Title 18, Crimes and Criminal ProcedureRelease 119-102

§3634 Report

Title 18 › PART II — CRIMINAL PROCEDURE › CHAPTER 229 — POSTSENTENCE ADMINISTRATION › SUBCHAPTER D — RISK AND NEEDS ASSESSMENT SYSTEM › § 3634

Last updated Aug 21, 2026|Official source

Summary

The Attorney General must send a report to Congress starting two years after this subchapter is passed, and then once a year for five years. The report goes to the Senate and House Judiciary Committees and to the Commerce, Justice, Science, and Related Agencies appropriations subcommittees in both chambers. The report must describe what the Attorney General has done and review prison programs that reduce reoffending. It must say which programs work, how many prisoners can join each program at each prison (and their risk levels), and where more space is needed. It must give reoffending rates by main crime, sentence length, prison facility, programs and activities the person finished, and the person’s risk scores. It must review prison work programs, including a plan to expand them without cutting jobs for people outside prison, whether prisoners could make goods now bought from overseas, and a goal that by five years after enactment at least 75% of eligible minimum- and low-risk offenders can work at least 20 hours per week. The report must also check compliance with section 3621(h), estimate savings from prerelease transfers under section 3624(g) and from lower recidivism, show budgetary savings and how they will be reinvested in law enforcement and programs, and give statistics on prisoner dyslexia and effects of dyslexia screening and treatment.

Full Legal Text

Title 18, §3634

Crimes and Criminal Procedure, Source: USLM XML via OLRC

Beginning on the date that is 2 years after the date of enactment of this subchapter, and annually thereafter for a period of 5 years, the Attorney General shall submit a report to the Committees on the Judiciary of the Senate and the House of Representatives and the Subcommittees on Commerce, Justice, Science, and Related Agencies of the Committees on Appropriations of the Senate and the House of Representatives that contains the following:
(1)A summary of the activities and accomplishments of the Attorney General in carrying out this Act.
(2)A summary and assessment of the types and effectiveness of the evidence-based recidivism reduction programs and productive activities in prisons operated by the Bureau of Prisons, including—
(A)evidence about which programs have been shown to reduce recidivism;
(B)the capacity of each program and activity at each prison, including the number of prisoners along with the recidivism risk of each prisoner enrolled in each program; and
(C)identification of any gaps or shortages in capacity of such programs and activities.
(3)Rates of recidivism among individuals who have been released from Federal prison, based on the following criteria:
(A)The primary offense of conviction.
(B)The length of the sentence imposed and served.
(C)The Bureau of Prisons facility or facilities in which the prisoner’s sentence was served.
(D)The evidence-based recidivism reduction programming that the prisoner successfully completed, if any.
(E)The prisoner’s assessed and reassessed risk of recidivism.
(F)The productive activities that the prisoner successfully completed, if any.
(4)The status of prison work programs at facilities operated by the Bureau of Prisons, including—
(A)a strategy to expand the availability of such programs without reducing job opportunities for workers in the United States who are not in the custody of the Bureau of Prisons, including the feasibility of prisoners manufacturing products purchased by Federal agencies that are manufactured overseas;
(B)an assessment of the feasibility of expanding such programs, consistent with the strategy required under subparagraph (A), with the goal that 5 years after the date of enactment of this subchapter, not less than 75 percent of eligible minimum- and low-risk offenders have the opportunity to participate in a prison work program for not less than 20 hours per week; and
(C)a detailed discussion of legal authorities that would be useful or necessary to achieve the goals described in subparagraphs (A) and (B).
(5)An assessment of the Bureau of Prisons’ compliance with section 3621(h).
(6)An assessment of progress made toward carrying out the purposes of this subchapter, including any savings associated with—
(A)the transfer of prisoners into prerelease custody or supervised release under section 3624(g), including savings resulting from the avoidance or deferral of future construction, acquisition, and operations costs; and
(B)any decrease in recidivism that may be attributed to the System or the increase in evidence-based recidivism reduction programs required under this subchapter.
(7)An assessment of budgetary savings resulting from this subchapter, including—
(A)a summary of the amount of savings resulting from the transfer of prisoners into prerelease custody under this chapter, including savings resulting from the avoidance or deferral of future construction, acquisition, or operations costs;
(B)a summary of the amount of savings resulting from any decrease in recidivism that may be attributed to the implementation of the risk and needs assessment system or the increase in recidivism reduction programs and productive activities required by this subchapter;
(C)a strategy to reinvest the savings described in subparagraphs (A) and (B) in other—
(i)Federal, State, and local law enforcement activities; and
(ii)expansions of recidivism reduction programs and productive activities in the Bureau of Prisons; and
(D)a description of how the reduced expenditures on Federal corrections and the budgetary savings resulting from this subchapter are currently being used and will be used to—
(i)increase investment in law enforcement and crime prevention to combat gangs of national significance and high-level drug traffickers through the High Intensity Drug Trafficking Areas Program and other task forces;
(ii)hire, train, and equip law enforcement officers and prosecutors; and
(iii)promote crime reduction programs using evidence-based practices and strategic planning to help reduce crime and criminal recidivism.
(8)Statistics on—
(A)the prevalence of dyslexia among prisoners in prisons operated by the Bureau of Prisons; and
(B)any change in the effectiveness of dyslexia mitigation programs among such prisoners that may be attributed to the incorporation of dyslexia screening into the System and of dyslexia treatment into the evidence-based recidivism reduction programs, as required under this chapter.

Legislative History

Notes & Related Subsidiaries

Editorial Notes

References in Text

The date of enactment of this subchapter, referred to in text, is the date of enactment of Pub. L. 115–391, which was approved Dec. 21, 2018. This Act, referred to in par. (1), is Pub. L. 115–391, Dec. 21, 2018, 132 Stat. 5194, known as the First Step Act of 2018. For complete classification of this Act to the Code, see

Short Title

of 2018 Amendment note under section 1 of this title and Tables.

Reference

Citations & Metadata

Citation

18 U.S.C. § 3634

Title 18, Crimes and Criminal Procedure

Last Updated

Aug 21, 2026

Release point: 119-102