thumb|Organizational chart of the Federal Bureau of Prisons
The Federal Bureau of Prisons (FBOP) is a federal law enforcement agency of the United States Department of Justice that is responsible for all federal prisons in the country and provides for the care, custody, and control of federal prisoners.
History
The federal prison system had existed for more than 30 years before the BOP was established. Although its wardens functioned almost autonomously, the Superintendent of Prisons, a Department of Justice official in Washington, was nominally in charge of federal prisons. The passage of the "Three Prisons Act" in 1891 authorized the first three federal penitentiaries: USP Leavenworth, USP Atlanta, and USP McNeil Island with limited supervision by the Department of Justice.
Until 1907, prison matters were handled by the Justice Department General Agent, with responsibility for Justice Department accounts, oversight of internal operations, certain criminal investigations as well as prison operations. In 1907, the General Agent was abolished, and its functions were distributed between three new offices: the Division of Accounts (which evolved into the Justice Management Division); the Office of the Chief Examiner (which evolved in 1908 into the Bureau of Investigation, and in the early 1920s into the Federal Bureau of Investigation); and the Office of the Superintendent of Prisons and Prisoners, later called the Superintendent of Prisons (which evolved in 1930 into the Bureau of Prisons).
thumb|The exterior of [[Federal Correctional Institution, Milan]]
The Bureau of Prisons was established within the Department of Justice on May 14, 1930 by the United States Congress, and was charged with the "management and regulation of all Federal penal and correctional institutions." This responsibility covered the administration of the 11 federal prisons in operation at the time. By the end of 1930, the system had expanded to 14 institutions with 13,000 inmates, and a decade later in 1940, the system had 24 institutions with 24,360 incarcerated. A statute in May 1930 provided for the employment of prisoners, the creation of a corporation for the purpose was authorized by a statute in June 1934,
The state of Alaska assumed jurisdiction over its corrections on January 3, 1959, using the Alaska Department of Corrections; prior to statehood, the BOP had correctional jurisdiction over Alaska.
As a result of the Sentencing Reform Act of 1984 and subsequent legislation, which pushed for longer sentences, less judicial discretion, and harsher sentences for drug-related offenses, the federal inmate population doubled in the 1980s and again in the 1990s. The population increase decelerated in the early 2000s, but the population continued to increase until 2014.
The National Capital Revitalization and Self-Government Improvement Act of 1997 transferred responsibility for adult felons convicted of violating District of Columbia laws to the BOP.
Administration and employees
Colette S. Peters resigned as of January 20, 2025, and Deputy Director William Lothrop served as the acting director until his retirement on February 28, 2025. The Bureau of Prisons' current director, William K. Marshall III, was sworn in on April 21, 2025.
As of December 2024, 60.5% of Bureau employees are white, 21.5% are black, 14.3% are Hispanic, 2.5% are Asian, and 1.2% are Native American. 70.7% are male and 29.3% are female. There is roughly one corrections officer for every 12.5 prisoners.
All BOP law enforcement employees undergo 200 hours of formal training in their first year of employment and an additional 120 hours of training at the Federal Law Enforcement Training Centers (FLETC) in Glynco, Georgia.
Past directors
{| class=wikitable style="text-align:center"
|-
!Portrait
!Director
!Took office
!Left office
|-
|100px
|Sanford Bates
|1930
|1937
|-
|100px
|James V. Bennett
|1937
|1964
|-
|100px
|Myrl E. Alexander
|1964
|1970
|-
|100px
|Norman A. Carlson
|1970
|1987
|-
|100px
|J. Michael Quinlan
|July 1987
|1992
|-
|100px
|Kathleen Hawk Sawyer
|December 4, 1992
|April 4, 2003
|-
|100px
|Harley G. Lappin
|April 4, 2003
|December 21, 2011
|-
|100px
|Charles E. Samuels Jr.
