Private Prison Information Act of 2023

I 118TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION H. R. 4133 To require non-Federal prison, correctional, and detention facilities holding Federal prisoners or detainees under a contract with the Federal Govern- ment to make the same information available to the public that Federal prisons and correctional facilities are required to make available. IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES JUNE 14, 2023 Mr. RASKIN (for himself, Ms. BONAMICI, Mr. CARSON, Mr. JOHNSON of Geor- gia, Mr. MFUME, Ms. NORTON, Mr. DAVID SCOTT of Georgia, Ms. SE- WELL, Ms. TLAIB, Mrs. WATSON COLEMAN, and Ms. OMAR) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on the Judiciary A BILL To require non-Federal prison, correctional, and detention facilities holding Federal prisoners or detainees under a contract with the Federal Government to make the same information available to the public that Federal prisons and correctional facilities are required to make available. Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa- 1 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 2 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 3 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Private Prison Infor- 4 mation Act of 2023’’. 5 VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:02 Jul 08, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H4133.IH H4133 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 2 •HR 4133 IH SEC. 2. DEFINITIONS. 1 In this Act— 2 (1) the term ‘‘agency’’ has the meaning given 3 the term in section 551 of title 5, United States 4 Code; 5 (2) the term ‘‘applicable entity’’ means— 6 (A) a nongovernmental entity contracting 7 with, or receiving funds directly or indirectly 8 from, a covered agency to incarcerate or detain 9 Federal prisoners or detainees in a non-Federal 10 prison, correctional, or detention facility; or 11 (B) a State or local governmental entity 12 with an intergovernmental agreement with a 13 covered agency to incarcerate or detain Federal 14 prisoners or detainees in a non-Federal prison, 15 correctional, or detention facility; 16 (3) the term ‘‘covered agency’’ means an agency 17 that contracts with, or provides funds to, an applica- 18 ble entity to incarcerate or detain Federal prisoners 19 or detainees in a non-Federal prison, correctional, or 20 detention facility; and 21 (4) the term ‘‘non-Federal prison, correctional, 22 or detention facility’’ means— 23 (A) a privately owned or privately operated 24 prison, correctional, or detention facility; or 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:02 Jul 08, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H4133.IH H4133 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 3 •HR 4133 IH (B) a State or local prison, jail, or other 1 correctional or detention facility. 2 SEC. 3. FREEDOM OF INFORMATION ACT APPLICABLE FOR 3 CONTRACT PRISONS. 4 (a) IN GENERAL.—A record relating to a non-Fed- 5 eral prison, correctional, or detention facility shall be— 6 (1) considered an agency record for purposes of 7 section 552(f)(2) of title 5, United States Code, 8 whether in the possession of an applicable entity or 9 a covered agency; and 10 (2) subject to section 552 of title 5, United 11 States Code (commonly known as the ‘‘Freedom of 12 Information Act’’), to the same extent as if the 13 record was maintained by an agency operating a 14 Federal prison, correctional, or detention facility. 15 (b) WITHHOLDING OF INFORMATION.—A covered 16 agency may not withhold information that would otherwise 17 be required to be disclosed under subsection (a) unless— 18 (1) the covered agency, based on the inde- 19 pendent assessment of the covered agency, reason- 20 ably foresees that disclosure of the information 21 would cause specific identifiable harm to an interest 22 protected by an exemption from disclosure under 23 section 552(b) of title 5, United States Code; or 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:02 Jul 08, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H4133.IH H4133 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 4 •HR 4133 IH (2) disclosure of the information is prohibited 1 by law. 2 (c) FORMAT OF RECORDS.—An applicable entity 3 shall maintain records relating to a non-Federal prison, 4 correctional, or detention facility in formats that are read- 5 ily reproducible and reasonably searchable by the covered 6 agency that contracts with or provides funds to the appli- 7 cable entity to incarcerate or detain Federal prisoners or 8 detainees in the non-Federal prison, correctional, or deten- 9 tion facility. 10 (d) REGULATIONS.— 11 (1) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 180 days 12 after the date of enactment of this Act, a covered 13 agency shall promulgate regulations or guidance to 14 ensure compliance with this section by the covered 15 agency and an applicable entity that the covered 16 agency contracts with or provides funds to incar- 17 cerate or detain Federal prisoners or detainees in a 18 non-Federal prison, correctional, or detention facil- 19 ity. 20 (2) COMPLIANCE BY APPLICABLE ENTITIES.— 21 (A) IN GENERAL.—Compliance with this 22 section by an applicable entity shall be included 23 as a material term in any contract, agreement, 24 or renewal of a contract or agreement with the 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:02 Jul 08, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H4133.IH H4133 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 5 •HR 4133 IH applicable entity regarding the incarceration or 1 detention of Federal prisoners or detainees in a 2 non-Federal prison, correctional, or detention 3 facility. 4 (B) MODIFICATION OF CONTRACT OR 5 AGREEMENT.—Not later than 1 year after the 6 date of enactment of this Act, a covered agency 7 shall secure a modification to include compli- 8 ance with this section by an applicable entity as 9 a material term in any contract or agreement 10 described under subparagraph (A) that will not 11 otherwise be renegotiated, renewed, or modified 12 before the date that is 1 year after the date of 13 enactment of this Act. 14 (e) RULE OF CONSTRUCTION.—Nothing in this Act 15 shall be construed to limit or reduce the scope of State 16 or local open records laws. 17 Æ VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:02 Jul 08, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6301 E:\BILLS\H4133.IH H4133 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS