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Prison Rape Elimination Act (PREA)

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The Prison Rape Elimination Act of 2003 is a federal law that prohibits sexual misconduct in correctional settings such as prisons, jails, lockups, juvenile facilities, and Immigration Services/ICE detention facilities . Sexual misconduct under this law includes:

  • Incarcerated individual-on-incarcerated individual sexual assault and abuse
  • Staff-on-incarcerated individual sexual misconduct (sexual/inappropriate relationships with incarcerated individuals)
  • Incarcerated individual-on-incarcerated individual and staff-on-incarcerated individual sexual harassment

The Department of Correction's (DOC) policies regarding sexual misconduct apply to all incarcerated individuals, both in a prison or reentry center and on community supervision. They also apply to employees, contractors, and volunteers.

Reporting Sexual Misconduct

The Department of Corrections (DOC) is committed to providing a safe, healthy environment for staff and incarcerated individuals. Every report is taken seriously and all allegations will be thoroughly, promptly, and objectively investigated.

DOC Policy 490.800 Prison Rape Elimination Act (PREA) Prevention & ReportingAdobe PDF File specifies that incarcerated individuals, visitors, incarcerated individual family members/associates, and other community members can report:

  1. Allegations of sexual misconduct,
  2. Retaliation of incarcerated individuals or staff for reporting sexual misconduct, and/or
  3. Staff actions or neglect that may have contributed to an incident of sexual misconduct.
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