83 FR 47369 - Agency Information Collection Activities; Proposed eCollection eComments Requested; Extension of a Currently Approved Collection: National Corrections Reporting Program

DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE

Federal Register Volume 83, Issue 182 (September 19, 2018)

The Department of Justice (DOJ), Office of Justice Programs, Bureau of Justice Statistics, 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.

[Federal Register Volume 83, Number 182 (Wednesday, September 19, 2018)]
[Notices]
[Pages 47369-47371]
From the Federal Register Online  [www.thefederalregister.org]
[FR Doc No: 2018-20354]


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DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE

[OMB Number 1121-0065]


Agency Information Collection Activities; Proposed eCollection 
eComments Requested; Extension of a Currently Approved Collection: 
National Corrections Reporting Program

AGENCY: Bureau of Justice Statistics, Department of Justice.

ACTION: 30-Day notice.

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SUMMARY: The Department of Justice (DOJ), Office of Justice Programs, 
Bureau of Justice Statistics, 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.

DATES: Comments are encouraged and will be accepted for 30 days until 
October 19, 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 
Elizabeth Ann Carson, Statistician, Bureau of Justice Statistics, 810 
Seventh Street NW, Washington, DC 20531 (email: 
[email protected]; telephone: 202/616.3496).

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: National Corrections 
Reporting Program. The collection includes the following parts: 
Prisoner Admission Report, Prisoner Release Report, Prisoners in 
Custody at Year-end Report, Post-Custody Community Supervision Entry 
Report, Post-Custody Community Supervision Exit Report.
    (3) The agency form number, if any, and the applicable component of 
the Department sponsoring the collection: Form number(s): NCRP-1A, 
NCRP-1B, NCRP-1D, NCRP-1E, NCRP-1F. The applicable component within the 
Department of Justice is the Bureau of Justice Statistics (Corrections 
Unit), in the Office of Justice Programs.
    (4) Affected public who will be asked or required to respond, as 
well as a brief

[[Page 47370]]

abstract: Primary: 50 state departments of corrections (DOCs) and 7 
parole supervising agencies (in six states and the District of 
Columbia). The National Corrections Reporting Program (NCRP) is the 
only national data collection furnishing annual individual-level 
information for state prisoners at five points in the incarceration 
process: Prison admission, prison release, annual year-end prison 
custody census, entry to post-custody community corrections 
supervision, and exits from post-custody community corrections 
supervision. BJS, the U.S. Congress, researchers, and criminal justice 
practitioners use these data to describe annual movements of adult 
offenders through state correctional systems, as well as to examine 
long-term trends in time served in prison, demographic and offense 
characteristics of inmates, sentencing practices in the states that 
submit data, transitions between incarceration and community 
corrections, and recidivism. Providers of the data are personnel in the 
states' Departments of Corrections and Parole, and all data are 
submitted on a voluntary basis. The NCRP collects the following 
administrative data on each inmate in participating states' custody:

 County of sentencing
 State and federal inmate identification numbers
 Dates of: Birth, prison admission, prison release, projected 
prison release, mandatory prison release, eligibility hearing for post-
custody community corrections supervision, post-custody community 
corrections supervision entry, post-custody community corrections 
supervision exit
 First, middle, and last names
 Demographic information: Sex, race, Hispanic origin, education 
level, prior military service, date and type of last discharge from 
military
 Offense type and number of counts per inmate for a maximum of 
three convicted offenses per inmate
 Total sentence length imposed
 Type of facility where inmate is serving sentence (for year-
end custody census records only, the name of the facility is also 
requested)
 Type of prison admission
 Type of prison release
 Location of post-custody community supervision exit or post-
custody community supervision office (post-custody community 
supervision records only)
 Social security number
 Address of last residence prior to incarceration
 Prison security level at which the inmate is held

    For consideration, BJS is proposing to add the following items to 
the NCRP collection, all of which are likely available from the same 
databases as existing data elements and should likely pose minimal 
additional burden to the respondents, while enhancing BJS' ability to 
characterize the corrections systems and populations it serves:

 Status of current U.S. citizenship
 Country of current citizenship
 Country of birth

    Finally, BJS is proposing to remove the following 7 items from the 
NCRP collection, based on a combination of low response rates (less 
than 50% of states) and/or high levels of missing data (30% or higher 
missing) among states that do respond:

 Prior prison time served by the offender
 Additional offenses since admission date
 Additional sentence time since admission date
 Whether the offender was on AWOL or escape while serving 
sentences
 Whether the offender was serving time concurrently on 
community release prior to prison release
 The number of days on community release prior to prison 
release served by the offender
 Offender's supervision status prior to release from post-
custody community supervision

    BJS uses the information gathered in NCRP in published reports and 
statistics. The reports will be made available to the U.S. Congress, 
Executive Office of the President, practitioners, researchers, 
students, the media, others interested in criminal justice statistics, 
and the general public via the BJS website.
    BJS received 3 comments to its 60-day Federal Register Notice 
(https://www.federalregister.gov/documents/2018/07/09/2018-14599/agency-information-collection-activities-proposed-ecollection-ecomments-requested-extension-of-a). Responses to these comments will 
be included in the final clearance package submitted to OMB and 
available at the NCRP page on www.reginfo.gov (https://www.reginfo.gov/public/do/PRAOMBHistory?ombControlNumber=1121-0065).
    (5) An estimate of the total number of respondents and the amount 
of time estimated for an average respondent to respond: BJS anticipates 
57 respondents to NCRP by 2021: 50 state DOC respondents and seven 
separate parole supervising agencies (in six states and the District of 
Columbia). Burden hours for the three collection years (2019-2021) 
differ based on whether a state has previously submitted NCRP prison 
and PCCS data in recent years. All 50 DOCs have recently submitted NCRP 
prison data, but currently, only 32 DOCs have submitted PCCS data in 
the last four years.

