U.S. Department of Justice
Office of Justice Programs
Bureau of Justice Assistance
Washington , D.C. 20531

MEMORANDUM
TO:

All DOJ-certified PREA Auditors

FROM:

Tammie M. Gregg
Principal Deputy Director
Bureau of Justice Assistance

SUBJECT:

National PREA Standards Alignment with Executive Order 14168

DATE:

December 2, 2025

On January 20, 2025, President Trump signed Executive Order 14168, “Defending Women from
Gender Ideology Extremism and Restoring Biological Truth to the Federal Government.” (“E.O.
14168”). Section 2 of E.O. 14168 states that, “[i]t is the policy of the United States to recognize
two sexes, male and female. These sexes are not changeable and are grounded in fundamental
and incontrovertible reality. Under my direction, the Executive Branch will enforce all sexprotective laws to promote this reality…” Section 3 provides that “[e]ach agency and all
Federal employees shall enforce laws governing sex-based rights, protections, opportunities, and
accommodations to protect men and women as biologically distinct sexes.”
Portions of the PREA Standards are in conflict with the requirements in E.O. 14168, in
particular, subsections that address the manner in which:
1)

transgender, intersex, and gender nonconforming inmates are to be screened for risk of
victimization and how that screening information is to be used (Standards 115.41, 115.42,
115.241, 115.242, 115.341, and 115.342),

2)

transgender and intersex inmates are to be searched (Standards 115.15, 115.115,
115.215, and 115.315),

3)

transgender, intersex, or gender nonconforming inmates are to be communicated with
(Standards 115.31, 115.231, and 115.331), and

4)

sexual abuse incident reviews should consider whether a sexual abuse incident was
motivated by an inmate’s gender identity or transgender or intersex identification or
status (Standard 115.86, 115.186, 115.286, and 115.386).

The Department of Justice is currently updating the PREA Standards to align with the
requirements of E.O. 14168. Until these updates are finalized, and further guidance is provided,
effective immediately, applicable federal and non-federal correctional facilities shall not be held
to subsections of the PREA Standards that may conflict with E.O. 14168.
Accordingly, all PREA auditors are instructed to immediately pause from making
compliance determinations for the following subsections of the PREA Standards, until
further notice:
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•

115.15(e) and (f)
115.115(d) and (e)
115.186(d)(2)
115.215(e) and (f)
115.231(a)(9)
115.241(d)(7)
115.242(c) through (f)
115.286(d)(2)
115.31(a)(9)
115.315(e) and (f)
115.331(a)(9)
115.341(c)(2)
115.342(c) through (g)
115.386(d)(2)
115.41(d)(7)
115.42(c) through (g)
115.86(d)(2)

Please see the guidance below detailing the impact of this pause on future and in-progress audits:
PREA Online Audit System (OAS)
The PMO is working to implement changes to the OAS and the Audit Instrument to reflect the
immediate pause on compliance determinations for the provisions and subsections of the PREA
Standards identified above. The OAS will be unavailable from approximately 3:00pm to 5:00pm
EST today, December 2, 2025, and the PMO requests that auditors refrain from using the

OAS until after 12:00 noon on Wednesday, December 3, 2025 to allow for all necessary
adjustments. If this creates delays in any in-progress audits that go beyond the time requirements
defined in the PREA Auditor Handbook, the PMO will waive these requirements.
Each impacted provision and subsection listed above will be removed from the OAS and
replaced by a statement that it is no longer relevant to the auditor’s compliance determination.
The OAS will also be updated to include a “Not applicable” option for every impacted provision
and subsection with a reminder to the auditor that they must select this option. Final reports that
are automatically generated by the OAS will indicate that the auditor did not make compliance
determinations for these provisions.
Please note there are standards in which some—but not all—provisions, or subsections within a
provision, are subject to DOJ’s directive. For example, auditors must pause making a compliance
determination for Standard 115.41(d)(7) and select “Not applicable” for this provision in the
OAS. However, auditors are required to continue to audit compliance with all other provisions in
Standard 115.41, and subsections under Standard 115.41, which include:
• (a) through (c).
• (d)(1) through (d)(6) and (d)(8) through (d)(10).
• (e) through (i).
Pre-Audit Questionnaire (PAQ)
Auditors should advise confinement facility and agency representatives to disregard the impacted
provisions, or measures, listed above and ask them to refrain from uploading documentation that
is no longer relevant to audits.
In addition, the question under the Facility Information section of the PAQ that focuses on
whether the audited facility houses transgender, intersex, and nonbinary
inmates/residents/detainees is being removed. Please note the OAS previously included the
facility’s response to this question in all final audit reports that are automatically generated. With
the removal of this question from the PAQ, responses to it will no longer appear in final reports
moving forward.
Auditor Compliance Tool (ACT)
The ACT defines the documentation and evidence auditors must use to make a compliance
determination for every provision in the PREA Standards. Effective immediately, auditors should
disregard the requirements in the ACT related to auditing compliance with the impacted
provisions and subsections listed above.

Corrective Action and Interim Reports
For all in-progress audits in which corrective action is occurring that focuses on one or more of
the impacted provisions listed above, auditors must immediately pause this corrective action and
select the “Not applicable” option in the OAS for the relevant provisions or subsections, as
described above.
It is not possible in the OAS to revise existing interim reports that identify non-compliance with
one or more of the impacted provisions or subsections listed above. However, interim reports are
intended to be working documents that describe agreed-upon corrective action steps to comply
with specific PREA Standards. As such, they are not made publicly available. Effective
immediately, interim reports developed by auditors will no longer reference the impacted
provisions or subsections listed above.
Questions
If you have any questions, please contact the OAS Technical Support Team at
techsupport@preaaudit.org.