83 FR 46190 - Agency Information Collection Activities; Proposed eCollection eComments Requested; Extension of a Currently Approved Collection: Mortality in Correctional Institutions (State Prisons)

DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE

Federal Register Volume 83, Issue 177 (September 12, 2018)

The Department of Justice (DOJ), Office of Justice Programs, Bureau of Justice Statistics, will be submitting an extension to an existing information collection to the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) for review and approval in accordance with the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995.

[Federal Register Volume 83, Number 177 (Wednesday, September 12, 2018)]
[Notices]
[Pages 46190-46191]
From the Federal Register Online  [www.thefederalregister.org]
[FR Doc No: 2018-19802]


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DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE

[OMB Number 1121-0249]


Agency Information Collection Activities; Proposed eCollection 
eComments Requested; Extension of a Currently Approved Collection: 
Mortality in Correctional Institutions (State Prisons)

AGENCY: Bureau of Justice Statistics, Department of Justice.

ACTION: 60-day notice.

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SUMMARY: The Department of Justice (DOJ), Office of Justice Programs, 
Bureau of Justice Statistics, will be submitting an extension to an 
existing information collection to the Office of Management and Budget 
(OMB) for review and approval in accordance with the Paperwork 
Reduction Act of 1995.

DATES: Comments are encouraged and will be accepted for 60 days until 
November 13, 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 
Mary Cowhig, Statistician, 810 Seventh Street NW, Washington, DC 20531 
(email: [email protected]; telephone: 202-353-4982).

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 Bureau of Justice 
Statistics, 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: Extension of a currently 
approved collection.
    2. The Title of the Form/Collection: Mortality in Correctional 
Institutions (State Prisons) (MCI-State Prisons).
    3. The agency form number, if any, and the applicable component of 
the Department sponsoring the collection: The MCI-State Prisons 
collection currently includes the following forms:
     NPS-4: Annual Summary of Inmate Deaths in State Prisons. 
This form is sent to the 50 state DOCs to collect the number of state 
prisoner deaths in a calendar year.
     NPS-4A: State Prison Inmate Death Report Form. Annually, 
this form is sent to the 50 state DOCs to collect details about each 
state prisoner death.
    The applicable component within the Department of Justice is the 
Bureau of Justice Statistics (BJS), in the Office of Justice Programs.
    BJS proposes to transfer the MCI-Jails information collection from 
the currently approved OMB collection under control number 1121-0094, 
where it was bundled with the Annual Survey of Jails and the Survey of 
Jails in Indian Country collections in 2015, to this collection (OMB 
Control Number 1121-0249, expiration 03/31/2019) to form one mortality 
collection program.
    The combined mortality collection would include the 50 state 
departments of corrections (DOCs) plus approximately 3,000 local jail 
jurisdictions and would collect data on the number and nature of inmate 
deaths in the custody of state correctional facilities.
    Prior to 2015, BJS collected mortality data from both state prisons 
and local jails under the OMB Control Number 1121-0249. In 2015, the 
Mortality in Correctional Institutions (Jails) (MCI-Jails) portion of 
the collection was bundled with the Annual Survey of Jails (ASJ) and 
the Survey of Jails in Indian Country (SJIC) in an attempt to 
consolidate the response burden placed on jails. However, the overlap 
among these three collections is small, both in terms of jails covered 
in each and context collected:
     MCI-Jails requests annual data from about 3,000 jail 
jurisdictions on deaths, the confined population as of December

[[Page 46191]]

31, average daily population (ADP), number of holds for other 
jurisdictions, and number of admissions.
     The ASJ samples approximately 900 local jails, and 
provides data to estimate the number and characteristics of local jail 
inmates nationwide. The ASJ collects population information, including 
the number of confined inmates, number of individuals supervised in the 
community by local jails, average daily population, and the number of 
holds for other authorities as of June 30. The ASJ also obtains data on 
inmate movements, including the number of admissions and discharges; 
facility characteristics, including rated and peak capacities and 
staffing; and inmate characteristics, including race and ethnicity, 
sex, age group (adult or juvenile), primary offense, and conviction 
status.
     The SJIC collects data from Indian country jails that are 
not part of either the ASJ or the MCI-Jails collections. The SJIC 
collects information from confinement facilities, detention centers, 
jails, and other facilities operated by tribal authorities or the 
Bureau of Indian Affairs.

