Home Confinement for Federal Inmates: Eligibility, Costs, and Rules

Home confinement for federal inmates lets certain people finish a federal sentence at an approved residence instead of in a prison or halfway house. The Bureau of Prisons runs the program, and placement flows through one of two statutory pathways: a standard prerelease transfer capped at six months or ten percent of the sentence, or a longer transfer earned through First Step Act time credits. Either way, the person stays in federal custody, wears or uses monitoring equipment, and follows conditions that carry real consequences if broken.¹

Who Qualifies and For How Long

There are two separate legal routes into home confinement, and which one applies decides how much time an inmate can serve at home.

The Standard Six-Month (or 10 Percent) Route

Under 18 U.S.C. § 3624(c), the BOP can place an inmate on home confinement for the shorter of six months or ten percent of the total sentence. A three-year sentence works out to roughly three and a half months under this cap, not the full six. The statute directs the BOP to give lower-risk inmates the maximum time allowed. This path has no offense-based exclusion list, so people convicted of crimes that block earned time credits can still be considered for it.²

The First Step Act Earned Time Credit Route

The First Step Act created a second, potentially much longer path. Inmates who participate in approved recidivism reduction programs and productive activities earn time credits that can be applied toward earlier transfer to home confinement or a residential reentry center. There is no ceiling on how many earned credits can go toward home confinement, so someone with enough credits could spend a year or more at home rather than in a facility.³

Two things have to line up. The inmate must have accumulated credits equal to the time remaining on the sentence, and their last two PATTERN risk assessments must show a minimum or low recidivism risk. If the risk score falls short, a warden can still approve the transfer after independently finding the person would not pose a danger, has made a genuine effort at programming, and is unlikely to reoffend.² PATTERN scores are reassessed periodically, so a score can improve over the course of a sentence through programming and clean conduct.⁴

Offenses That Block Earned Time Credits

The First Step Act lists dozens of federal offenses whose convictions permanently disqualify someone from using earned time credits for early transfer to home confinement or supervised release. The major categories include:⁵

Violent crimes, including murder, assault with intent to kill, drive-by shootings, domestic violence by a habitual offender, and assault on federal officers with a deadly weapon
Terrorism and espionage offenses, including gathering or transmitting defense information, biological and chemical weapons crimes, and threats against the President
Sex offenses and human trafficking, including sexual abuse, trafficking of children, and sex trafficking by force or coercion
Firearms offenses involving use or carry during a violent or drug trafficking crime, and repeat felons in possession
Certain leadership roles in drug trafficking organizations

People with these convictions can still participate in programming and receive other incentives, and they remain eligible for the standard § 3624(c) prerelease placement.⁶

Elderly Offender Home Detention

A separate program lets certain older inmates finish their sentence at home. To qualify, a person must be at least 60, have completed at least two-thirds of the sentence, and have no conviction for a violent crime, sex offense, terrorism-related charge, or espionage. Any history of escape or attempted escape from a BOP facility also disqualifies. The BOP must find that home detention will produce meaningful cost savings and that the person poses no substantial risk to public safety.⁷ This is not the same as compassionate release, which actually reduces the sentence and is available to terminally ill inmates regardless of age.⁸

Halfway House or Straight Home

Not everyone goes directly from a federal prison to their own address. The BOP often routes people through a residential reentry center (a halfway house) first. Under a May 2025 BOP directive, the agency now prioritizes sending eligible inmates straight to home confinement when they don’t need the structured support services a reentry center provides, and reserves halfway house beds for people with greater needs.³

The decision turns on the nature of the offense, disciplinary record, participation in prerelease programming, and the strength of the proposed home plan. A person who has a clean record, has completed assigned programs, and can point to stable housing and employment is a stronger candidate for direct placement.

The Home Plan and Approval

Planning typically begins 11 to 13 months before the projected release date, when the unit team starts developing a release plan. The inmate works with a case manager to put together a residential packet with the address of the proposed home, identifying information for every adult in the household (for background checks), and confirmation that the residence has phone service capable of supporting monitoring equipment.

The packet also needs to show how the person will support themselves, including any lined-up employment or vocational training. Letters from family or other hosts confirming they’ll take the person in help. Proof of valid identification, such as a state ID or Social Security card, goes in too. The residence itself cannot be a halfway house or transient facility if the goal is direct home placement. Staff will contact the proposed host and may inspect the home.

