83 FR 27023 - Agency Information Collection Activities; Proposed eCollection eComments Requested; New collection: Death in Custody Reporting Act Collection

DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE

Federal Register Volume 83, Issue 112 (June 11, 2018)

The Department of Justice (DOJ), Bureau of Justice Assistance will be submitting the following information collection request to the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) for review and approval in accordance with the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995. The Death in Custody Reporting Act (DCRA) requires states and federal law enforcement agencies to report certain information to the Attorney General regarding the death of any person occurring during interactions with law enforcement officers or while in custody. See 34 U.S.C. 60105(a) & (b). It further requires the Attorney General and the Department of Justice (Department) to collect the information, establish guidelines on how it should be reported, annually determine whether each state has complied with the reporting requirements, and address any state's noncompliance.

[Federal Register Volume 83, Number 112 (Monday, June 11, 2018)]
[Notices]
[Pages 27023-27024]
From the Federal Register Online  [www.thefederalregister.org]
[FR Doc No: 2018-12503]


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DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE

[OMB Number 1121-NEW]


Agency Information Collection Activities; Proposed eCollection 
eComments Requested; New collection: Death in Custody Reporting Act 
Collection

AGENCY: Bureau of Justice Assistance, Department of Justice.

ACTION: 60-Day notice.

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SUMMARY: The Department of Justice (DOJ), Bureau of Justice Assistance 
will be submitting the following information collection request to the 
Office of Management and Budget (OMB) for review and approval in 
accordance with the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995.
    The Death in Custody Reporting Act (DCRA) requires states and 
federal law enforcement agencies to report certain information to the 
Attorney General regarding the death of any person occurring during 
interactions with law enforcement officers or while in custody. See 34 
U.S.C. 60105(a) & (b). It further requires the Attorney General and the 
Department of Justice (Department) to collect the information, 
establish guidelines on how it should be reported, annually determine 
whether each state has complied with the reporting requirements, and 
address any state's noncompliance.

DATES: Comments are encouraged and will be accepted for 60 days until 
August 10, 2018.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: If you have additional comments 
especially on the estimated public burden or associated response time, 
suggestions, or need a copy of the proposed information collection 
instrument with instructions or additional information, please contact 
Chris Casto, Bureau of Justice Assistance, 810 Seventh Street NW, 
Washington, DC 20531 (email: [email protected]; telephone: 202-
616-6500).

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Written comments and suggestions from the 
public and affected agencies concerning the proposed collection of 
information are encouraged. Your comments should address one or more of 
the following four points:

--Evaluate whether the proposed collection of information is necessary 
for the proper performance of the functions of the agency, including 
whether the information will have practical utility;
--Evaluate the accuracy of the agency's estimate of the burden of the 
proposed collection of information, including the validity of the 
methodology and assumptions used;
--Evaluate whether and if so how the quality, utility, and clarity of 
the information to be collected can be enhanced; and
--Minimize the burden of the collection of information on those who are 
to respond, including through the use of appropriate automated, 
electronic, mechanical, or other technological collection techniques or 
other forms of information technology, e.g., permitting electronic 
submission of responses.

    Overview of this information collection:
    1. Type of Information Collection: New Collection.
    2. The Title of the Form/Collection: Death in Custody Reporting Act 
Collection.
    3. The agency form number: if any, and the applicable component of 
the Department sponsoring the collection: DCR-1.
    Quarterly Summary. This summary form requires States to either (1) 
identify all reportable deaths that occurred in their jurisdiction 
during the corresponding quarter and provide basic information about 
the circumstances of the death, or (2) affirm that no reportable death 
occurred in the State during the reporting period. For each quarter in 
a fiscal year, a State must complete the Quarterly Summary (Form DCR-1) 
and submit it by the reporting deadline. The Quarterly Summary is a 
list of all reportable deaths that occurred in the State during the 
corresponding quarter with basic information about the circumstances of 
each death. If a State did not have a reportable death during the 
quarter, the State must so indicate on the Quarterly Summary. The 
reporting deadline to submit the Quarterly Summary is the last day of 
the month following the close of the quarter. For each quarter, BJA 
will send two reminders prior to the reporting deadline.
    Example. The second quarter of a fiscal year is January 1-March 31. 
The deadline to submit the second quarter Quarterly Summary is April 
30. BJA will send a reminder to States on March 31 and April 15.
    Incident Report. This incident report form requires States to 
provide additional information for each reportable death identified in 
the Quarterly Summary that occurred during interactions with law 
enforcement personnel or while in their custody. For each reportable 
death identified in the Quarterly Summary, a State must complete and 
submit by the