Although there is some duplication in data collected by the ASJ and 
MCI-Jails, the reference dates are different and the ASJ is a sample, 
whereas MCI-Jails is a full enumeration of jail jurisdictions. Due to 
seasonal fluctuations in jail populations, and fewer inmates held at 
year-end (December 31), the ASJ uses the last weekday in June as its 
reference date. MCI-Jails uses December 31 as its reference date, and 
more importantly, uses ADP from January 1 to December 31 as the 
denominator in calculating mortality rates, which is consistent with 
the time period represented by the numerator, the number of deaths in a 
calendar year.
    The following forms are proposed to be transferred from OMB Control 
Number 1121-0094 to OMB Control Number 1121-0249:
     CJ-9: Death Report on Inmates under Jail Jurisdiction. 
This form goes to all jail jurisdictions that are operated by a county 
or city. Jail administrators are requested to complete the form if 
their facilities had one or more deaths in a calendar year.
     CJ-10: Death Report on Inmates in Private and Multi-
Jurisdictional Jails. This form goes to all confinement facilities 
administered by two or more local governments (regional jails) and 
privately owned or operated confinement facilities. Jail administrators 
are requested to complete the form if their facilities had one or more 
deaths in a calendar year.
     CJ-9A: Annual Summary on Inmates under Jail Jurisdiction. 
This form goes to county and city jail jurisdictions. The form collects 
the number of male and female deaths in custody in a calendar year, the 
number of males and females confined as of December 31, the number of 
male and female admissions during the year, the average daily 
population by sex, and the number of persons confined on behalf of 
other agencies.
     CJ-10A: Annual Summary on Inmates in Private and Multi-
Jurisdictional Jails. This form goes to confinement facilities 
administered by two or more local governments (regional jails) and to 
privately owned or operated facilities. The form collects the same 
information as Form CJ-9A.
    4. Affected public who will be asked or required to respond, as 
well as a brief abstract: The combined MCI for prisons and jails would 
collect annual data from the 50 state departments of corrections and 
roughly 3,000 jail jurisdictions on the number and nature of deaths in 
their custody.
    5. An estimate of the total number of respondents and the amount of 
time estimated for an average respondent to respond:

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                                                                                                   Total burden
                                                  Number of data     Number of        Average       (in hours,
    Data supplier and form      Reporting method     suppliers       responses    reporting time    rounded to
                                                                                   (in minutes)    whole number)
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Verification calls (local       Telephone.......           3,000           3,000               9             450
 jails).
CJ-9A, CJ-10A jail annual       Online, mail....           3,000           2,900              15             725
 summary.
CJ-9, CJ-10 jail death report.  Online, mail....           3,000           1,000              30             500
Data quality follow-up (local   Telephone, email           3,000             350              10              58
 jails).
                               ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------
    Total, MCI-Jails..........  ................  ..............  ..............  ..............           1,733
Verification calls (state       Telephone.......              50              50               9               8
 prisons).
NPS-4A, state prison death      Online, mail....              50           3,500              30           1,750
 report.
NPS-4, state prison annual      Online, mail....              50              50               5               4
 summary.
Data quality follow-up (state   Telephone, email              50             420              10              70
 prisons).
    Total, MCI-State Prisons..  ................  ..............  ..............  ..............           1,832
                               ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------
        Total Burden..........  ................  ..............  ..............  ..............           3,565
                               ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------
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    The estimated total burden hours associated with this combined jail 
and state prison mortality collection for report year 2018 is 3,565. 
This is a transfer of 1,733 hours from the jail mortality collection to 
the state prison mortality collection. When the state prison mortality 
collection was last approved in 2016, the total burden estimate was 
1,723 hours. The state prison portion is now estimated at 1,832 burden 
hours due to an increase in the expected number of individual death 
reports. Based on the average number of death reports received over the 
most recent 10-year period, BJS expects to receive about 3,500 state 
prison and 1,000 jail death reports per year.
    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: September 7, 2018.
Melody Braswell,
Department Clearance Officer for PRA, U.S. Department of Justice.
[FR Doc. 2018-19802 Filed 9-11-18; 8:45 am]
 BILLING CODE 4410-18-P