28 C.F.R. § 550.55

Eligibility for early release

Read at: eCFRecfr.gov CornellLII GovInfogovinfo.gov CasesGoogle Scholar

(a) Eligibility. Inmates may be eligible for early release by a period not to exceed twelve months if they:

(1) Were sentenced to a term of imprisonment under either:

(i) 18 U.S.C. Chapter 227, Subchapter D for a nonviolent offense; or

(ii) D.C. Code § 24-403.01 for a nonviolent offense, meaning an offense other than those included within the definition of “crime of violence” in D.C. Code § 23-1331(4); and

(2) Successfully complete a RDAP, as described in § 550.53, during their current commitment.

(b) Inmates not eligible for early release. As an exercise of the Director's discretion, the following categories of inmates are not eligible for early release:

(1) Immigration and Customs Enforcement detainees;

(2) Pretrial inmates;

(3) Contractual boarders (for example, State or military inmates);

(4) Inmates who have a prior felony or misdemeanor conviction within the ten years prior to the date of sentencing for their current commitment for:

(i) Homicide (including deaths caused by recklessness, but not including deaths caused by negligence or justifiable homicide);

(ii) Forcible rape;

(iii) Robbery;

(iv) Aggravated assault;

(v) Arson;

(vi) Kidnaping; or

(vii) An offense that by its nature or conduct involves sexual abuse offenses committed upon minors;

(5) Inmates who have a current felony conviction for:

(i) An offense that has as an element, the actual, attempted, or threatened use of physical force against the person or property of another;

(ii) An offense that involved the carrying, possession, or use of a firearm or other dangerous weapon or explosives (including any explosive material or explosive device);

(iii) An offense that, by its nature or conduct, presents a serious potential risk of physical force against the person or property of another; or

(iv) An offense that, by its nature or conduct, involves sexual abuse offenses committed upon minors;

(6) Inmates who have been convicted of an attempt, conspiracy, or solicitation to commit an underlying offense listed in paragraph (b)(4) and/or (b)(5) of this section; or

(7) Inmates who previously received an early release under 18 U.S.C. 3621(e).

(c) Early release time-frame. (1) Inmates so approved may receive early release up to twelve months prior to the expiration of the term of incarceration, except as provided in paragraphs (c)(2) and (3) of this section.

(2) Under the Director's discretion allowed by 18 U.S.C. 3621(e), we may limit the time-frame of early release based upon the length of sentence imposed by the Court.

(3) If inmates cannot fulfill their community-based treatment obligations by the presumptive release date, we may adjust provisional release dates by the least amount of time necessary to allow inmates to fulfill their treatment obligations.

[74 FR 1897, Jan. 14, 2009, as amended at 81 FR 24490, Apr. 26, 2016]
Notes of Decisions
Cited in 116 cases (38 in the last 5 years), 2009–2026 · leading case: United States v. Davis, 139 S. Ct. 2319 (2019).
McNulty (M.D. Penn. 2026). · cites it 8× “§ 3621 (e}(2)(B) (emphasis added); see also 28 C.F.R. § 550.55 (a). In accordance with BOP Program Statement (“PS”) 5331.”
Milford Washington v. Fed. Bureau of Prisons, et al. (D. Maryland 2026). · cites it 5× “On August 19, 2024, the BOP completed an offense review for Washington and determined that, under 28 CFR § 550.55 (b)(5)(ii) and (iii) and Program Statement (“PS”) 5162.”
Davis (M.D. Penn. 2026). · cites it 4× “See 28 C.F.R. § 550.55 . These disqualifying offenses include any felony conviction that “involved the carrying, possession, or use of a firearm or other dangerous weapon or explosives.”
Taylor (M.D. Penn. 2026). · cites it 3×
Hardy (M.D. Penn. 2026). · cites it 2×
Armstead (W.D. Tenn. 2026).
Dooley (W.D. Tenn. 2026).
United States v. Bland (2d Cir. 2026).
Gonzalez Coffie v. Warden (D. Maryland 2025). · cites it 9× “(quoting 28 C.F.R. § 550.55 (b)(5)(ii)–(iii)). On September 26, 2024, Coffie Gonzalez filed a Regional Administrative Remedy Appeal with the BOP regional director, stating that he “should not be denied early release” because “[t]he BOP cannot turn a non-violent offense into a…”
Douglas v. Stewart (D. Maryland 2025). · cites it 3×
Jenkins v. Greene (M.D. Penn. 2025). · cites it 2×
— 28 C.F.R. § 550.55(b) — 1 case
Lewis v. United States (W.D. Tex. 2020).
— 28 C.F.R. § 550.55(b)(5)(ii) — 2 cases
Nunez v. Bennett (D.S.D. 2022).
Clearwater v. Bennett (D.S.D. 2022).
Annotations are extracted automatically from the opinions in the Syfert caselaw corpus and ranked by authority, recency, and treatment. Dots show Syfertize treatment of the citing case itself.