D.C. Jail inmates have attacked guards with bodily fluids nearly three dozen times in two years, and the U.S. attorney’s failure to demand stout punishment has provided little deterrent to end the assaults, a District official said Thursday.

Inmates “commonly” use body waste to strike staff in the face, causing injury, emotional trauma and potentially serious illness, Corrections Director Devon Brown told the D.C. Council’s public safety committee. The panel is considering legislation, requested by Mayor Adrian Fenty, that would create a separate assault category for such acts, requiring an additional prison sentence of 180 days.