NCJ Number
146961
Journal
Federal Probation Volume: 57 Issue: 4 Dated: (December 1993) Pages: 22-27
Date Published
1993
Length
6 pages
Annotation
This article examines the work of the U.S. Marshals Service (USMS) in managing the detention of Federal prisoners.
Abstract
The shortage of adequate detention space near Federal court cities has been recognized by the Office of Management and Budget as a high-risk area of managerial concern to the Department of Justice. Not only must USMS house this population, but prisoners must be transported for judicial proceedings at more than 450 locations in the 280 Federal court cities throughout the country. To preclude transporting prisoners over long distances, the USMS tries to acquire detention bedspace as close as possible to the Federal court city. This is done in one of the four following ways: contracts with State and local governments to use portions of their detention facilities as needed, Federal renovation or construction of jail facilities in exchange for a guaranteed number of bedspaces for a specified number of years, private-sector prisons, and Federal detention construction. Besides finding detention bedspace, USMS must administer the Support of Prisoners Appropriate to pay State and local governments for jail space used in their facilities. These tasks are made difficult by the rapidly growing population of Federal detainees. Actions the USMS has taken to address detention issues and reduce costs are to expedite the designation of sentenced detainees to Federal correctional programs, increase the use of video conferencing for pretrial procedures, reduce prisoner medical bills, use a detention planning committee, and develop a Federal detention plan. 8 notes