PRIA, Government Policy, Made Personal

Summary

The Bureau of Prisons must set up a program within 120 days after March 15, 2022 to accept people convicted in tribal court if certain rules are met. A tribal court must send a request to the Attorney General, who must approve or deny it within 30 days. Only people convicted of violent crimes like those in 18 U.S.C. 1153(a) with sentences of one year or more can be sent. Prisoners follow custody rules for state offenders, are held in the nearest suitable federal facility, and the United States pays the cost. No more than 100 tribal prisoners may be in the program at once. A tribe can cancel a request at any time and the person must be returned to tribal custody. If demand would exceed 100 prisoners, the Bureau must notify Congress.

Title 25, §1302a

Indians, Source: USLM XML via OLRC

(1)In general

Not later than 120 days after March 15, 2022, the Director of the Bureau of Prisons shall establish a program under which the Bureau of Prisons shall accept offenders convicted in tribal court pursuant to section 1302 of this title (as amended by this section), subject to the conditions described in paragraph (2).

(2)Conditions

(A)In general

As a condition of participation in the program described in paragraph (1), the tribal court shall submit to the Attorney General a request for confinement of the offender, for approval by the Attorney General (or a designee) by not later than 30 days after the date of submission.

(B)Limitations

Requests for confinement shall be limited to offenders convicted of a violent crime (comparable to the violent crimes described in section 1153(a) of title 18) for which the sentence includes a term of imprisonment of 1 or more years.

(C)Custody conditions

The imprisonment by the Bureau of Prisons shall be subject to the conditions described in section 5003 of title 18, regarding the custody of State offenders, except that the offender shall be placed in the nearest available and appropriate Federal facility, and imprisoned at the expense of the United States.

(D)Cap

The Bureau of Prisons shall confine not more than 100 tribal offenders at any time.

(3)Rescinding requests

(A)In general

The applicable tribal government shall retain the authority to rescind the request for confinement of a tribal offender by the Bureau of Prisons under this paragraph at any time during the sentence of the offender.

(B)Return to tribal custody

On rescission of a request under subparagraph (A), a tribal offender shall be returned to tribal custody.

(4)Reassessment

If tribal court demand for participation in this program exceeds 100 tribal offenders, a representative of the Bureau of Prisons shall notify Congress.

Notes & Related Subsidiaries

Editorial Notes

References in Text

section 1302 of this title (as amended by this section), referred to in par. (1), is section 1302 of this title, as amended by section 234 of Pub. L. 111–211. Codification Section was formerly set out as a note under section 1302 of this title. Section was enacted as part of the Tribal Law and Order Act of 2010, and not as part of the Indian Civil Rights Act of 1968 which comprises this subchapter.

Amendments

2022—Pub. L. 117–103, § 803(1), (2), struck out “pilot” before “program” in section catchline and wherever appearing in text. Par. (1). Pub. L. 117–103, § 803(3), substituted “Not later than 120 days after

March 15, 2022” for “Not later than 120 days after

July 29, 2010”. Par. (2)(B). Pub. L. 117–103, § 803(4), substituted “1 or more years” for “2 or more years”. Pars. (5), (6). Pub. L. 117–103, § 803(5), struck out pars. (5) and (6) which read as follows: “(5) Report.—Not later than 3 years after the date of establishment of the pilot program, the Attorney General shall submit to Congress a report describing the status of the program, including recommendations regarding the future of the program, if any. “(6) Termination.—Except as otherwise provided by an Act of Congress, the pilot program under this paragraph shall expire on the date that is 4 years after the date on which the program is established.”

Statutory Notes and Related Subsidiaries

Definitions For definition of “tribal government” as used in this section, see section 203(a) of Pub. L. 111–211, set out as a note under section 2801 of this title.

§1302a Bureau of Prisons Tribal Prisoner Program