Samaritan Projects Newsletter

09.22.26

BOP First Step Act Time Credit Rule Change — Effective September 30, 2026

What Changed: The Bureau of Prisons published an interim final rule on August 31, 2026, revising 28 C.F.R. § 523.42(a) to remove language that had tied the start of First Step Act Time Credit earning to the moment a prisoner physically arrived at or surrendered to the designated BOP facility. The new rule simply states that an eligible inmate begins earning FSA Time Credits after the inmate's term of imprisonment commences — a standard governed by 18 U.S.C. § 3585(a), which defines sentence commencement as the moment a defendant is received in custody awaiting transportation to the official detention facility. The BOP made this change in direct response to growing court pressure, citing cases including Miles v. Bowers in the First Circuit and several district court decisions that found the old rule added a restriction not clearly supported by the First Step Act itself. A second change in the same rule clarifies that inmates serving sentences originally imposed in a foreign country may also access FSA credits if the U.S. Parole Commission has determined an equivalent U.S. Code sentence under 18 U.S.C. § 4106A.

Who Is Affected: The rule change most directly benefits federal prisoners who were sentenced and then spent time in custody — in a county jail, federal detention center, USMS holdover facility, or transit status — before arriving at their designated BOP institution. The BOP's own analysis found that the average gap between sentencing and arrival at the designated facility was 66.06 days, which could produce an average of roughly 23.81 additional days of FSA Time Credits for eligible prisoners who completed qualifying programming or productive activities during that period. The rule does not help everyone equally. Prisoners who self-surrendered after sentencing while free on bond have a weaker argument because their sentence generally does not commence until they voluntarily arrive to begin serving it. Pretrial detainees also do not benefit — the BOP was clear that a sentence cannot commence before it is imposed, so pre-sentencing custody remains governed by the separate jail-credit statute at 18 U.S.C. § 3585(b), not FSA credit rules. U.S. citizens transferred back from foreign prisons under treaty arrangements may also now qualify if the Parole Commission has set an equivalent sentence.

How It Works and What to Do: Earning credits under the new rule is not automatic. The prisoner must still be FSA-eligible — meaning they are not serving a sentence for a disqualifying offense — and must have successfully participated in assigned Evidence-Based Recidivism Reduction programs or Productive Activities during the post-sentencing, pre-arrival period. That means documentation is critical. Families and prisoners should gather sentencing dates, custody location records, BOP arrival dates, jail work assignments, program certificates, class rosters, and any staff verification of participation. If the BOP fails to count the disputed period, the prisoner should request an FSA time-credit worksheet, raise the issue with the unit team, and if necessary work through the Administrative Remedy Program — BP-8 through BP-11 — before seeking § 2241 habeas review in the district of confinement. The practical stakes are real: even 23 additional days of credit can shift a halfway house date, home confinement eligibility, or supervised release transfer date in a meaningful way for the prisoner and their family.

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