---
kind: "section"
citation: "34 U.S.C. § 12104"
title: "34"
title_heading: "Crime Control and Law Enforcement"
number: "12104"
heading: "Truth-in-sentencing incentive grants"
release: "119-102"
date: "2026-07-12"
url: "https://uscodex.org/usc/34/12104"
units:
  - "Subtitle I — Comprehensive Acts"
  - "Chapter 121 — Violent Crime Control and Law Enforcement"
  - "Subchapter I — Prisons"
  - "Part A — Violent Offender Incarceration and Truth-in-Sentencing Incentive Grants"
---

# §12104. Truth-in-sentencing incentive grants

- (a) **Eligibility—** To be eligible to receive a grant award under this section, a [State](/usc/34/11103.md?p=7) shall submit an application to the [Attorney General](/usc/34/10307.md?p=1) that demonstrates that—
  - (1)
    - (A) such [State](/usc/34/11103.md?p=7) has implemented truth-in-sentencing laws that—
      - (i) require persons convicted of a [part 1 violent crime](/usc/34/12101.md?p=2) to serve not less than 85 percent of the sentence imposed (without counting time not actually served, such as administrative or statutory incentives for good behavior); or
      - (ii) result in persons convicted of a [part 1 violent crime](/usc/34/12101.md?p=2) serving on average not less than 85 percent of the sentence imposed (without counting time not actually served, such as administrative or statutory incentives for good behavior);
    - (B) such [State](/usc/34/11103.md?p=7) has truth-in-sentencing laws that have been enacted, but not yet implemented, that require such [State](/usc/34/11103.md?p=7), not later than 3 years after such [State](/usc/34/11103.md?p=7) submits an application to the [Attorney General](/usc/34/10307.md?p=1), to provide that persons convicted of a [part 1 violent crime](/usc/34/12101.md?p=2) serve not less than 85 percent of the sentence imposed (without counting time not actually served, such as administrative or statutory incentives for good behavior); or
    - (C) in the case of a [State](/usc/34/11103.md?p=7) that on April 26, 1996, practices [indeterminate sentencing](/usc/34/12101.md?p=1) with regard to any [part 1 violent crime](/usc/34/12101.md?p=2)—
      - (i) persons convicted of a [part 1 violent crime](/usc/34/12101.md?p=2) on average serve not less than 85 percent of the prison term established under the [State](/usc/34/11103.md?p=7)’s sentencing and release guidelines; or
      - (ii) persons convicted of a [part 1 violent crime](/usc/34/12101.md?p=2) on average serve not less than 85 percent of the maximum prison term allowed under the sentence imposed by the court (not counting time not actually served such as administrative or statutory incentives for good behavior); and
  - (2) such [State](/usc/34/11103.md?p=7) has provided assurances that it will follow guidelines established by the [Attorney General](/usc/34/10307.md?p=1) in reporting, on a quarterly basis, information regarding the death of any person who is in the process of arrest, is en route to be incarcerated, or is incarcerated at a municipal or county jail, [State](/usc/34/11103.md?p=7) prison, or other local or [State](/usc/34/11103.md?p=7) correctional facility (including any juvenile facility) that, at a minimum, includes—
    - (A) the name, gender, race, ethnicity, and age of the deceased;
    - (B) the date, time, and location of death; and
    - (C) a brief description of the circumstances surrounding the death.
- (b) **Exception—** Notwithstanding [subsection (a)](#a), a [State](/usc/34/11103.md?p=7) may provide that the Governor of the [State](/usc/34/11103.md?p=7) may allow for the earlier release of—
  - (1) a geriatric prisoner; or
  - (2) a prisoner whose medical condition precludes the prisoner from posing a threat to the public, but only after a public hearing in which representatives of the public and the prisoner’s victims have had an opportunity to be heard regarding a proposed release.

## Source credit

(Pub. L. 103–322, title II, § 20104, as added Pub. L. 104–134, title I, § 101[(a)] [title I, § 114(a)], Apr. 26, 1996, 110 Stat. 1321, 1321–16; renumbered title I, Pub. L. 104–140, § 1(a), May 2, 1996, 110 Stat. 1327; amended Pub. L. 106–297, § 2, Oct. 13, 2000, 114 Stat. 1045.)

## Notes

### Editorial Notes

### Codification

Section was formerly classified to section 13704 of Title 42, The Public Health and Welfare, prior to editorial reclassification and renumbering as this section.

### Prior Provisions

A prior section 20104 of Pub. L. 103–322, title II, Sept. 13, 1994, 108 Stat. 1818, related to Federal share matching requirement prior to the general amendment of subtitle A of title II of Pub. L. 103–322 by Pub. L. 104–134.

### Amendments

2000—Subsec. (a). Pub. L. 106–297 redesignated par. (1) as subpar. (A) and former subpars. (A) and (B) as cls. (i) and (ii), respectively, redesignated par. (2) as subpar. (B), redesignated par. (3) as subpar. (C) and former subpars. (A) and (B) as cls. (i) and (ii), respectively, and added par. (2).