Bureau of Prisons 2011 – Federal Register Recent Federal Regulation Documents

In this document, the Bureau of Prisons (Bureau) proposes to revise its regulations on classification and program review to ensure that classification and program review procedures adequately address inmate needs. This proposed rule also adds a new type of review, the ``progress review.'' A progress review will be an abbreviated program review meant to focus on an inmate's programming activities. This shortened version of the more thorough program review will facilitate more efficiently-used staff and inmate time, in that it will primarily focus on any new or changed aspects of an inmate's initial classification and participation in recommended programs. Inmates who have 36 months or more until their projected release date will receive alternating program and progress reviews at least once every 180 calendar days, a practice that will allow the Bureau to more efficiently utilize staff time and resources. The process will also allow staff to devote more time and resources to the reviews of inmates who are closer to their release dates, enabling the Bureau to better fulfill its mission to prepare inmates for eventual release into communities within the United States.

The fee to cover the average cost of incarceration for Federal inmates in Fiscal Year 2010 was $28,284. The average annual cost to confine an inmate in a Community Corrections Center for Fiscal Year 2010 was $25,838.

In this document, the Bureau of Prisons (Bureau) finalizes regulations on providing psychiatric treatment and medication to inmates. These revised regulations are clarified and updated to reflect current caselaw.

In this document, the Bureau of Prisons (Bureau) finalizes its proposed regulation on the use of chemical agents and other non-lethal (less-than-lethal) force to clarify that the authority of the Warden to authorize the use of chemical agents or other less-than-lethal weapons may not be delegated below the position of Lieutenant.

In this document, the Bureau of Prisons (Bureau) revises its federal regulations on the inmate furlough program primarily to more clearly provide for and define transfer furloughs. Also, under this rule, the Bureau is expanding the authority of its Wardens to consider all inmates potentially eligible for non-transfer furloughs, as opposed to the current rule, which limits consideration to inmates with community custody status.