Doing time in the federal system may be different than you would expect. Once someone is sentenced and enters the Bureau of Prisons (BOP), they are held pending “classification." More specifically, it is to determine which facility will be appropriate for the inmate, based on a number of factors including medical needs and history of violence.

There are many federal correctional facilities through the country, each with a designation for the type of inmates appropriate to house there. 

One thing that often surprises federal inmates is that they may not serve their time near the city where they were arrested. Although the BOP makes an effort to keep inmates in the general area, they also must take into account the inmate’s designation and where there is available space.  Unlike with state prison, this can make it difficult and expensive for family and friends to visit. 

• There are about 200,000 inmates serving time in federal prison.
• Of the inmates, 93% are male ad 7 % are female.
• The average age for an inmate is 38
•  30% of inmates are serving a sentence from 5-10 years. 19.5% of inmates are serving 10-15 years. The numbers taper in both directions from here.
• Drug offenses represent  53.6% of the inmate population. The next biggest category is 14.7% with weapons/explosives/arson offenses, third biggest category is Immigration at 10.3%, and the rest of the offenses are in the single digit percentages. Bottom of the list are national security offenses at a tenth of a percent (.1%).