Federal Prison Sentence Calculator
Free federal prison sentence calculator that projects your Bureau of Prisons release date by modeling Good Conduct Time (GCT) under 18 U.S.C. § 3624(b), First Step Act earned time credits (FTC), RDAP reduction under 18 U.S.C. § 3621(e), and Second Chance Act community placement under 18 U.S.C. § 3624(c). Built on current BOP sentence calculation and implementation policy, and aligned with official BOP Sentence Monitoring Computation sheets at the day level.
What this federal sentence calculator projects
- Full Term Date — the raw expiration of the sentence before any credits.
- Good Conduct Time release date — 54 days per year of the sentence imposed, as corrected by the First Step Act.
- First Step Act (FSA) supervised release date — earned time credits at 10 or 15 days per 30-day program period, subject to the 365-day application cap.
- RDAP-adjusted release date — up to 12 months off for eligible participants completing the Residential Drug Abuse Program.
- Community placement (halfway house / RRC and home confinement) start date under the Second Chance Act.
Who uses it
- People already in BOP custody who want to check their projected release date against their computation sheet.
- Defendants awaiting self-surrender who need a realistic timeline before reporting.
- Families planning for a loved one's release, halfway house date, and home confinement window.
- Federal defense attorneys modeling sentencing exposure and cooperation scenarios for a client file.
Frequently asked questions
How is a federal release date calculated?
The BOP starts from the sentence imposed, applies prior custody (jail) credit under 18 U.S.C. § 3585(b), subtracts Good Conduct Time of 54 days per year, then applies First Step Act earned time credits up to a 365-day cap, and finally applies any RDAP reduction. Second Chance Act community placement is measured backward from the resulting release date.
How much good conduct time do federal inmates get?
54 days for each year of the sentence imposed, for sentences longer than one year. The First Step Act corrected the earlier BOP formula that awarded only 47 days per year.
Do First Step Act credits reduce my release date without limit?
No. A maximum of 365 days of earned time credits can be applied toward early release. Credits earned beyond that cap are applied toward additional community placement time instead.
Is this calculator free?
Yes. The calculator is free to use and requires no account.
Federal Sentence Help is an educational resource and is not a law firm. Projections are estimates; actual dates are determined by the Bureau of Prisons. More resources at federalsentencehelp.org.