bop.gov

You can find a federal prison on bop.gov in two ways: use the "Locate a Federal Prison" tool on the homepage and pick a state from the dropdown, or go to Locations → Map of our Locations to browse facilities geographically. Both paths lead to the same facility listings, which include the institution's address and contact details. This works for anyone — family members, attorneys, media, or researchers — and requires no account or login.

Step-by-step: Locate a Federal Prison

1. Go to bop.gov.
2. Find the "Locate a Federal Prison" section on the homepage.
3. Open the "Select a state" dropdown. It defaults to All Locations, or you can choose a specific state (Alabama through Wyoming, plus Puerto Rico, the District of Columbia, and the Marshall Islands).
4. Select a state to narrow the list, or leave it on All Locations to see everything.
5. Open a facility from the results to view its details.

Expected result: A filtered list of federal facilities in that state, each linking to a page with the institution's information.

Alternative: Browse by map

If you'd rather search visually, use Locations → Map of our Locations in the main navigation. This shows facilities on a map so you can browse by region instead of by state name. Use this when you know roughly where the facility is but not the exact state listing, or when you want to see how facilities cluster in an area.

What each facility listing gives you

The BOP organizes facility information under Locations, which splits into:

• List of our Facilities — a text-based index of institutions
• Map of our Locations — a geographic view
• Search for a Facility — a direct lookup

Facility pages generally provide the institution's address and contact information, which is what you need for mailing, directions, or calling ahead. The BOP also publishes visiting procedures and Support Coordinators under Inmates → Custody & Care, so check those before traveling — visiting rules, hours, and approval requirements vary by facility and are set at the institution level.

Common pitfalls

• Don't confuse locating a prison with finding an inmate. "Locate a Federal Prison" finds facilities. To find a specific person, use Inmates → Find an Inmate instead.
• State selection is not the same as facility type. The dropdown filters by state, not by security level or gender. If you need a specific type of institution, open individual facility pages rather than relying on the state list alone.
• "All Locations" is the default. If you skip the dropdown, you'll get the full national list, which is long — pick a state first if you already know it.
• Contact details change. Confirm the address and phone number on the facility page close to your visit or mailing date rather than relying on a saved copy.

Related resources on bop.gov

• Find an Inmate — for locating a specific person in custody
• Visiting and Support Coordinators — under Inmates, for visit rules and help
• Report a Concern — for issues related to an inmate or facility
• Policy & Forms — for official BOP policy documents and forms

For anything beyond facility location — inmate status, visiting approval, or policy questions — start from the relevant section above rather than the prison locator, since each serves a different purpose.

The Federal Bureau of Prisons (BOP) hires for a wide range of roles, and as of the bop.gov homepage, it is offering nationwide sign-on bonuses for several high-demand positions. If you are considering a BOP career, the fastest path is to review the bonus-eligible roles below, then go to the BOP's "Current Openings" and "Our Hiring Process" pages to apply. The information here reflects what the BOP website itself lists; specific eligibility rules, pay, and location details are set on those official pages.

High-Demand Positions With Sign-On Bonuses

The BOP homepage highlights four categories of roles currently eligible for nationwide sign-on bonuses, with maximum amounts listed as follows:

These figures are the maximums the BOP advertises on its homepage. Actual bonus amounts can depend on the specific job, location, and the terms in the official announcement, so treat the table as a starting point and confirm details on the individual job posting.

Other Career Areas at the BOP

Beyond the bonus-eligible roles, the BOP's careers section points to several broader areas:

• Life at the BOP – an overview of what working in the agency is like.
• Explore Opportunities – the entry point for browsing job categories.
• Current Openings – the live list of open positions.
• Application Process / Our Hiring Process – the steps the BOP uses to evaluate applicants.

The site also lists Business Acquisitions, Solicitations & Awards, and Residential Reentry Contracting under its business side, which is relevant if you are looking at vendor or contracting work rather than direct employment.