[[Page 27024]]

same reporting deadline an Incident Report (Form DCR-1A), which 
contains specific information on the circumstances of the death and 
additional characteristics of the decedent. These include:
     The decedent's name, date of birth, gender, race, and 
ethnicity.
     The date, time, and location of the death.
     The law enforcement or correctional agency involved.
     Manner of death.
    States must answer all questions on the Incident Report before they 
can submit the form. If the State does not have sufficient information 
to complete one of the questions, then the State may select the 
``unknown'' answer, if available, and then identify when the 
information is anticipated to be obtained.
    4. Affected public who will be asked or required to respond, as 
well as a brief abstract:
    Primary: State, Local, or Tribal Government.
    Abstract: In order to comply with the mandate of the DCRA, the 
Department of Justice, Bureau of Justice Assistance, is proposing a new 
data collection for State Administering Agencies to collect and submit 
information regarding the death of any person who is detained, under 
arrest, or is in the process of being arrested, is en route to be 
incarcerated, or is incarcerated at a municipal or county jail, State 
prison, State-run boot camp prison, boot camp prison that is contracted 
out by the State, any State or local contract facility, or other local 
or State correctional facility (including any juvenile facility).
    DOJ proposes the following plan to collect DCRA information at the 
end of fiscal year 2019 and beyond. The plan, which constitutes 
``guidelines established by the Attorney General'' pursuant to section 
2(a) of the DCRA, encompasses provisions specifically required by the 
statute.
    For purposes of this notice, the term ``reportable death'' means 
any death that the DCRA or the Department's guidelines require States 
to report. Generally, these are deaths that occurred during 
interactions with law enforcement personnel or while the decedent was 
in their custody or in the custody, under the supervision, or under the 
jurisdiction of a State or local law enforcement or correctional 
agency, such as a jail or prison. Specifically, the DCRA requires 
States to report ``information regarding the death of any person who is 
detained, under arrest, or is in the process of being arrested, is en 
route to be incarcerated, or is incarcerated at a municipal or county 
jail, State prison, State-run boot camp prison, boot camp prison that 
is contracted out by the State, any State or local contract facility, 
or other local or State correctional facility (including any juvenile 
facility).'' 34 U.S.C. 60105(a).
    Please note that the DCRA information that States submit to the 
Department must originate from official government records, documents, 
or personnel.
    The DCRA requires quarterly reporting. Because these data 
collection guidelines and associated system changes will not be 
finalized until FY 2019, quarterly reporting will begin with the 1st 
quarter of FY 2020. Deaths in prisons and jails occurring during 2018 
and 2019 will be captured by BJS through its existing data collection 
program on deaths in prisons and jails. Beginning with the first 
quarter of FY 2020 (October 2019), quarterly DCRA reporting to BJA will 
include all reportable deaths--deaths occurring during interactions 
with law enforcement personnel or while in their custody and deaths in 
jail, prison, or detention settings. (i.e., deaths reportable on Form 
DCR-1).
    5. An estimate of the total number of respondents and the amount of 
time estimated for an average respondent to respond: For purposes of 
this collection, the term ``State'' includes any State of the United 
States, the District of Columbia, the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, the 
Virgin Islands, American Samoa, Guam, and the Northern Mariana Islands. 
Thus, the affected public that will be asked to respond on a quarterly 
basis each federal fiscal year includes 56 State and Territorial 
actors. These States will be requesting information from approximately 
19,450 State and local law enforcement agencies (LEAs), 56 State and 
Territorial departments of corrections, and 2,800 local adult jail 
jurisdictions.
    6. An estimate of the total public burden (in hours) associated 
with the collection: For purposes of this burden calculation, it is 
estimated that for each fiscal year there will be a total of 1,900 
reportable deaths by 1,060 LEAs, 1,053 reportable deaths by 600 jails, 
and 3,483 reportable deaths by prisons. For FY 2020 and beyond, the 
total projected respondent burden is 13,756.49 hours. States will need 
an estimated 4.00 hours to complete each Quarterly Summary for a total 
of 4,480.00 hours, 0.25 hours to complete each corresponding Incident 
Reports (DCR-1A) for a total of 1,713.49 hours. For LEAs, the estimated 
burden to assist States in completing the Quarterly Summaries is 0.40 
hours per Report for a total of 1,696.00 hours, and a total of 1,425.00 
hours, at 0.75 hours for each corresponding Incident Report. The 
estimated burden for jails is a total of 960.00 hours to assist States 
in completing the Quarterly Summaries and 789.75 hours in completing 
Incident Reports. Finally, the estimated burden for prisons to assist 
States in completing the Quarterly Summaries is a total of 80.00 hours, 
and a total of 2,612.25 hours to assist States in completing Incident 
Reports.
    If additional information is required contact: Melody Braswell, 
Department Clearance Officer, United States Department of Justice, 
Justice Management Division, Policy and Planning Staff, Two 
Constitution Square, 145 N Street NE, 3E.405A, Washington, DC 20530.

    Dated: June 6, 2018.
Melody Braswell,
Department Clearance Officer for PRA, U.S. Department of Justice.
[FR Doc. 2018-12503 Filed 6-8-18; 8:45 am]
 BILLING CODE 4410-FY-P