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34 USC § 12101 - Definitions

---
identifier: "/us/usc/t34/s12101"
source: "usc"
legal_status: "official_prima_facie"
title: "34 USC § 12101 - Definitions"
title_number: 34
title_name: "CRIME CONTROL AND LAW ENFORCEMENT"
section_number: "12101"
section_name: "Definitions"
chapter_number: 121
chapter_name: "VIOLENT CRIME CONTROL AND LAW ENFORCEMENT"
subchapter_number: "I"
subchapter_name: "PRISONS"
part_number: "A"
part_name: "Violent Offender Incarceration and Truth-in-Sentencing Incentive Grants"
positive_law: false
currency: "119-84"
last_updated: "2026-04-17"
format_version: "1.1.0"
generator: "[email protected]"
source_credit: "(Pub. L. 103–322, title II, § 20101, as added Pub. L. 104–134, title I, § 101[(a)] [title I, § 114(a)], Apr. 26, 1996, 110 Stat. 1321, 1321–15; renumbered title I, Pub. L. 104–140, § 1(a), May 2, 1996, 110 Stat. 1327.)"
---

# § 12101. Definitions

Unless otherwise provided, for purposes of this part—

**(1)** the term “indeterminate sentencing” means a system by which—

**(A)** the court may impose a sentence of a range defined by statute; and

**(B)** an administrative agency, generally the parole board, or the court, controls release within the statutory range;

**(2)** the term “part 1 violent crime” means murder and nonnegligent manslaughter, forcible rape, robbery, and aggravated assault as reported to the Federal Bureau of Investigation for purposes of the Uniform Crime Reports; and

**(3)** the term “State” means a State of the United States, the District of Columbia, the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, the United States Virgin Islands, American Samoa, Guam, and the Northern Mariana Islands.

---

**Source Credit**: (Pub. L. 103–322, title II, § 20101, as added Pub. L. 104–134, title I, § 101[(a)] [title I, § 114(a)], Apr. 26, 1996, 110 Stat. 1321, 1321–15; renumbered title I, Pub. L. 104–140, § 1(a), May 2, 1996, 110 Stat. 1327.)

## Editorial Notes

### Codification

Section was formerly classified to , The Public Health and Welfare, prior to editorial reclassification and renumbering as this section.

### Prior Provisions

A prior , title II, , , related to grants for correctional facilities prior to the general amendment of subtitle A of title II of  by .