How the Application Process Works

The BOP describes a defined hiring process rather than a single application form. Based on the site structure, the practical sequence is:

1. Explore opportunities to identify the job family that fits your background (correctional, medical, psychological, educational, or administrative).
2. Check current openings to find a specific vacancy, since bonuses and requirements are tied to individual postings.
3. Follow the application process outlined in the BOP's hiring pages, which walk through how candidates are evaluated.
4. Verify the terms of any sign-on bonus in the posting itself before relying on the maximum figures.

The BOP does not publish a single universal deadline or a one-size-fits-all eligibility rule on its homepage; those details live in each vacancy announcement.

Where to Start

• Current Openings – browse live vacancies.
• Our Hiring Process – understand the steps and expectations.
• Life at the BOP – get a sense of the work environment before applying.
• Sign-on bonus details – the BOP homepage links to more information on the bonus program.

If your goal is simply to find a role, start with Current Openings and filter by the position type you want. If your goal is to understand whether a bonus applies to you, read the specific posting rather than the summary figures, because the maximums advertised on the homepage are not guarantees for every applicant or location.

The First Step Act (FSA) is a federal law that changed how the Bureau of Prisons (BOP) manages incarceration and reentry, and the BOP carries it out through two main tools: the PATTERN risk assessment and a needs assessment that matches people to programs. If you are looking for how the law works in practice, or where to find the official resources, the BOP website (bop.gov) is the starting point — it hosts an FSA Overview, the PATTERN Risk Assessment, and the Needs Assessment and Programs pages under its "First Step Act" section.

What the First Step Act does

The FSA is aimed at two connected goals: assessing the risk that a person in federal custody will reoffend, and reducing that risk through programs and incentives. Rather than treating everyone the same, it directs the BOP to evaluate each person and then connect them with the programming their assessment calls for.

The BOP's role is implementation, not lawmaking. The agency applies the FSA through published tools and processes, which is why the FSA resources live alongside the BOP's policy, forms, and inmate information pages.

The two core mechanisms

PATTERN risk assessment

PATTERN is the risk assessment tool the BOP uses under the FSA. It produces a risk score for a person in custody, which in turn affects eligibility for certain FSA benefits. The BOP publishes a dedicated PATTERN Risk Assessment page so the public, families, and legal representatives can see how the tool is described.

Needs assessment and programs

Risk alone doesn't determine what happens next — the needs assessment identifies what a person requires (for example, specific programming) and points to the programs available to address it. The BOP groups this under "FSA Needs Assessment and Programs."

How to find the FSA resources on bop.gov

1. Go to bop.gov.
2. Locate the First Step Act entry — it appears in the site's topic navigation and is also linked from the homepage area.
3. Open FSA Overview for the plain-language explanation of the law.
4. Open PATTERN Risk Assessment to see how the risk tool is described.
5. Open FSA Needs Assessment and Programs for the programming side.
6. Use View All FSA Resources if you want the complete set rather than the three main pages.

The expected result is that you land on official BOP pages rather than third-party summaries, which matters because FSA details are updated by the agency itself.

Common points of confusion

• The FSA section is not the same as "Find an Inmate." Inmate lookup is a separate tool; FSA pages explain the law and its tools.
• PATTERN and the needs assessment are distinct steps. One scores risk, the other identifies programming needs — don't treat them as a single process.
• Policy and forms live elsewhere. If you need an actual BOP policy document or form, use the "Policy & Forms" resource rather than the FSA pages.
• The site is the authoritative source. Because bop.gov is an official U.S. government site served over HTTPS, the FSA materials there are the reference version to check against anything you read elsewhere.

You can locate someone in federal custody through the "Find an Inmate" tool on bop.gov, the official Federal Bureau of Prisons website. You'll need either the person's full name or their BOP register number, and you can search from the homepage without creating an account. The tool returns basic custody information, but it only covers people in BOP custody — it won't find individuals held in state prisons, local jails, or other agencies.

