When Do I Leave?
For people serving time in federal prison, there is one question that quietly shapes everything: When do I leave here?
Not the formal release date years down the road, but something more immediate and human—when do I walk out of a prison facility and begin the transition back to life? For many, that transition comes through prerelease custody: a halfway house or home confinement. It is the first real step toward freedom.
Yet across the federal prison system, despite the Bureau of Prisons’ (BOP) best efforts, that question is often met with uncertainty, conflicting explanations, and frustration. Inmates compare notes, read policy statements, study their time credit assessments, and still come away confused. Even staff members, tasked with explaining the system, sometimes struggle to provide clear answers.
When a judge gives a federal sentence, most inmates are eligible for Good Conduct Time of 54 days/year of the sentence imposed (example, a 2 year sentence would lead to 54 days of Good Conduct Time). It effectively reduces the sentence by 54 days for each year served so long as the inmate does not violate any rules. For those that are eligible for First Step Act, they can earn up to a year off their sentence, up to 15 days per month, over the term of their sentence. The requirement is that the inmate participate in productive activities or take classes intended to reduce recidivism.
Inmates File Claims in Court
Recent cases filed by inmates like Bradley Harris and David Clum highlight just how widespread this confusion has become. Both men challenged how the BOP calculates and applies time credits under the First Step Act. Both believed they should be leaving prison earlier than the system allowed. And both, in different ways, illustrate a deeper problem: a misunderstanding of how two separate laws—the First Step Act and the Second Chance Act—work together.
The confusion is understandable. These laws intersect. They use similar language about time and placement. And they both affect when a person leaves a prison institution. But they are not the same and treating them as if they are leads to mistaken expectations.
The First Step Act, passed in 2018 and signed by Donald Trump in his first term, was designed to reward rehabilitation. It created a system where eligible inmates can earn time credits by participating in evidence-based programs and productive activities. The idea was simple: engage in programming, reduce your risk of recidivism, and earn credits that can help you move closer to release.
First Step Act Credits Misunderstood
BOP Director William K. Marshall has been in his position for a year now, and he continues to make FSA implementation one of his top priorities. Marshall understands the complexities involved and is working to develop a dedicated team within the BOP to oversee FSA implementation. Under the law, the first 365 days of earned time credits can be applied to reduce the amount of time a person spends in prison by advancing their transfer to supervised release. That part is relatively straightforward. After that, however, additional credits do not directly reduce the sentence. Instead, they can be applied toward earlier placement in prerelease custody—meaning a halfway house or home confinement.
That distinction matters. The First Step Act is fundamentally a credit-earning system. It tells you how you earn time and how that time can be applied. It does not, by itself, determine where you will be housed or exactly when you will leave a prison facility.
Second Chance Act
The Second Chance Act, enacted years earlier, gives the BOP the authority to place inmates in prerelease custody for a portion of their sentence. It allows for up to 12 months in a residential reentry center and, in some cases, a period of home confinement. But critically, it does not guarantee those outcomes. Instead, it requires the Bureau to make individualized decisions based on several factors, outlined in the law, including the person’s risk level, needs, institutional history, and available resources.
Recently, the BOP has been criticized for not using prerelease custody to its full capacity. Years of institutional facility neglect and a shortage of staff, have left inmates in prison when they could be in the community working and feeding themselves while still serving their prison time. This has been done for years but the BOP’s past leadership did little to expand residential reentry centers, which is at the center of the problem. There is no place to put these inmates in the community, even if they are eligible.
Confusion
Many inmates understandably interpret the system in a more linear way. They see their time credits accumulating. They receive assessment sheets showing projected eligibility dates. They hear that credits can be applied toward prerelease custody. From that, a natural assumption follows: if enough credits are earned, placement in a halfway house or home confinement should occur automatically—and sooner rather than later.
But that assumption does not match how the law operates.
One of the most common misunderstandings involves projected credits. The BOP provides inmates with assessments that include projections of how many credits they could earn over time. These projections are used for planning purposes. They help estimate potential eligibility dates if the inmate continues participating in programming and maintains eligibility.
However, those projections are not guarantees. They are not credits that have already been earned. And under the law, credits must actually be earned before they can be applied.
This creates a gap between expectation and reality. An inmate may look at a projected date and believe it represents when they should leave the institution. When that date does not result in movement, frustration follows. In some cases, that frustration turns into litigation, with inmates arguing that the Bureau has miscalculated their credits or failed to apply them properly.
