PRIA, Government Policy, Made Personal

Summary

The chief pretrial services officer must, with the district court’s approval, hire whatever staff are needed in districts that have pretrial services under section 3152(b). The Director, with the Judicial Conference’s OK, sets job rules and pay, but pay cannot be more than the basic GS‑16 rate. With the Director’s policy and the court’s approval, the chief may also get temporary or part‑time help under section 3109, and non‑clerical staff can include law or graduate students or other available people. In districts with pretrial services under section 3152(a), the chief probation officer must assign chapter 231 personnel to do the work. Information gathered about a particular accused is used only for bail decisions and is otherwise private. Each pretrial report must be given to the accused’s lawyer and the Government’s lawyer. The Director will make rules allowing some exceptions for research, certain contractors under section 3154(4), probation officers doing presentence reports, pretrial diversion reports to both lawyers, and limited law‑enforcement uses. That private information cannot be used to prove guilt except in prosecutions for crimes committed to get pretrial release or for failing to appear.

Title 18, §3153

Crimes and Criminal Procedure, Source: USLM XML via OLRC

(a)(1)With the approval of the district court, the chief pretrial services officer in districts in which pretrial services are established under section 3152(b) of this title shall appoint such other personnel as may be required. The position requirements and rate of compensation of the chief pretrial services officer and such other personnel shall be established by the Director with the approval of the Judicial Conference of the United States, except that no such rate of compensation shall exceed the rate of basic pay in effect and then payable for grade GS–16 of the General Schedule under section 5332 of title 5, United States Code.

(2)The chief pretrial services officer in districts in which pretrial services are established under section 3152(b) of this title is authorized, subject to the general policy established by the Director and the approval of the district court, to procure temporary and intermittent services to the extent authorized by section 3109 of title 5, United States Code. The staff, other than clerical staff, may be drawn from law school students, graduate students, or such other available personnel.

(b)The chief probation officer in all districts in which pretrial services are established under section 3152(a) of this title shall designate personnel appointed under chapter 231 of this title to perform pretrial services under this chapter.

(c)(1)Except as provided in paragraph (2) of this subsection, information obtained in the course of performing pretrial services functions in relation to a particular accused shall be used only for the purposes of a bail determination and shall otherwise be confidential. Each pretrial services report shall be made available to the attorney for the accused and the attorney for the Government.

(2)The Director shall issue regulations establishing the policy for release of information made confidential by paragraph (1) of this subsection. Such regulations shall provide exceptions to the confidentiality requirements under paragraph (1) of this subsection to allow access to such information—

(A)by qualified persons for purposes of research related to the administration of criminal justice;

(B)by persons under contract under section 3154(4) of this title;

(C)by probation officers for the purpose of compiling presentence reports;

(D)insofar as such information is a pretrial diversion report, to the attorney for the accused and the attorney for the Government; and

(E)in certain limited cases, to law enforcement agencies for law enforcement purposes.

(3)Information made confidential under paragraph (1) of this subsection is not admissible on the issue of guilt in a criminal judicial proceeding unless such proceeding is a prosecution for a crime committed in the course of obtaining pretrial release or a prosecution for failure to appear for the criminal judicial proceeding with respect to which pretrial services were provided.

Notes & Related Subsidiaries

Editorial Notes

Amendments

1982—Pub. L. 97–267 substantially revised section by substituting provisions relating to the organization and administration of pretrial services for provisions relating to organization and administration of pretrial services agencies which vested the powers of five such agencies in the Division of Probation of the Administrative Office of the United States Courts and the powers of the remaining five agencies in Boards of Trustees, set forth requirements for membership and terms of office with respect to such Boards, and provided for appointment of Federal probation officers in agencies governed by the Division of Probation, and chief pretrial service officers in agencies governed by Boards of Trustees, which designated officers would be responsible for the direction and supervision of their respective agencies.

Statutory Notes and Related Subsidiaries

References in Other Laws to GS–16, 17, or 18 Pay RatesReferences in laws to the rates of pay for GS–16, 17, or 18, or to maximum rates of pay under the General Schedule, to be considered references to rates payable under specified sections of Title 5, Government Organization and Employees, see section 529 [title I, § 101(c)(1)] of Pub. L. 101–509, set out in a note under section 5376 of Title 5.

§3153 Organization and Administration of Pretrial Services