|December 21, 2011
|January 9, 2016
|-
|100px
|Mark S. Inch
|September 18, 2017
|May 18, 2018
|-
|
|Hugh Hurwitz (acting)
|May 18, 2018
|August 19, 2019
|-
|100px
|Kathleen Hawk Sawyer
|August 19, 2019
|February 25, 2020
|-
|100px
|Michael D. Carvajal
|February 25, 2020
|August 2, 2022
|-
|100px
|Colette S. Peters
|August 2, 2022
|January 20, 2025
|-
|100px
|William Marshall III
|April 21, 2025
|Present
|}
Types of federal prisons
thumb|right|The [[United States Medical Center for Federal Prisoners, a unit for male prisoners requiring medical care]]
The BOP has five security levels:
- Federal Prison Camps (FPCs), the BOP minimum-security facilities, feature a lack of or a limited amount of perimeter fencing and a relatively low staff-to-inmate ratio.
- Low-security Federal Correctional Institutions (FCIs) have double-fenced perimeters, and inmates live mostly in cubicles or dormitory housing.
- Medium-security FCIs and some United States Penitentiaries (USPs) are classified to hold medium-security inmates. The medium facilities have strengthened perimeters which often consist of double fences with electronic detection systems. Medium-security facilities mostly have cell housing.
- Most U.S. Penitentiaries are classified as high-security facilities. The perimeters are highly secured and often have reinforced fences or walls.
- Federal Correctional Complexes (FCCs) are co-locations of BOP facilities with different security levels and/or genders.
- Administrative Security Facilities are prisons with special missions and capabilities. An example would be Federal Medical Centers, which house sick and injured inmates getting medical care that is beyond the capabilities of a normal institution.
Some units have small, adjacent, minimum-security "satellite camps". Twenty-eight institutions hold female inmates. , about 15% of Bureau inmates are in facilities operated by third parties, mostly private companies, while others are in local and state facilities. Some are in privately operated Residential Reentry Centers (RRC) or Community Corrections Centers. The Bureau uses contract facilities to manage its own prison population because they are "especially useful" for housing low-security, specialized groups of people, such as sentenced criminal aliens.
Officers
Officers employed by the FBOP are uniformed federal law enforcement officers who are responsible for the care, custody, and control of federal inmates. Primary law enforcement officers working for the Bureau of Prisons have statutory powers of arrest per the United States Code, and the ability to carry a firearm off duty.
The BOP has multiple specialty units including the Special Operations Response Team, Crisis Negotiation Team, Special Investigative Service and Disturbance Control Team.
BOP Special Operations Response Teams (SORT) and Disturbance Control Teams (DCT) are trained specifically for high-risk crises both inside and outside of correctional environments, focusing on containment, de-escalation, and use of force.
SORT units are highly specialized tactical teams used for high-risk scenarios like hostage situations, riot control, and other emergency operations.
Their training is rigorous and ongoing:
- Initial Selection & Certification: Members undergo a demanding selection process including physical fitness assessments, policy examinations, and courses in basic tactical skills like rappelling, building entries, and disturbance control.
- Monthly/Annual Training: SORT members must complete a minimum of 96 hours of training annually, often exceeding 16 hours monthly, in areas such as:
- Firearms Proficiency: Handling and using various weapons, including submachine guns and less-lethal options.
- Riot Control Techniques: Training using simulated prison disturbances and large-scale mock operations.
- Use of Force: Training emphasizes the use of chemical agents (like OC spray), distraction devices ("flash-bangs"), and specialty impact munitions.
- Hostage Negotiation Integration: Training involves working alongside negotiation teams during scenario-based exercises.
- Breaching and Tactical Movement: Specialized training for forced entry into barricaded areas or cells.
DCT units are distinct from SORT and focus primarily on crowd control scenarios within prisons. Their training is less specialized and rigorous than SORT, with annual requirements of around 40 hours of training per year, focusing on core skills for managing inmate disturbances. Both teams are routinely activated to assist other federal agencies in managing incidents, such as the nationwide protests in 2020 following the murder of George Floyd by a police officer.
Inmate population
{| class="wikitable sortable mw-collapsible" align="right"
|+