Eligibility Versus Entitlement
Another source of confusion is the assumption that eligibility equals entitlement. Even when an inmate has earned enough credits to become eligible for prerelease custody, the BOP still retains discretion under the Second Chance Act. That means it decides whether placement is appropriate, when it will occur, and how long it will last. It is possible that an inmate, even if eligible, receives no placement under Second Chance Act.
That discretion is not unlimited, but it is significant. Factors like bed space availability, public safety considerations, program needs, and the individual’s readiness for reentry all play a role. The law does not require the Bureau to transfer someone to a halfway house on the earliest possible date. It requires the Bureau to consider placement and make a determination based on those factors.
For inmates, this can feel like a moving target. They may do everything right by completing programs, earning credits and maintaining a low risk score, but still remain in a prison facility longer than they expected. From their perspective, the system appears inconsistent or unfair. From the Bureau’s perspective, it is exercising the discretion the law provides and likely a position the courts would honor.
Rick Stover, Special Assistant to Director Marshall, leads the BOP’s efforts to improve FSA implementation under Director Marshall. As a former Warden and Administrator who was involved with the creation of the FSA time credit policy, he knows the significance of this endeavor. Stover noted, “We now have a model that accurately calculates FSA time credits. Inmates are being placed in the community consistent with their time credits. As stays in halfway houses and on home confinement lengthen due to the accumulation of FSA time credits, we only have a finite number of contractual spaces to go around. While we go through the process of securing additional contracts and capacity, we are looking into all available options to ensure we do everything we can to place appropriate inmates in the community consistent with the law.”
Reports Provide Hope But Often Lead to Disappointment
Even the way information is communicated contributes to the confusion. Time credit assessment sheets include multiple dates: projected release dates, conditional release dates, and conditional placement dates. These terms are not always explained clearly, and their relationship to one another can be difficult to understand without a detailed knowledge of the underlying statutes and policies.
For example, a “conditional placement date” may reflect when an inmate could become eligible for prerelease custody based on maximum potential credits. But it does not mean placement will occur on that date. Without that distinction being clearly communicated, it is easy to see how misunderstandings arise.
The result is a system where expectations and outcomes often diverge. Inmates expect a clear, predictable timeline. Instead, they encounter a layered process that combines earned credits, projected estimates, and discretionary decisions.
None of this means the system is broken. Both the First Step Act and the Second Chance Act serve important purposes. The First Step Act incentivizes participation in programs that reduce recidivism. The Second Chance Act ensures that placement decisions are individualized and consider public safety and reentry readiness.
But when these two systems intersect, they create complexity. And complexity, without clear explanation, leads to confusion.
A Little Clarity
For those navigating the system—whether inmates, families, or even practitioners—it helps to keep a few key principles in mind.
First, time credits must be earned before they can be used. Projections are tools for planning, not promises of future placement. Second, the first year of credits operates differently from additional credits, which primarily affect prerelease eligibility rather than sentence length. Third, becoming eligible for prerelease custody does not guarantee immediate transfer. And finally, the BOP retains discretion in making placement decisions under the Second Chance Act.
Understanding these distinctions does not eliminate the frustration, but it does provide clarity. It aligns expectations with how the system actually works. Stover added, “The confusion that exists regarding this FSA and SCA relationship is real, and unfortunately the product of two different laws that don’t marry up well. The Bureau has released videos, recorded interviews, and written guidance in the past year to educate staff, inmates, family members, and advocates. We will continue to socialize and educate to help everyone understand the process.”
At its core, the issue is not just legal, it is personal. People in prison are trying to plan their futures. They are thinking about reconnecting with family, finding employment, and rebuilding their lives. When the timeline for those steps is unclear, the uncertainty can be as difficult as the confinement itself.
The challenge going forward is not simply to apply the law correctly, but to communicate it more clearly. When inmates understand how the system works, they are better equipped to make decisions, set realistic expectations, and focus on the opportunities the law does provide.
Until then, confusion will remain—and cases like those of Harris and Clum will continue to surface, reflecting a system that, while well-intentioned, is not always well understood. As Director Marshall noted, “We have real intentionality when it comes to FSA. I am proud of the work we have done, but we still have work to do.”
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