Federal home confinement: the 10% rule and the FSA route
The classic authority is narrow: 18 U.S.C. § 3624(c)(2) lets BOP move a person to home confinement for the shorter of 10% of the term or 6 months at the end of the sentence. The First Step Act added a second, much bigger path: applied FSA credits can place an eligible person on prerelease home confinement with no statutory time limit (§ 3624(g)(2)(A)). Home confinement is still BOP custody — electronic monitoring, curfews, approved work and movement — and a violation returns the person to a facility.
Reviewed against 18 U.S.C. § 3624(c)(2) and (g)(2) and BOP Program Statement 7320.01 (Home Confinement). Last updated .
Which path applies, and how long can it be?
| Authority | Who qualifies | Maximum length |
|---|---|---|
| § 3624(c)(2) (Second Chance Act) | Anyone nearing release, at BOP discretion | Shorter of 10% of term or 6 months |
| § 3624(g)(2)(A) (First Step Act) | FSA-eligible with applied credits + risk gates | No statutory cap — as far as credits reach |
| Elderly offender pilot (34 U.S.C. § 60541(g)) | 60+, nonviolent, ⅔ of term served | Remainder of the term |
Worked example
30-month sentence, FSA-ineligible vs eligible
- Ineligible: home confinement limited to min(10% = 3 months, 6 months) → 3 months at the end.
- Eligible and programming: FSA credits can fund months of home confinement beyond that, stacked with the Second Chance Act window.
- Either way, placement usually follows a halfway-house stint rather than replacing it — the RRC manages the home-confinement case.
In practice the two modern paths blend: the Unit Team recommends a total prerelease window (how placements get set), and Residential Reentry Management splits it between halfway-house beds and home confinement based on capacity, home verification, and the person's plan. Bed shortages increasingly push suitable people to home confinement — a home address, a phone, and a support person at the residence make approval easier.
What is home confinement actually like?
- Monitoring — GPS ankle monitor or phone-based check-ins, administered through the halfway house.
- Schedule — approved windows for work, treatment, religious services, and errands; everything else is at the residence.
- Costs — employed people typically pay a subsistence fee (a percentage of gross pay) to the RRC, as in the halfway house.
- Status — it is still serving the sentence: counts as custody, FSA credits continue accruing, and violations go back through BOP discipline, not a new court case.
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Open the federal release date calculatorFrequently asked questions
Is home confinement the same as house arrest before trial?
No — pretrial home detention is a bail condition and earns no credit against a later sentence (Reno v. Koray). End-of-sentence home confinement is BOP custody that counts day-for-day.
Can the whole last year be served at home?
Under the FSA path, potentially yes — applied credits beyond the 365-day supervised-release cap have no statutory limit, and § 3624(g) home confinement can run as far as they reach, subject to the risk-level gates and an approved residence. Under the Second Chance Act alone, six months is the ceiling.
Who approves the residence?
The halfway house verifies the home (residents, phone, sometimes a visit) on referral from the Unit Team. A felon in the household, firearms present, or an unstable address are the common disqualifiers — fixable ones, if the family knows early.
Does the elderly offender program still exist?
The pilot under 34 U.S.C. § 60541(g) (extended by the First Step Act) allows home detention for nonviolent offenders 60 or older who have served two-thirds of the term. BOP has run it intermittently — ask the case manager whether it is currently accepting placements.
Primary sources
Everything on this page is drawn from the statutes, regulations, and BOP program statements below — read them directly:
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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.