18 U.S.C. § 4007
Section 4007 · Expenses of prisoners
Amended 1 time on record
Applied in 9 court decisions — leading case Washington v. Reno (1994)
Most recently applied in William A. White v. Dennis Lemma (January 2020)
How often courts cite this section
Court decisions citing this, by year.Markers show enactment, consequential amendments, and circuit splits over this section — watch for a citation surge after a change or a disagreement. The dip in the last several years is a data-coverage gap, not a real trend — our corpus holds fewer opinions from the most recent years, so recent citations are undercounted.
The expenses attendant upon the confinement of persons arrested or committed under the laws of the United States, as well as upon the execution of any sentence of a court thereof respecting them, shall be paid out of the Treasury of the United States in the manner provided by law.
Editorial notes U.S. Code · Office of the Law Revision Counsel
Historical and Revision Notes
Based on title 18, U.S.C., 1940 ed., §701 (R.S. §5536).
Provision authorizing expenses for transportation was omitted as covered by similar provision in section 4008 of this title.
Minor changes of phraseology were made.
Payment of Costs of Incarceration by Federal Prisoners
Pub. L. 100–690, title VII, §7301, Nov. 18, 1988, 102 Stat. 4463, provided that: “Not later than 1 year after the date of enactment of this section [Nov. 18, 1988], the United States Sentencing Commission shall study the feasibility of requiring prisoners incarcerated in Federal correctional institutions to pay some or all of the costs incident to the prisoner's confinement, including, but not limited to, the costs of food, housing, and shelter. The study shall review measures which would allow prisoners unable to pay such costs to work at paid employment within the community, during incarceration or after release, in order to pay the costs incident to the prisoner's confinement.”