Federal Good Time, Earned Credits & Release

Families do the arithmetic wrong in both directions — assuming parole exists, or assuming the full sentence must be served day for day.

Neither is right, and the difference between the two calculations can be years.

There is no federal parole

Parole was abolished by the Sentencing Reform Act for offenses committed on or after 1 November 1987. A small population sentenced for earlier conduct remains under the old system, but for anyone sentenced today parole does not exist.

What follows a federal prison term is supervised release, which is imposed in addition to the custodial term rather than replacing part of it.

Good conduct time: the 85% figure

Under 18 U.S.C. § 3624(b), a prisoner serving more than one year can earn up to 54 days per year of good conduct time. The First Step Act clarified the calculation method, which increased credits modestly for many prisoners.

Fifty-four days a year works out to roughly 85% of the imposed term. Good conduct time can be lost through disciplinary infractions, which is a real consideration — a single serious incident can cost weeks.

First Step Act earned time credits

This is separate from good conduct time and much less understood. Eligible prisoners earn 10 to 15 days of credit for every 30 days of successful participation in approved recidivism-reduction programming and productive activities.

The credits do not shorten the sentence itself. They move the prisoner into prerelease custody — a halfway house or home confinement — or into supervised release earlier. For a long sentence the practical effect can be substantial.

Eligibility is the catch. A statutory list of disqualifying offenses excludes a large number of prisoners, including many convicted of certain violent, terrorism, sex, and serious drug offenses. Prisoners must also be assessed as minimum or low risk of recidivism to have credits applied toward prerelease custody. Disputes over eligibility and calculation go through the BOP administrative remedy process, not the sentencing court.

RDAP: up to a year off

The Residential Drug Abuse Program is a nine-month intensive treatment programme, and under 18 U.S.C. § 3621(e) successful completion permits the BOP to reduce a sentence by up to twelve months for eligible non-violent prisoners.

Eligibility requires a documented substance abuse disorder — and this is the point that matters at sentencing rather than afterwards. The documentation generally has to exist before sentencing, in the presentence report or medical records. A defendant with a genuine history whose PSR is silent about it may be shut out of the single largest available reduction.

Asking for a judicial recommendation for RDAP at sentencing is also worth doing, though the BOP makes the final placement decision.

Halfway house and home confinement

Under the Second Chance Act, the BOP may place a prisoner in a residential reentry center for up to twelve months at the end of a sentence, and in home confinement for the shorter of ten percent of the term or six months. First Step Act credits can extend time in prerelease custody beyond those baselines.

These are BOP designation decisions, not judicial ones. A sentencing court can recommend but cannot order them.

Where the sentence is served

The BOP designates the facility based on security classification, offense, criminal history, detainers, medical needs, and proximity to release residence. The presentence report drives this — errors in it follow the prisoner into custody and can affect classification and programme eligibility for years.

A judicial recommendation as to facility is permitted and sometimes honoured. It costs nothing to ask for.

Concurrent and consecutive terms

Under 18 U.S.C. § 3584 multiple terms imposed at the same time run concurrently unless the court orders otherwise — except where a statute requires consecutive service, as § 924(c) and § 1028A do.

Where a federal sentence follows an undischarged state term, U.S.S.G. § 5G1.3 governs whether it runs concurrently, and the court can adjust for time already served. This is frequently overlooked and worth raising explicitly.

Credit for time served

Under § 3585(b) time in official detention before sentencing is credited against the federal sentence, provided it has not been credited against another sentence. Time on pretrial release with location monitoring is generally not credited, which surprises people.

Later reductions remain possible through compassionate release and, on a government motion, Rule 35(b).