President Joe Biden on July 25 signed into law a bipartisan bill supported by U.S. Sen. Shelley Moore Capito (R-WV) to establish an inspections regime for the federal Bureau of Prisons (BOP).
The Federal Prison Oversight Act, H.R. 3019/S. 1401, requires the U.S. Department of Justice Office of the Inspector General (IG) to conduct risk-based inspections of the BOP’s 122 correctional facilities, provide recommendations to fix problems, and assign each facility a risk score, with higher-risk facilities required to be inspected more often, according to a bill summary provided by Sen. Capito’s staff.
“I was proud to work alongside my colleagues to get the Federal Prison Oversight Act through Congress and now signed into law,” said Sen. Capito. “Investigations into our federal prisons produced shocking and alarming findings, and reports of misconduct, abuse, and inadequate facilities are unacceptable.”
Under the new law, the IG must also report its findings and recommendations to Congress and the public, and the BOP must respond to all inspection reports within 60 days with a corrective action plan.
Additionally, the law will establish an independent ombudsman to investigate the health, safety, welfare, and rights of incarcerated people and staff, the summary says, and the ombudsman will create a secure hotline and online form for family members, friends, and representatives of incarcerated people to submit complaints and inquiries.
“The state and condition of our federal prisons is something I have frequently discussed with constituents, families, and corrections officers,” Sen. Capito added, “and it’s a positive development that needed oversight will soon be implemented.”
Sen. Capito in September 2023 signed on as a cosponsor of S. 1401, which U.S. Sen. Jon Ossoff (D-GA) sponsored in May 2023 as the companion bill to H.R. 3019, introduced in April 2023 by U.S. Reps. Lucy McBath (D-GA) and Kelly Armstrong (R-ND).
The U.S. House of Representatives on May 21 voted 392-2 to advance H.R. 3019, which the U.S. Senate approved on July 10 before presenting the bill to Biden to be signed into law last week.
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