Burden Hours for Prison Records (NCRP-1A, NCRP-1B, NCRP-1D)

    All 50 DOCs have recently submitted NCRP prison data, so the 
average time needed to continue providing prison data is expected to be 
8 hours per respondent for both prisoner admissions and releases (NCRP-
1A and NCRP-1B) and 8 hours for data on persons in prison at year-end 
(NCRP-1D). For 2019, the total burden estimate of 16 hours per DOC for 
these three record types is increased by 45 minutes from the previous 
NCRP OMB submission, to account for the addition and removal of 
variables from states' extract programs (a 30 minute increase to add 
citizenship questions to NCRP-1A and NCRP-1D, and a 15 minute increase 
to remove the 7 variables). The total amount of time estimated for 50 
DOCs to submit NCRP-A, -B, and -D records in 2019 is 837.5 hours (16.75 
hours * 50 = 837.5 hours).

    In 2020 and 2021, BJS expects to have all 50 DOCs providing NCRP 
prison data. The burden for provision of the NCRP prison data will 
decrease to 14 hours per respondent due to the removal of the 7 items 
(7 hours for the prison admission and release records combined, and 7 
hours for the year-end custody records), for a total of 700 hours 
annually for the 50 DOCs in 2020 and 2021 (14 hours * 50 = 700 hours).

Burden Hours for PCCS Records (NCRP-1E, NCRP-1F)

    There are currently 37 jurisdictions submitting PCCS data (32 DOCs 
and 5 parole boards), and BJS estimates that extraction and submission 
of both the PCCS entries and exits takes an average of 8 hours per 
jurisdiction. In 2019, BJS anticipates that 8 additional DOCs and one 
parole supervising agency (likely the District of Columbia) will submit 
data, with the burden for each new jurisdiction being 24 hours to set 
up extraction programs and make the submission. Thus, the burden for 
PCCS records is 296 hours for those already submitting (8 hours * 37 = 
296 hours), and 216 hours for new submissions (24 hours * 9 = 216). The 
total amount of time for all PCCS submissions in 2019 is 512 hours.
    In 2020, BJS hope to recruit an additional 2 DOCs and the remaining 
parole supervising agency to submit NCRP PCCS data. The total estimate 
for submission of PCCS for new jurisdictions in 2020 is 72 hours (24

[[Page 47371]]

hours * 3 = 72 hours). For those 40 DOCs and 6 parole boards currently 
responding, provision of the PCCS data in 2020 will total 368 hours (8 
hours * 46 = 368 hours). The total amount of time for all PCCS 
submissions in 2020 is 440 hours.
    Similarly, BJS hopes that the remaining 2 DOCs will submit PCCS 
data for the first time in 2021. The remaining non-reporting DOCs would 
need a total of 48 hours to create data extraction programs and begin 
data submission (24 hours * 2 = 48 hours). Those jurisdictions (42 DOCs 
and 7 parole supervising agencies) who provided NCRP PCCS data in 2020 
will require 392 hours total to do the same in 2021 (8 hours * 49 = 392 
hours). The total amount of time for all PCCS submissions in 2021 is 
440 hours.

Burden Hours for Data Review/Follow-Up Consultations

    Follow-up consultations with respondents are usually necessary 
while processing the data to obtain further information regarding the 
definition, completeness and accuracy of their report. The duration of 
these follow-up consultations will vary based on the number of record 
types submitted, so BJS has estimated an average of 3 hours per 
jurisdiction to cover all of the records (prison and/or PCCS) 
submitted. In 2019, BJS anticipates that one of the two parole 
supervising agencies not currently submitting PCCS data will begin to 
submit, so the number of jurisdictions requiring follow-up 
consultations is 51 (50 DOCs submitting at least the prison data, and 
one parole supervising agency submitting only PCCS data). This yields a 
total of 153 hours of follow-up consultation after submission (3 hours 
* 51 = 153 hours).
    This total estimate of 153 hours for data review/follow-up 
consultations remains the same for 2020 and 2021.

Total Burden Hours for Submitting NCRP Data

    BJS anticipates that the total burden for provision and data 
follow-up of all NCRP data across the participating jurisdictions in 
2019 is 1,502.5 hours (837.5 hours for prison records, 512 hours for 
PCCS records, and 153 hours for follow-up consultation). This is 
equivalent to roughly 29 hours per respondent. The total annual burden 
for provision and follow-up of NCRP data in 2020 and 2021 is 
anticipated to be 1,293 hours (700 hours for prison records, 440 hours 
for PCCS records, and 153 hours for follow-up consultation).
    (6) An estimate of the total public burden (in hours) associated 
with the collection: There are an estimated 1,502.5 total burden hours 
associated with this collection in 2019, and 1,293 hours in both 2020 
and 2021.
    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.405B, Washington, DC 20530.

    Dated: September 14, 2018.
Melody Braswell,
Department Clearance Officer for PRA, U.S. Department of Justice.
[FR Doc. 2018-20354 Filed 9-18-18; 8:45 am]
 BILLING CODE 4410-18-P