The completed referral goes to the BOP’s Residential Reentry Management office. Staff there investigate the home, contact the host, and verify the arrangement. The warden holds final authority. Once approved, the BOP issues travel orders and a specific release date. Transportation to the residence is usually handled by family or public transit. On arrival, the inmate must immediately contact the monitoring agency to activate supervision equipment. Failing to report on time can be prosecuted as escape under federal law, because the person remains in BOP custody.⁹

Daily Life Under Monitoring

Home confinement is not a loose arrangement. For earned-time-credit placements, the statute requires 24-hour electronic monitoring that identifies the person, pinpoints their location, and timestamps any violation in real time.² GPS ankle or wrist trackers are the most common tool, creating a virtual boundary around the approved residence that triggers an alert if the person crosses it without approval. Radio-frequency units, voice-recognition check-in calls, and smartphone-based apps are also used depending on the risk level.¹⁰

The default is that you stay home. Every trip out has to be pre-approved and fall into a recognized category. Under the First Step Act’s prerelease provisions, approved reasons include working or looking for work, participating in programming, community service, medical treatment, religious services, and certain family events like funerals, weddings, or visiting a seriously ill relative.² Education, attorney visits, and court appearances are also routinely permitted.¹¹ Schedules go in ahead of time, and any deviation needs prior clearance. Emergency medical visits require immediate notification to the monitoring center.

Random drug testing and unannounced home inspections are standard. A monitoring officer can show up at any time to search for prohibited items and check compliance. Alcohol and illegal drugs are off-limits, and some conditions restrict what other household members can keep on the premises. People with cybercrime-related convictions may face additional restrictions on internet access and electronic devices.¹²

What It Costs

BOP policy explicitly states that inmates on home confinement are not charged a subsistence fee. There is no daily rate for serving time at home.¹

The BOP will not, however, cover living expenses. The monitoring contractor isn’t required to provide meals, clothing, or other daily necessities, and inmates are responsible for their own medical and dental costs. If a person can’t or won’t cover those costs, the BOP can return them to a federal facility for treatment.¹ Confirming that health insurance or another plan is in place before the transfer avoids an ugly surprise.

What Happens If You Violate

The BOP does not treat violations as minor. Coming home late, missing a check-in, failing a drug test, leaving the approved area, or refusing an inspection can each generate a formal incident report.¹ Monitoring centers track activity around the clock and generate daily reports of any unauthorized absence, early departure, or late return.¹¹

The most common consequence for a serious violation is being returned to prison to serve out the sentence. For the worst breaches, such as absconding, prosecutors can bring an escape charge under 18 U.S.C. § 751, which carries up to five years of additional imprisonment.⁹ Home confinement feels like freedom compared to prison, but legally it isn’t. Acting otherwise can add years to a sentence.

Recent Policy Shifts

During the COVID-19 pandemic, the CARES Act temporarily expanded the BOP’s authority to place inmates on home confinement well beyond the standard six-month or ten-percent cap. Thousands were transferred, many serving far more time at home than the usual rules would allow. When the emergency wound down, the Department of Justice issued a final rule giving the BOP director discretion to let those individuals remain on home confinement rather than be pulled back into prison.¹³

Separately, in May 2025, the BOP issued a directive reinforcing its obligation under the First Step Act to move eligible inmates to home confinement as quickly as the law allows. The directive tells staff to prioritize home confinement over halfway house placement for people who don’t need residential reentry services, and clarifies that there is no cap on how many earned time credits can be applied. For inmates and families weighing what to expect, the practical effect is a wider door and, for some, more time at home.³

1
Federal Bureau of Prisons. Home Confinement
2
Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 18 USC 3624 – Release of a Prisoner
3
Federal Bureau of Prisons. Federal Bureau of Prisons Issues Directive to Expand Home Confinement, Advance First Step Act
4
Federal Bureau of Prisons. PATTERN Risk Assessment
5
Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 18 USC 3632 – Development of Risk and Needs Assessment System
6
Federal Bureau of Prisons. An Overview of the First Step Act
7
Federal Bureau of Prisons. Guidance – Elderly Offender Program (First Step Act)
8
Federal Bureau of Prisons. First Step Act – Frequently Asked Questions
9
Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 18 US Code 751 – Prisoners in Custody of Institution or Officer
10
United States Courts. Federal Location Monitoring
11
United States Courts. How Location Monitoring Works
12
United States Courts. Chapter 3 – Cybercrime-Related Conditions (Probation and Supervised Release Conditions)
13
Federal Register. Home Confinement Under the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES) Act