BOP Program Statement 5160.06 § 2

a. Statutory Authority. 18 U.S.C. § 3621(b) authorizes the Bureau of Prisons (Bureau) to

designate the place of imprisonment for inmates who committed the federal offense of conviction

on or after November 1, 1987. It states:

“The Bureau may designate any available penal or correctional facility that meets minimum

standards of health and habitability established by the Bureau, whether maintained by the Federal

Government or otherwise and whether within or without the judicial district in which the person

was convicted, that the Bureau determines to be appropriate and suitable, considering-

(1) the resources of the facility contemplated;

(2) the nature and circumstances of the offense;

(3) the history and characteristics of the prisoner;

(4) any statement by the court that imposed the sentence –

(A) concerning the purposes for which the sentence to imprisonment was determined to

be warranted; or

(B) recommending a type of penal or correctional facility as appropriate; and

5160.06 9/3/2026 PROPERTY OF US GOVERNMENT 2

(5) any pertinent policy statement issued by the Sentencing Commission pursuant to section

994(a)(2) of title 28.

… Notwithstanding any other provision of law, a designation of a place of imprisonment under

this subsection is not reviewable by any court.”

For inmates currently serving a sentence for which the date of offense occurred before November

1, 1987, the prior version of 18 U.S.C. § 4082(b) applies, which stated:

“The Attorney General may designate as a place of confinement any available, suitable, and

appropriate institution or facility, whether maintained by the Federal Government or otherwise,

and whether within or without the judicial district in which the person was convicted and may at

any time transfer a person from one place of confinement to another.”

b. Delegation to DSCC Sentence Computation Section Chief. The DSCC Sentence

Computation Section Chief is delegated the Bureau’s authority to designate a state institution for

concurrent service of a federal sentence. The DSCC Sentence Computation Section Chief’s

authority is delegated to the DSCC Operations Managers.

Designating an inmate to a non-federal institution results in the commencement of the federal

sentence based on the authority and intent of the federal sentencing court to run the federal

sentence concurrently with a state sentence. Following the United States Supreme Court’s

decision in Setser v. United States, 566 U.S. 231(2012), the Bureau does not have the authority to

independently determine whether an inmate’s sentence should run consecutively or concurrently

with another sentence under 18 U.S.C. § 3621(b). For inmates who committed federal offenses

before November 1, 1987, the DSCC researches the record and makes a determination regarding

concurrency.