E8-2599. Agency Information Collection Activities: Existing Collection; Comment Requested

ACTION: 30-Day Notice of Information Collection Under Review:

Re-instatement and revision of existing collection,

    

Prison Population Reports: Midyear Population Counts and Summary of Sentenced Population Movement—National Prisoner Statistics.

The Department of Justice (DOJ), Office of Justice Programs, will be submitting the following information collection to the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) for review and approval in accordance with the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995. The proposed information collection is published to obtain comments from the public and affected agencies. This proposed information collection was published in the Federal Register Volume 72, Number 234, page 68900-68901 on December 6, 2007, allowing for a 60 day public comment period.

The purpose of this notice is to allow an additional 30 days for public comments until March 14, 2008. This process is in accordance with 5 CFR 1320.10.

Written comments and/or suggestions regarding the items contained in this notice, especially the estimated public burden and associated response time, should be directed to The Office of Management and Budget, Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs, Attention Department of Justice Desk Officer, Washington, DC 20503. Additionally, comments may be submitted to OMB via fascimile to [phone].

Request 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 points:

(1) Evaluate whether the proposed collections of information are necessary for the proper performance of the functions of the agency, including whether the information will have practical utility;

(2) Evaluate the accuracy of the agencies estimate of the burden of the proposed collection of information, including the validity of the methodology and assumptions used;

(3) Enhance the quality, utility, and clarity of the information to be collected; and

(4) 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 submissions of responses.

Overview of this information collection:

(1) Type of Information Collection: Re-instatement and minor revision.

(2) Title of the Form/Collection: Prison Population Reports Midyear Counts; and Summary of Sentenced Population Movement—National Prisoner Statistics

(3) Agency form number, if any, and the applicable component of the Department of Justice sponsoring the collection: Form number: NPS-1A; and NPS-1B. Office of Justice Programs, U.S. Department of Justice.

(4) Affected public who will be asked to respond, as well as a brief abstract: Primary: State Departments of Corrections. Others: The Federal Bureau of Prisons. For the NPS-1A form, 51 central reporters (one from each State and the Federal Bureau of Prisons) responsible for keeping records on inmates will be asked to provide information for the following categories:

(a) As of June 30, the number of male and female inmates under their jurisdiction with maximum sentences of more than one year, one year or less; and unsentenced inmates; and

(b) The number of male and female inmates in their custody with maximum sentences of more than one year, one year or less; and unsentenced inmates; and

(c) The number of male and female inmates under their jurisdiction housed in privately-operated facility, either in state or out of state;

(d) The number of male and females inmates in their custody by race and Hispanic origin;

(e) The number of male and female inmates under the age of 18 held in their system; and

(f) The number of male and female noncitizen inmates held in their system.

For the NPS-1B form, 51 central reporters (one from each and the Federal Bureau of Prisons) responsible for keeping records on inmates will be asked to provide information for the following categories:

(a) As of December 31, the number of male and female inmates within their custody and under their jurisdiction with maximum sentences of more than one year, one year or less; and unsentenced inmates;

(b) The number of inmates housed in privately operated facilities, county or other local authority correctional facilities, or in other state or Federal facilities on December 31;

(c) Prison admission information in the calendar year for the following categories: new court commitments, parole violators, other conditional release violators returned, transfers from other jurisdictions, AWOLs and escapees returned, and returns from appeal and bond;

(d) Prison release information in the calendar year for the following categories: expirations of sentence, commutations, other conditional releases, probations, supervised mandatory releases, paroles, other conditional releases, deaths by cause, AWOLs, escapes, transfers to other jurisdictions, and releases to appeal or bond;

(e) Number of inmates under jurisdiction on December 31 by race and Hispanic origin;

(f) Testing of incoming inmates for HIV; and HIV infection and AIDS cases on December 31; and

(g) The aggregate rated, operational, and design capacities, by sex, of each State's correctional facilities at year-end.

The Bureau of Justice Statistics uses this information in published reports and for the U.S. Congress, Executive Office of the President, practitioners, researchers, students, the media, and others interested in criminal justice statistics.

(5) An estimate of the total number of respondents and the amount of time needed for an average respondent to respond to both forms: 51 respondents each taking an average 8.0 total hours to respond (1.5 hours for the NPS-1A and 6.5 hours for the NPS-1B). Burden hours are up by 255 hours under this clearance because we are adding the elements from the NPS-1 form (approved under OMB number 1121-0078), with 51 respondents each taking an estimated 6 hours to complete. However, we are also eliminating the previous NPS-1B form due to redundancy, 51 respondents at 1.5 hours each, thus reducing the overall burden of the NPS series by 76.5 hours.

(6) An estimate of the total public burden (in hours) associated with the collection: 408 annual burden hours.

If additional information is required, contact: Ms. Lynn Bryant, Department Clearance Officer, United States Department of Justice, Justice Management Division, Policy and Planning staff, Patrick Henry Building, Suite 1600, 601 D Street, NW., Washington, DC 20530

Dated: February 7, 2008.

Lynn Bryant,

Department Clearance Officer, PRA, United States Department of Justice.