Safer Detention Act of 2025

Summary#

The Safer Detention Act of 2025 would change two parts of federal law about reducing prison time for certain people.

First, it amends section 231 of the Second Chance Act (34 U.S.C. 60541). It: expands the Elderly Home Detention Pilot Program through 2029; adds a judicial-review process that lets a court, on the defendant's motion, reduce a sentence and replace the unserved portion with supervised release and a condition of home detention if the court finds the person is an eligible elderly or terminally ill offender; defines the date when a court can act as the earlier of (A) when the defendant fully exhausts administrative appeals of a Bureau of Prisons decision not to place the person on home detention, or (B) 30 days after the defendant asks the warden for placement, even if the request is still pending; clarifies that eligibility may include offenses under District laws; and changes the program timing threshold for eligibility from two-thirds of the sentence to one-half of the sentence reduced by any good-time credit under 18 U.S.C. 3624(b).

Second, it makes a technical correction to compassionate release rules in 18 U.S.C. 3582. It clarifies that compassionate-release motions can apply to cases involving offenses committed before November 1, 1987; it changes the timing language so motions by defendants are permitted on or after a date defined in a new subsection; and it adds that date-definition which is the earlier of (A) exhaustion of administrative appeals of the Bureau of Prisons' failure to bring a motion on the person's behalf, or (B) 30 days after the defendant asks the warden for a sentence reduction, regardless of the request's status. The bill also renumbers related subsections as technical corrections.

What it means for you#

• A person who is an older or terminally ill federal or certain District offenders could ask a court to replace part of their prison term with supervised release that includes home detention.
• A defendant may file the court motion after either exhausting administrative appeals or 30 days after asking the prison warden for home detention or a sentence reduction, even if the Bureau of Prisons has not yet acted.
• The Elderly Home Detention Pilot Program would run through 2029 and would use a changed eligibility threshold (half the sentence adjusted for good-time credit instead of two-thirds).
• Courts, defendants, wardens, and the Bureau of Prisons would follow the new timing and review rules when handling requests for home detention or compassionate release.

Expenses#

No publicly available information.

Proponents' View#

The bill's text states its purposes: to expand eligibility for and provide judicial review for the Elderly Home Detention Pilot Program, and to make other technical corrections to compassionate-release procedures.

Opponents' View#

No publicly available information.