The Bureau of Justice Statistics (BJS) is notifying OMB of a non-substantive change to the Survey of Inmates in Local Jails (SILJ) under OMB Control No: 1121-0098 (expiration date 6/30/2027). The change complies with Executive Order (EO) 14168, Defending Women From Gender Ideology Extremism and Restoring Biological Truth to the Federal Government.
US Code:
34 USC 10132
Name of Law: Omnibus Crime Control and Safe Streets Act of 1968
There has been a change in the respondent burden since the 2002 SILJ study. The total facility and respondent burden increased due to an increase in the number of sampled facilities (from 475 to 600) and inmates (from 7,500 to 10,000) to ensure enhanced levels of precision in order to produce more reliable estimates, especially of small subpopulations. The change in interview burden from 60 minutes in 2002 to 70 minutes per interview is due to adding new questions and a higher frequency of inmates answering yes to gateway questions, which leads to additional detailed questions. The increase in interview length was offset by eliminating questions.
Prior to the 2023 pretest, 177 new questions were added to the survey and 79 questions from the 2002 survey were excluded from the 2023 pretest questionnaire. To reduce the average interview length (91 minutes) measured in the pretest, BJS removed an additional 266 questions from the revised questionnaire, including 71 new questions and 195 questions from the 2002 SILJ.
On behalf of this Federal agency, I certify that the collection of information encompassed by this request complies with 5 CFR 1320.9 and the related provisions of 5 CFR 1320.8(b)(3).
The following is a summary of the topics, regarding the proposed collection of information, that the certification covers:
(i) Why the information is being collected;
(ii) Use of information;
(iii) Burden estimate;
(iv) Nature of response (voluntary, required for a benefit, or mandatory);
(v) Nature and extent of confidentiality; and
(vi) Need to display currently valid OMB control number;
If you are unable to certify compliance with any of these provisions, identify the item by leaving the box unchecked and explain the reason in the Supporting Statement.