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ExpectMore.govExpectMore.gov home pageEXPECT FEDERAL PROGRAMS TO PERFORM WELL, AND BETTER EVERY YEAR.
Program Assessment

Program

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Prison Construction

The Bureau of Prisons protects society by confining federal inmates in prisons and other facilities that are safe, humane, cost-efficient, and appropriately secure. The Bureau accomplishes this mission through constructing new prisons, expanding and modifying existing facilities and by use of contract prison facilities.

Rating

What This Rating Means

PERFORMING
Adequate

This rating describes a program that needs to set more ambitious goals, achieve better results, improve accountability or strengthen its management practices.
  • The Bureau is increasingly housing low security inmates at State, local and private sector prison facilities in order to reduce crowding. There are over 113,500 low and minimum security inmates, and over 32,600 are housed in contract confinement - this represents 16.4% of the total BOP population.
  • The Bureau completed construction of 11 new medium and high security facilities in FY 2004/FY2005, completed one in January 2006, one in April 2006 and one in February 2007. Also, BOP is committed to using contract prisons to house low security inmates.

Improvement Plan

About Improvement Plans

We are taking the following actions to improve the performance of the program:

  • Increasing reliance on state, local and private sector jail space to house low and minimum security federal inmates.
  • Piloting stun/lethal electric perimeter fencing at seven newly constructed high security facilities.

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