Title 34NavyRelease 119-73not60

§12123 Conversion of Closed Military Installations Into Federal Prison Facilities

Title 34 › Subtitle Subtitle I— Comprehensive Acts › Chapter 121— VIOLENT CRIME CONTROL AND LAW ENFORCEMENT › Subchapter I— PRISONS › Part B— Miscellaneous Provisions › § 12123

Last updated Apr 5, 2026|Official source

Summary

The Secretary of Defense and the Attorney General must work together to study every military base that was picked for closure before September 13, 1994. They must see if any whole bases or parts of them could be turned into Federal prison facilities and say which ones are most suitable. The study must be finished within 180 days after September 13, 1994. When judging a site, they must estimate how much it would cost to convert it and may consider other factors they find important. When choosing where to place a new Federal prison, the Attorney General must check whether using a nearby closed base would save money versus buying land or building new, and whether the use fits local reuse and redevelopment plans. The Attorney General must also give special thought to rural bases whose closure would seriously hurt local economies. The local reuse authority recognized and funded by the Secretary of Defense must agree before design or construction can go forward. The Attorney General must send Congress a report explaining the location decision, and if a closed base is not used, the report must explain why regional closed bases that fit local plans are not cost-effective alternatives. "Base closure law" means the Defense Base Closure and Realignment Act of 1990 and title II of the Defense Authorization Amendments and Base Closure and Realignment Act (Public Law 100–526).

Full Legal Text

Title 34, §12123

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(a)The Secretary of Defense and the Attorney General shall jointly conduct a study of all military installations selected before September 13, 1994, to be closed pursuant to a base closure law for the purpose of evaluating the suitability of any of these installations, or portions of these installations, for conversion into Federal prison facilities. As part of the study, the Secretary and the Attorney General shall identify the military installations so evaluated that are most suitable for conversion into Federal prison facilities.
(b)In evaluating the suitability of a military installation for conversion into a Federal prison facility, the Secretary of Defense and the Attorney General shall consider the estimated cost to convert the installation into a prison facility and such other factors as the Secretary and the Attorney General consider to be appropriate.
(c)The study required by subsection (a) shall be completed not later than the date that is 180 days after September 13, 1994.
(d)(1)In determining where to locate any new Federal prison facility, and in accordance with the Department of Justice’s duty to review and identify a use for any portion of an installation closed pursuant to title II of the Defense Authorization Amendments and Base Closure and Realignment Act (Public Law 100–526) and the Defense Base Closure and Realignment Act of 1990 (part A of title XXIX of Public Law 101–510), the Attorney General shall—
(A)consider whether using any portion of a military installation closed or scheduled to be closed in the region pursuant to a base closure law provides a cost-effective alternative to the purchase of real property or construction of new prison facilities;
(B)consider whether such use is consistent with a reutilization and redevelopment plan; and
(C)give consideration to any installation located in a rural area the closure of which will have a substantial adverse impact on the economy of the local communities and on the ability of the communities to sustain an economic recovery from such closure.
(2)With regard to paragraph (1)(B), consent must be obtained from the local re-use authority for the military installation, recognized and funded by the Secretary of Defense, before the Attorney General may proceed with plans for the design or construction of a prison at the installation.
(3)Before proceeding with plans for the design or construction of a Federal prison, the Attorney General shall submit to Congress a report explaining the basis of the decision on where to locate the new prison facility.
(4)If the Attorney General decides not to utilize any portion of a closed military installation or an installation scheduled to be closed for locating a prison, the report shall include an analysis of why installations in the region, the use of which as a prison would be consistent with a reutilization and redevelopment plan, does not provide a cost-effective alternative to the purchase of real property or construction of new prison facilities.
(e)In this section, “base closure law” means—
(1)the Defense Base Closure and Realignment Act of 1990 (part A of title XXIX of Public Law 101–510; 10 U.S.C. 2687 note); and
(2)title II of the Defense Authorization Amendments and Base Closure and Realignment Act (Public Law 100–526; 10 U.S.C. 2687 note).

Legislative History

Notes & Related Subsidiaries

Editorial Notes

References in Text

The Defense Authorization

Amendments

and Base Closure and Realignment Act, referred to in subsecs. (d)(1) and (e)(2), is Pub. L. 100–526, Oct. 24, 1988, 102 Stat. 2623. Title II of the Act is set out as a note under section 2687 of Title 10, Armed Forces. For complete classification of this Act to the Code, see

Short Title

of 1988 Amendment note set out under section 2687 of Title 10 and Tables. The Defense Base Closure and Realignment Act of 1990, referred to in subsecs. (d)(1) and (e)(1), is part A of title XXIX of div. B of Pub. L. 101–510, Nov. 5, 1990, 104 Stat. 1808, which is set out as a note under section 2687 of Title 10. For complete classification of this Act to the Code, see Tables. Codification Section was formerly classified to section 13724 of Title 42, The Public Health and Welfare, prior to editorial reclassification and renumbering as this section.

Reference

Citations & Metadata

Citation

34 U.S.C. § 12123

Title 34Navy

Last Updated

Apr 5, 2026

Release point: 119-73not60