The problem: Remote Detention of Federal Pretrial Detainees
Remote detention is the housing of pretrial detainees in facilities distant from the court. Remote detention stems from a structural feature of the federal pretrial detention system: the U.S. Marshals Service is responsible for housing pretrial detainees, yet neither owns nor operates its own pretrial detention centers. Instead, it must rely heavily on intergovernmental agreements with approximately 1,000 state and local prisons and jails across the country - many of them distant from a federal courthouse.
In FY 2023, 74% of federal pretrial detainees were held in state and local facilities, while 15% were housed in Federal Bureau of Prisons facilities and 11% in private facilities:
Facilities housing pretrial detainees
See USMS Fact Sheet, Prisoner Operations 2024
Remote detention presents cost, logistical, and due process concerns that affect all stakeholders: defendants, defense counsel, courts, probation and pretrial services officers, U.S. Attorneys Offices, and the U.S. Marshals Service.
Adverse consequences of remote detention
| Pretrial detainees’ ability to access counsel, review discovery, and prepare a defense may be impaired by remote detention. | When defense counsel must travel long distances to meet with clients, it becomes more time consuming and logistically difficult for them, and more costly for the judiciary. 93% of federal criminal defendants are represented by federal defenders or CJA panel attorneys. | Navigating the needs of clients with mental and/or physical health problems can be especially challenging for defense counsel if the client is detained far away. |
| Cases may take longer to resolve, particularly if they involve large volumes of e-discovery, when the defendant is remotely detained. The delay results in increased costs to the judiciary and to the U.S. Marshals Service (which pays to house federal pretrial detainees). | Courts may encounter challenges scheduling expedited court proceedings or related meetings when the defendant is detained far away. | The timely preparation of reports by probation and pretrial services officers becomes more challenging when pretrial detainees are remotely detained. |
A National Problem with Local Solutions: Local Detention Management Committees
The adverse consequences of remote detention can be mitigated by improving conditions at state and local facilities, including measures aimed at enhancing attorney-client access and ensuring that detainees are provided sufficient means to review e-discovery. Attempting to improve state and local jail conditions at the national level – by defining and trying to enforce minimum standards, for example – is untenable given the sheer number of disparate facilities the USMS relies upon around the country. And, although the negative impacts of inadequate access to counsel or e-discovery are compounded when a defendant is detained remotely, these and other detention-related problems arise in local detention facilities as well. For these reasons the Remote Detention Working Group (RDWG) recommends the formation of local Detention Management Committees to tackle detention-related challenges faced in each district.
This website is intended to provide resources to enable the formation and success of these committees. Check out the “Tools for Local Committees” tab to get started.
The Remote Detention Working Group
The Remote Detention Working Group (RDWG) is a collaborative partnership between components of the judiciary (including Federal Defenders and CJA panel attorneys) and the Department of Justice. Since 2021, RDWG has worked to address the negative impacts of remote detention of federal pretrial detainees. RDWG members include:
| Judiciary District and Magistrate Judges Probation and Pretrial Services Office | Department of Justice Deputy Attorney General’s Office Office for Access to Justice U.S. Marshals Service Federal Bureau of Prisons | CJA Community Federal Defenders CJA Panel Attorneys |
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