What the BOP website is

bop.gov is the official website of the Federal Bureau of Prisons, a United States government agency. Because it's a .gov site, it uses HTTPS and belongs to an official government organization — a useful signal when you're verifying you're on the real site rather than a third-party lookup service.

The homepage organizes information into a few main areas:

• Inmates — including the "Find an Inmate" tool
• About Us — agency background, facilities, statistics, and historical information
• Locations — a list and map of BOP facilities, plus a facility search
• Careers — current openings and the hiring process
• Resources — policy and forms, news, publications, and records available online
• Contact Us and audience-specific sections for attorneys, media, employees, families, victims and witnesses, and volunteers

How to search for an inmate

1. Go to bop.gov.
2. Open the Inmates section and select Find an Inmate.
3. Enter your search criteria — typically the person's name or their BOP register number.
4. Review the results.

The register number is the more precise option when you have it, since names can be common or spelled inconsistently. If you only have a name, be prepared to check multiple results.

What the results can tell you

A successful search may return information such as:

• Custody status
• Facility location

This is the kind of detail that helps you confirm you've found the right person and figure out where they are held.

Limitations and privacy considerations

• Scope: The tool covers people in BOP custody. Someone in a state prison, county jail, or another federal or local agency won't appear here — you'd need that agency's own lookup system.
• Accuracy of inputs: A misspelled name or an incorrect register number can produce no results even when the person is in custody.
• Privacy: Inmate information is published for legitimate purposes, but treat what you find as personal data. Avoid using it to contact or locate someone outside official channels, and follow BOP's reporting options if you have a concern rather than acting on the information yourself.

Related tools on the same site

If your question goes beyond a single lookup, the site also offers:

• Locate a Federal Prison — select a state to see facilities
• Search for a Facility — find a specific institution
• Policy & Forms — find a document, policy, or form
• News — press releases and publications
• Records Available Online — other records you can request or view

For anything the lookup tool doesn't answer, the Contact Us section and the audience-specific resource pages (for families, attorneys, victims and witnesses, and others) are the next places to check.

bop.gov is the official website of the Federal Bureau of Prisons (BOP), a United States government agency. It is the primary online source for information about federal prisons, inmates in federal custody, BOP policies, and careers with the agency. You can use it to locate an inmate, find a federal facility, read official policy documents, or apply for a job — all through a secure .gov domain that signals official government operation.

Who runs it and why it matters

The site is operated by the Federal Bureau of Prisons, an agency of the U.S. government. The homepage carries the standard federal notice that official websites use .gov domains and that secure .gov sites use HTTPS. This matters because it distinguishes bop.gov from third-party inmate-search or prison-information sites that are not official and may carry inaccurate or outdated data.

What you can do on bop.gov

The site is organized around a few core tasks:

• Find an inmate — look up a person in federal custody.
• Search for a facility — browse the full list of BOP locations or use a map, and filter by state.
• Read news and press releases — BOP News covers agency announcements and stories.
• Explore careers — current openings, the hiring process, and details on sign-on bonuses for high-demand roles.
• Access policy and forms — find documents, policies, and records available online.
• Learn about the First Step Act — including the FSA overview, PATTERN risk assessment, and needs assessment and programs.
• Find resources by audience — separate sections for attorneys, congressional and media representatives, employees, families and stakeholders, former adults in custody, health management, victims and witnesses, and volunteers.

Key sections at a glance

A note on the sign-on bonuses

The homepage highlights nationwide sign-on bonuses for several high-demand positions, listing amounts such as up to $86,000 for psychologists, up to $49,000 for correctional officers, up to $38,000 for medical professionals, and up to $36,000 for special education teachers. These figures come directly from the site's current listing; treat them as the agency's advertised maximums and check the linked bonus page for eligibility conditions before relying on them.

How to tell you're on the official site

Because inmate information is sensitive and often sought through unofficial channels, confirm you are on bop.gov by checking that the address ends in .gov and that the connection uses HTTPS (shown by a lock icon). The site also provides a "How Do I…" menu and an A–Z topics index for navigating common tasks.