The Violent Offender Incarceration and Truth-in-Sentencing (VOI/TIS) Incentive Formula Grant Program provided states with funding to build or expand correctional facilities and jails. From fiscal years (FYs) 1996 through 2001, half of the funds were made available for Violent Offender Incarceration Grants, and half were available as incentive awards to states that implement truth-in-sentencing laws.

VOI/TIS grant funds allowed states to build or expand correctional facilities to increase the bed capacity for the confinement of persons convicted of Part 1 violent crimes or adjudicated delinquents for an act that, if committed by an adult, would be a Part 1 violent crime. Funds could also be used to build or expand temporary or permanent correctional facilities, including facilities on military bases, prison barges, and boot camps; to confine convicted nonviolent offenders and criminal aliens; or to free suitable existing prison space for the confinement of persons convicted of Part 1 violent crimes. States also were able to award subgrants of up to 15 percent of their award to local units of government to build or expand jails, and up to 10 percent of a state's VOI/TIS award (1) to the costs of offender drug testing or intervention programs during periods of incarceration and post-incarceration criminal justice supervision and/or (2) to pay the costs of providing the required reports on prison drug use.

Legislation: The VOI/TIS Grant Program was authorized by Title II, Subtitle A of the Crime Act of 1994, as amended (Public Law 103-322).

Funding: No funds were appropriated for FYs 2002-2004. More than $2.7 billion in VOI/TIS funds were awarded to states in FYs 1996 through 2001.

Eligibility: States (any of the 50 states, the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico, the U.S. Virgin Islands, American Samoa, Guam, and the Northern Mariana Islands) were eligible to apply for a formula grant under this program. Awards were made to the state office designated by the Governor to administer the program. The state office was able to make subawards to state agencies and units of local government.

Violent Offender Incarceration Grants

The Violent Offender Incarceration grant funds were allocated to states using a three-tiered formula. Each tier had different criteria for eligibility. Eligible states could have received funding under all three tiers. Eighty-five percent of the funds available from the Violent Offender Incarceration Grants were available for the first two tiers, and no state received more than 9 percent of the total funds available for these two tiers. The remaining 15 percent was reserved for the third tier. The requirements and allocations for the three tiers were as follows:

Violent Offender Incarceration: Tier 1

To qualify for the Violent Offender Incarceration funds, a state had to provide an assurance in its application for funding that it has implemented, or will implement, correctional policies and programs, including truth-in-sentencing laws, that (1) ensure that violent offenders serve a substantial portion of the sentence imposed; (2) provide sufficiently severe punishment for violent offenders, including violent juvenile offenders; and (3) ensure that the prison time served is appropriately related to the determination that the inmate is a violent offender and is deemed necessary to protect the public.

Violent Offender Incarceration: Tier 2

A state receiving grants under Tier 1 was eligible for additional Tier 2 funds if it demonstrated that, since 1993, it had increased (1) the percentage of persons had arrested for a Part 1 violent crime and sentenced to prison; (2) the average prison time actually served by Part 1 violent offenders; or (3) the average percent of a sentence served by persons convicted of a Part 1 violent crime.

Violent Offender Incarceration: Tier 3

A state that received a grant under Tier 1 (and Tier 2, if applicable) was eligible for Tier 3 funds if it demonstrated that it had, since 1993, (1) increased the percentage of persons arrested for a Part 1 violent crime and sentenced to prison and (2) increased the average percentage of sentence served by persons convicted of a Part 1 violent crime; or (3) increased by 10 percent or more over the most recent 3-year period the number of new court commitments to prison of persons convicted of Part 1 violent crimes.

Truth-in-Sentencing Incentive Grants

To be eligible for Truth-in-Sentencing Incentive funds, a state with a determinate sentencing structure had to have demonstrated any one of the following: (1) the implementation of truth-in-sentencing laws that require persons convicted of a Part 1 violent crime to serve not less than 85 percent of the sentence imposed; (2) the implementation of truth-in-sentencing laws that result in persons convicted of a Part 1 violent crime serving on average not less than 85 percent of the sentence imposed; or (3) the enactment of (may not yet have been implemented) truth-in-sentencing laws that require the state, not later than 3 years after it submitted an application for funds, to provide that persons convicted of a Part 1 violent crime serve not less than 85 percent of the sentence imposed.

To be eligible for Truth-in-Sentencing Incentive funds, a state with an indeterminate sentencing structure had to have demonstrated that it practiced indeterminate sentencing and met one of the following two criteria on April 26, 1996, the date the statute was amended: (1) persons convicted of a Part 1 violent crime on average serve not less than 85 percent of the prison term established under the state's sentencing and release guidelines or (2) persons convicted of any Part 1 violent crime on average serve not less than 85 percent of the maximum prison term allowed under the sentence imposed by the court.

How/When To Apply: The VOI/TIS Program is not funded in FY 2004, and no further awards are anticipated under this program.

Related Publications/Information:
Report to Congress: Violent Offender Incarceration and Truth-In-Sentencing Incentive Formula Grant Program (February 2005)

Other Uses for Violent Offender Incarceration and Truth-in-Sentencing Incentive Grant Program Funds

Violent Offender Incarceration and Truth-in-Sentencing Incentive Grant: Implementation Report, July 1, 1999-June 30, 2000

For VOI/TIS Frequently Asked Questions, visit the Program-Specific Q&A section of Guide to Grants.

National Environmental Policy Act:
Program Guidance on Environmental Protection Requirements PDF

Project Status Report PDF or ASCII

Environmental Impact Review Procedures for the VOI/TIS Grant Program: Interim Final Rule PDF or ASCII

Sample Statement of Work for Preparation of an Environmental Impact Statement PDF or ASCII

Sample Outline for Completing an Environmental Assessment PDF or ASCII

Contact Information:
Bureau of Justice Assistance
Programs Office
810 Seventh Street NW.
Washington, DC 20531
202-514-6638
Fax: 202-305-2543
E-mail: AskBJA@usdoj.gov

or

State Administering Agency (SAA)