credits. (3) The proposed rules shall be submitted to the Council of the District of Columbia…

(a) Every person shall be given credit on the maximum and the minimum term of imprisonment for time spent in custody, or on parole in accordance with § 24-406, as a result of the offense for which the sentence was imposed. When entering the final order in any case, the court shal…

The award of good time credits for good behavior and faithful performance of duties may be forfeited, withheld, and restored by the Director, in accordance with rules promulgated by the Mayor pursuant to § 24-221.02, after a hearing, which shall be conducted in accordance with th…

The Department shall regularly inform inmates of all awards, forfeitures, and restorations of good time credits, and shall inform the Board of Parole of all persons who are expected to become eligible for release on parole within 45 days of their eligibility date, and shall infor…

Institutional and educational good time credits shall not be applied to the minimum terms of persons sentenced under § 22-4502, § 48-901.02, § 48-904.01, § 22-2104(b), § 22-2803, or § 22-4504(b).

For the purposes of this subchapter, the term: (1) “Bureau of Justice Assistance Private Sector Prison Industry Enhancement Certification Program”, or “PIE Program”, means the federal grant-in-aid program administered by the Bureau of Justice Assistance, United States Department …

(a) There is hereby established in the Treasury a revolving fund to be known as the Prison Industries Fund (“Fund”). The Fund shall be used to receive and disburse funds from appropriations, income from operations, fees, gifts by devise or bequest, donations, grants, investments,…

Receipts from the sales of goods and services produced by the prison industries program shall be deposited to the credit of the Fund. The Fund shall be used for all necessary expenses directly related to the Fund, including personal services; payments to inmates, or payments to t…

(a) The Mayor shall maintain a prison industries program which shall be administered by the Director and which shall provide for the operation of commercial, manufacturing, sales, and service enterprises that are located on the grounds of a correctional facility and that employs …

(a) Whenever goods or services scheduled for purchase by an agency of the District government are produced or can be produced by a prison industry, the agency shall purchase the goods or services from the prison industries unless the Director provides written certification that: …

(a) The Mayor is authorized to enter into an agreement with any private-sector employer to establish a joint venture for the management and operation of all or any part of a prison industry. (b) The terms of a joint venture agreement shall include: (1) Area space requirements, eq…

Repealed Repealed.

(a) A prison industry shall employ eligible prisoners in all entry-level positions to the extent feasible. (b) Prisoners employed in a prison industry shall not work more than 40 hours per week, except that prisoners may volunteer to work overtime hours for overtime payment at 1 …

Prisoners who apply and are eligible for employment in a prison industry shall have no right to obtain employment in the industry. Prisoners employed in a prison industry shall not be regarded as having any right concerning that employment, shall not be regarded as District emplo…

(a) All prisoners employed by a prison industry shall be paid wages which shall be established by the Director and approved by the Mayor. All prisoners employed by a prison industry that is approved under the PIE Program shall be paid no less than the prevailing wage for work of …

(a) Wages paid to prisoners employed by a prison industry shall be considered taxable income for purposes of subchapter I of Chapter 18 of Title 47. (b) Wages paid to prisoners employed by a prison industry wholly owned and operated by the District shall be paid from the Fund. Wa…

(a) The requirements of Chapter 15 of Title 32 shall apply to prisoners employed in any prison industries program that is approved under the PIE Program. Nothing in this section shall be construed as requiring Workers’ Compensation Act or comparable insurance benefits for prisone…

(a) The Director shall provide the Mayor and the Council with an annual report on the prison industries program and the Fund no later than December 1 of each year for the fiscal year ending September 30 of the preceding year. (b) The report shall be prepared according to generall…

The Mayor is authorized to retain any accumulated profits from a prison industries program for the purpose of acquiring or improving personal property, or to increase working capital to planned operating levels in a prison industries program. The Mayor is also authorized to retai…

All assets which, on May 8, 1996, are components of the Correctional Industries Fund, as created by § 24-271 [repealed], shall be transferred to the Fund created in § 24-231.02.

There is hereby authorized to be established in the District of Columbia a work release program under which any person who is: (1) convicted of a misdemeanor or of violating a municipal regulation or an act of Congress in the nature of a municipal regulation, and is sentenced to …

At the time of imposition of sentence, the probation officers of the court or the Director of the Department of Corrections, may recommend to, or the person sentenced may request, the sentencing court that such person be granted the privilege of work release. At any time subseque…

The Director of the Department of Corrections shall state in writing the terms and conditions under which a person granted work release privileges may be released from actual custody during the time necessary to proceed to the person’s place of employment or other authorized plac…

The Council of the District of Columbia is authorized to promulgate from time to time such rules and regulations as it deems necessary for the administration by the Department of Corrections of the work release program.

(a) The Director of the Department of Corrections may suspend or revoke the work release privilege for any breach of discipline or infraction of institution regulations. The Court may revoke the work release privilege at any time, either upon its own motion or upon recommendation…

The Mayor is authorized to include in individual work release plans provisions for the collection of the wages, salary, earnings, and other income of each gainfully employed prisoner when paid, or require that the same be surrendered when received, less payroll deductions require…

Payments for support pursuant to § 24-241.06 shall be made through the clerks of the respective courts. In cases where there is no outstanding court order of support or judgment against the prisoner, the Director, Department of Public Welfare, or his designated agent, shall, afte…

The Attorney General of the United States may, in order to carry out the purposes of this subchapter, designate the Mayor as his authorized representative to perform the functions vested in him by § 24-201.26.