Public Comments and Responses

Appendix 6. Public comments on 60-day federal register notice

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Seth Galanter
Mueller, Derek (OJP)
Re: [EXTERNAL] National Prisoner Statistics program (NPS)
Monday, July 28, 2025 8:06:42 PM

Thank you.  
-Seth

On Mon, Jul 28, 2025 at 4:31 PM Mueller, Derek (OJP) wrote:
Hi Seth,

We do not share Supporting Statements with the public until they are visible in Reginfo (i.e.,
under OMB review). You can find the active package, including Part A, in reginfo.gov here:
View Information Collection Request (ICR) Package. The current draft of the instrument is
attached. The only major change to the current instrument is the removal of the HIV-related
questions.

Best,

Derek Mueller, Ph.D.
Statistician, Prisons Corrections Statistics Unit
Bureau of Justice Statistics
U.S. Department of Justice
999 North Capitol Street NE
Washington, DC 20531

Mobile (202) 353-5216
BJS Main (202) 307-0765

bjs.ojp.gov

From: Seth Galanter
Sent: Monday, July 28, 2025 12:20 PM
To: Comments, BJS PRA (OJP)
Subject: [EXTERNAL] National Prisoner Statistics program (NPS)

Mr. Mueller  
I saw the notice for the NPS survey in the July 24 Federal Register, but couldn't find
anywhere online where Supporting Statement A and the information collection
instrument with instructions are available.  

Could you either point me to the right place, or email me the documents
electronically?

Thanks.

Seth Galanter

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Attachments:

Mueller, Derek (OJP)
jj3222@drexel.edu
Comments, BJS PRA (OJP)
RE: Comment on 2025-13933 (90 FR 34885)
Tuesday, September 2, 2025 11:20:00 AM
image001.png

Dear Dr. Jahn,

Thank you for your comment. There are several reasons behind BJS’s decision to remove
the HIV/AIDS section from the 2026 NPS-1B instrument. First, as part of a larger effort to
make the NPS more flexible and responsive to policy issues, BJS proposes to continue to
field periodic supplements to the NPS program in order to capture relevant and timely
issues in corrections, including health-related variables such as HIV/AIDS. Second, the
HIV/AIDS section places a high burden on respondents as much of the information
requested requires them to work with their medical teams to access these data points
rather than being able to pull the information from their facility population data systems.
Finally, estimates of the rate of prisoners living with HIV while in the custody of state and
federal correctional authorities have remained relatively stable over the last decade. With
little within-state variation from year to year, monitoring HIV-related patterns periodically
rather than annually is more efficient and reduces burden on our data providers and allows
BJS to adopt a more flexible model as explained above.

Derek Mueller, Ph.D.
Statistician, Prisons Corrections Statistics Unit
Bureau of Justice Statistics
Office of Justice Programs
U.S. Department of Justice

Email: derek.mueller@usdoj.gov
Mobile: (202) 353-5216

From: Jahn,Jackie
Sent: Tuesday, August 26, 2025 2:08 PM
To: Comments, BJS PRA (OJP)
Subject: [EXTERNAL] Comment on 2025-13933 (90 FR 34885)

Dear Dr. Mueller and others at the NPS,
I write to voice concerns regarding the proposed changes to the NPS data collection,
specifically the removal of the module on HIV/AIDS. These data are some of the only
publicly national-level sources of information on infectious disease among incarcerated
populations. They therefore function as essential public health monitoring data, providing
important information for prison administration and resource allocation. These data are
also routinely used in public health research aimed at the prevention and treatment of
HIV/AIDS in prisons, particularly because this population is at elevated risk relative to the
general U.S. population. Indeed, rather than phasing out the collection of the HIV/AIDS
module, the NPS should be collecting more information in infectious disease, and
particularly Hepatitis C, in state prison populations. 

Sincerely,
Dr. Jaquelyn Jahn

-- 
Jaquelyn L. Jahn, PhD MPH
Assistant Professor

Dornsife School of Public Health
Drexel University