2019 US Code
Title 18 - Crimes and Criminal Procedure
Part I - Crimes
Chapter 23 - Contracts
Sec. 436 - Convict labor contracts

Whoever, being an officer, employee, or agent of the United States or any department or agency thereof, contracts with any person or corporation, or permits any warden, agent, or official of any penal or correctional institution, to hire out the labor of any prisoners confined for violation of any laws of the United States, shall be fined under this title ¹ or imprisoned not more than three years, or both.

(June 25, 1948, ch. 645, 62 Stat. 703; Pub. L. 103–322, title XXXIII, §330016(1)(K), Sept. 13, 1994, 108 Stat. 2147.)

Based on title 18, U.S.C., 1940 ed., §§708, 709 (Feb. 23, 1887, ch. 213, §§1, 2, 24 Stat. 411).

This section consolidates sections 708 and 709 of title 18, U.S.C., 1940 ed., as the offense and penalty provisions, respectively.

Words "department or agency thereof" were inserted to clarify scope of section. See definition of department and agency in section 6 of this title.

To retain uniformity words "shall be deemed guilty of a misdemeanor, and," were omitted. The reference to misdemeanor is now covered by the definition in section 1 of this title.

Words "on conviction thereof" were omitted as unnecessary since punishment can follow only upon conviction.

The minimum punishment provisions "less than one year nor" and "less than $500 nor" were deleted to conform to the policy followed by codifiers of 1909 Criminal Code. (See reviser's note under section 203 of this title.)

Changes were also made in phraseology.

1994—Pub. L. 103–322, which directed the amendment of this section by substituting "fined under this title" for "fined not more than $5,000", was executed by making the substitution for "fined not more than $1,000", to reflect the probable intent of Congress.

¹ See 1994 Amendment note below.