“To require the Bureau of Prisons to issue identification documents to prisoners being released from Federal custody, and for other purposes.”
No CRS summary available for this bill.
This section requires the Director of the Bureau of Prisons (BOP), not later than 180 days after enactment, to issue a photo identification release card—meeting minimum standards under the REAL ID Act of 2005—to each U.S. citizen prisoner released from BOP custody, with the card valid for not less than 18 months after release. The section further (1) directs the BOP Director to negotiate with each state a system allowing prisoners to use the card to obtain state identification, with annual progress reports to the Senate and House Judiciary Committees beginning one year after enactment; (2) mandates acceptance of the card as proof of identity for federal programs including old-age, survivors, and disability insurance benefits (Social Security title II), Medicaid, Medicare, other Department of Health and Human Services activities, SNAP, TANF-funded programs, probation and pretrial services, Court Services and Offender Supervision Agency for the District of Columbia activities, Department of Education programs, Department of Housing and Urban Development programs, Department of Veterans Affairs programs, and federal building entry; and (3) requires the Attorney General, within one year of enactment, to issue guidance to states on providing similar photo ID release cards to state prisoners. (As background, 18 U.S.C. 4042(a)(6) currently requires BOP prerelease procedures to assist prisoners in obtaining identification and benefits prior to release; this provision supplements those procedures without satisfying them.)