How to find someone in federal prison — and read the locator right
Anyone in Bureau of Prisons custody since 1982 can be found free at the official **BOP inmate locator — search by name or, better, by the 8-digit register number** (formatted 12345-678). The locator's “release date” is BOP's current operative date — it reflects projected Good Conduct Time and any applied First Step Act credits, but it lags the monthly credit recalculation and shows nothing about halfway-house or home-confinement transfer dates. If the person was just sentenced, is in transit, or is in a county jail under the U.S. Marshals, the locator may show “Not in BOP custody” or no facility — that's normal, not a records error.
Reviewed against BOP inmate locator and 18 U.S.C. § 3624. Last updated .
Step by step
- 1 —
Get the register number if you can
The 8-digit register number (e.g. 12345-678) is on court paperwork, commissary deposit records, and mail. Number search avoids the misspelling and common-name problems of name search.
- 2 —
Search the locator
Go to bop.gov/inmateloc, choose 'Find By Number' (BOP Register) or 'Find By Name', and search. Name search needs an exact-ish match — try with and without middle names, and check spelling variants.
- 3 —
Read the facility line
The listed facility is where mail and visits go — check the facility's own page for addresses and rules. 'In transit' or a private/RRC listing means the person is between placements.
- 4 —
Interpret the release date carefully
'Actual/projected release date' includes Good Conduct Time and applied FSA credits as of the last recalculation. 'UNKNOWN' usually means pretrial or unsentenced status; 'LIFE' means a life term.
- 5 —
Set up tracking instead of re-checking
The date can move every month for someone earning FSA credits. OutDate Pro watches the locator for you and explains each change against the computed date ladder — or recompute manually with the free calculator after each change.
What does the locator's release date actually include?
| Component | In the locator date? |
|---|---|
| Good Conduct Time (projected, § 3624(b)) | Yes |
| FSA credits already applied (§ 3624(g)) | Yes |
| FSA credits earned but not yet applied | No — applied on a roughly monthly cycle |
| Halfway house / home confinement transfer date | No — never shown publicly |
| RDAP § 3621(e) provisional reduction | Only once BOP enters it |
Why can't I find the person at all?
- Just sentenced — designation and transport can take weeks; until BOP receives the person, they're in U.S. Marshals custody and may only appear in county-jail rosters.
- Pretrial — federal pretrial detainees are held for the Marshals, often in contract county jails; many never appear on the BOP locator until sentenced.
- In transit ('holdover') — between facilities the listing may show a transfer center or nothing useful; mail generally waits for the destination.
- Released to supervision — after release (including early transfer to supervised release), the locator shows the release date and 'RELEASED'.
- Name mismatch — the locator uses the committed name from the Judgment, which may differ from the name the family uses.
How often should the family check the date?
For someone earning FSA credits, monthly — after each auto-calculation cycle. A moved date is usually good news (credits applied) but sometimes bad (disciplinary loss, a detainer, or a risk-level change — see why release dates change). OutDate Pro checks the locator automatically and pairs every change with the likely cause, so the family isn't refreshing a government website to learn what's happening to someone they love.
Free calculator
Run the numbers for your person
The free OutDate calculator applies these rules to a real sentence — Good Conduct Time, First Step Act credits, halfway house and RDAP dates — with every assumption listed next to the answer. No account needed; nothing is stored.
Open the federal release date calculatorFrequently asked questions
Is the BOP inmate locator free?
Yes — bop.gov/inmateloc is the official, free source. Third-party 'inmate search' sites reselling the same data (often with ads or fees) add nothing; some are scams targeting families.
What does 'release date: UNKNOWN' mean?
Usually that the person is unsentenced (pretrial or awaiting judgment) or the computation hasn't been completed yet. Once the DSCC builds the sentence computation, a projected date replaces it.
Does the locator show halfway house or home confinement dates?
No. Prerelease placement dates are internal — the family learns them from the person's case manager, or by projecting the window from the sentence computation, FSA credits, and the Second Chance Act rules, which is what the OutDate calculator does.
Can I find out which halfway house someone was sent to?
The locator lists RRC ('residential reentry') custody at the management office level, not the street address. The person or their case manager provides the actual facility; the halfway-house explainer covers how placement is decided.
Primary sources
Everything on this page is drawn from the statutes, regulations, and BOP program statements below — read them directly:
Keep reading
Estimates, not promises
This page describes federal law and Bureau of Prisons policy in general terms for education. It is not legal advice, it doesn't account for the facts of any individual case, and no attorney–client relationship is created by reading it. The BOP makes all final release-date determinations. Have an attorney review anything before you file it. Built by OutDate, the federal release date calculator.