Violent Offender Incarceration and Truth in Sentencing Incentive Grants

The Department of Justice Office of Justice Programs Bureau of Justice Assistance funds construction and expansion of correctional facilities under Assistance Listing 16.586, with the most recent grant award made January 1, 2004. This program is no longer active; no grant opportunities are currently open.

The program funded three categories of correctional infrastructure: facilities to increase bed capacity for violent offenders; temporary or permanent facilities (including those on military bases, prison barges, and boot camps) to confine nonviolent offenders and free prison space for violent offenders; and jails. Recent awards span serious and violent offender reentry initiatives, correctional facilities on tribal lands, and juvenile corrections. A Formula Grant awarded October 1, 2000 obligated $9.7 million for VOI/TIS programming. A Project Grant for Serious and Violent Offender Reentry Initiative dated July 1, 2002 obligated $435,110. A Cooperative Agreement for evaluation of serious and violent offender reentry dated May 1, 2003 obligated $1.9 million.

The program distributed $579.2 million in federal funds across 223 awards from 1996 through 2004, with a combined total obligation of $598.8 million including non-federal matching share. The portfolio was predominantly evenly split between Formula Grants (49 percent, 110 awards) and Project Grants (48 percent, 106 awards), with a smaller share of Cooperative Agreements (3 percent, 7 awards). Funding peaked in 2002 with 66 awards; activity declined sharply thereafter to 1 award each in 2003 and 2004. The Department of Justice Office of Justice Programs Bureau of Justice Assistance was the sole funding agency across all awards. Award magnitudes ranged from sub-$20 thousand to $13.7 million, with substantial variation within Project Grants reflecting both large infrastructure grants and smaller reentry and specialized facility awards.