What security level will they get?

Before the Bureau of Prisons picks a prison, it fills in an intake form for every person, the Inmate Load and Security Designation form (BP-337). Ten lines on that form add up to a security point total, and the total puts the person at one of four levels: Minimum (a camp), Low, Medium or High.¹1 Federal Bureau of Prisons, Program Statement 5100.08, Inmate Security Designation and Custody Classification (Sept. 12, 2006), with Change Notices 1 (Sept. 4, 2019), 2 (Mar. 6, 2025) and 3 (May 6, 2026), none of which changed the scoring; ch. 1, pp. 1–2. The calculator uses the same lines and the same points.

The lines that are scored.²2 P5100.08, ch. 4, pp. 5–13 (BP-337 items 5 and 7 to 15).

• Voluntary surrender: 3 points off if the judge let them report to prison on their own after sentencing, without an escort.
• Severity of the current offense: 0 to 7 points, from the BOP’s own scale, which goes by what the presentence report says happened, even when the plea was to something less.³3 P5100.08, ch. 4, p. 7 (“the most severe documented instant offense behavior regardless of the conviction offense”); app. A (Offense Severity Scale).
• Criminal history: the guideline points become 0 to 10 BOP points.
• History of violence and history of escape: points for how serious and how recent. A serious escape also triggers a Public Safety Factor.
• Detainers: 0 to 7 points for charges or sentences waiting elsewhere. An immigration detainer gets no points here, but it is weighed as a Public Safety Factor.
• Age: 8 points at 24 or younger, 4 at 25 to 35, 2 at 36 to 54, none at 55 and older.
• Education: 0 with a verified diploma or GED, 1 while making progress in the GED program, 2 with neither.
• Drug or alcohol abuse: 1 point if it was within the last 5 years.

The cut-off points. For men, 0 to 11 points is Minimum, 12 to 15 Low, 16 to 23 Medium, and 24 or more High. For women, 0 to 15 is Minimum, 16 to 30 Low, and 31 or more High; there is no Medium level for women.⁴4 P5100.08, ch. 1, p. 2 (security levels and point ranges, male and female).

Public Safety Factors. Some facts set a floor no matter how low the points are.⁵5 P5100.08, ch. 5, pp. 7–13 (Public Safety Factors; Table 5-2, males; Table 5-3, females). Being a non-citizen, a sex offense, threats to government officials, serious telephone abuse and juvenile violence all mean at least Low. For men, so does an offense on the “Greatest” end of the scale, and the time left to serve sets a floor too: more than 10 years means at least Low, more than 20 at least Medium, and more than 30 (or life) High.⁶6 P5100.08, ch. 4, p. 6 (item 6, months to release: the sentence less 15% for sentences over 12 months, less jail credit) and ch. 5, p. 9 (Sentence Length). A serious escape means at least Medium for a man and High for a woman. Membership in a validated disruptive group, or a role in a prison disturbance, means High.

Then the BOP chooses a prison. The level narrows the choice, and the BOP also weighs bed space, programs, medical needs, the judge’s recommendation, and distance from home, aiming for 500 driving miles or less where it can.⁷7 P5100.08, Change Notice 1 (Sept. 4, 2019) (500 driving miles, “to the extent practicable”); 18 U.S.C. § 3621(b). Its staff can also raise or lower the level with what the policy calls “management variables”, and can waive a Public Safety Factor.

• The BOP decides, not this page. Its staff score from the judgment, the court’s statement of reasons and the presentence report, and they can raise or lower the result with a management variable.
• Errors in the report become errors in the score. If the report leaves out a diploma or gets citizenship wrong, the BOP scores it that way. Surviving Pretrial puts it bluntly: if a U.S. citizen’s report doesn’t say so, “the BOP will treat you like an illegal immigrant.” Fix it before sentencing.
• This is the first score, not the last. The BOP reviews custody classification during the sentence, and conduct and programs can move a person up or down.⁸8 P5100.08, ch. 6 (Custody Classification, form BP-338).
• The offense scale is the BOP’s, not the guidelines’. Pick the category from the examples given. If two seem to fit, pick the higher one; the BOP scores the most serious conduct the report describes.
• The policy can change. A change notice issued May 6, 2026 lets the Attorney General step in to choose the prison in some cases.⁹9 P5100.08, Change Notice 3 (May 6, 2026), § 1 (Purpose and Scope). This page was checked on October 30, 2026.