Understanding the Federal Bureau of Prisons

In the Federal criminal cases there is a different prison system. The Federal Bureau of Prisons (BOP) was created by the United States Department of Justice (DOJ) in 1930. The BOP was supposed to be a more progressive and humane system for federal prisoners. Also at this time the BOP established a prison service that was professionalized and formed an administration that was both consistent and centralized.

While there were only 11 federal prisons when these changes were made, the BOP now includes 110 institutions, six Regional Offices, a Central Office (headquarters) located in Washington, D.C., a Designation and Sentence Computation Center, two staff training centers, and approximately 30 community corrections offices. Each of these facilities holds a specific role within the BOP system. For example, these various institutions and community corrections offices are administrated and supported by the Regional Office and the Central Office. The Designation and Sentence Computation Center (DSCC) handles the designations and sentence computations for all inmates that are in BOP custody. Community corrections offices manage Residential Reentry Centers (RRCs), and home confinement programs.

The BOP has many responsibilities. One of these is looking over the custody and care of sentenced federal inmates as well as pretrial detainees and pre-sentenced offenders that are also housed in the BOP facilities for agencies such as the United States Marshals Service (USMS) and the United States Bureau of Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE). Also the BOP has custodial responsibility for District of Columbia felons sentenced to terms of imprisonment, and holds many state and military offenders under contract. When summing up all of the inmates that are held in both federal prisons and private facilities under BOP contract, the number of inmates totals to to be more than 195,000 men and women.

Two major components of the BOP are the Federal Prison Industries (tradename “UNICOR”) and the National Institute of Corrections. The Director of the BOP holds the position of Chief Executive Officer at the head of UNICOR’s managing Board of Directors. UNICOR was made by Congress in 1934, being tasked with creating much needed prison employment to inmates as well as forming opportunities for inmates to learn marketable skills. The products from UNICOR factories are sold nationwide to government agencies, therefore most BOP institutions have a UNICOR factory or service present.

In 1974 the BOP division known as the National Institute of Corrections (NIC) was formed. The NIC assists state and local corrections agencies by providing training, technical assistance, information services and cooperative agreement awards to service provider groups. The NIC Director and Advisory Board which is made up of 16 members, appointed by the Attorney General, advise assistance strategies and manage the Institute’s funding priorities.

More recently, the BOP has contracted with several private firms with correctional expertise to operate prisons to house felony offenders, mostly criminal aliens, who would likely be incarcerated in BOP facilities otherwise. The contractor must abide by most of the BOP’s offender management policies but has day-to-day operational responsibility. Meanwhile, the BOP Privatization Management Branch keeps general supervision over these firms.