34 U.S.C. § 12103 — Violent offender incarceration grants

(a) Eligibility for minimum grant To get a minimum grant, a state must apply to the Attorney General and show it has, or will, put in place correctional policies — including truth-in-sentencing laws — that make sure violent offenders (including violent juvenile offenders) serve a substantial part of their sentence. Those policies must give sufficiently severe punishment, and the time actually served must be appropriately related to how dangerous the offender is judged to be, and to protecting the public. (b) Additional amount for increased percentage of persons sentenced and time served A state that already got a grant under subsection (a) may get more money if, since 1993, it has: (1) increased the share of people arrested for a part 1 violent crime who get sent to prison; or (2) increased the average prison time actually served, or the average percent of the sentence served, by people convicted of a part 1 violent crime. Getting money under this subsection does not stop a state from also getting money under subsection (c). (c) Additional amount for increased rate of incarceration and percentage of sentence served A state that got a grant under subsection (a) may also get more money if it has: (1) since 1993, both increased the share of arrested part 1 violent offenders sent to prison, and increased the average percent of sentence served by people convicted of a part 1 violent crime; or (2) increased, by 10 percent or more over the most recent 3-year period, the number of new court commitments to prison for people convicted of part 1 violent crimes. Getting money under this subsection does not stop a state from also getting money under subsection (b).