Furloughs – BOP Program Statement 5280.09

By Elizabeth Franklin-Best, Esq., and Christopher Zoukis, JD, MBA

Program Statement 5280.09 at a glance

Field	Value
Program Statement	5280.09
Subject	Inmate Furloughs — the title printed on the PDF’s first page. BOP’s policy index lists it as “Furloughs.”
Effective / current edition date	Two dates, both printed in the header. “DATE: January 20, 2011” and, on the line below it, “EFFECTIVE DATE: February 10, 2011.” OPI: CPD/CPB. Signed by Director Harley G. Lappin.
Change notice	None. This edition has never been amended by a Change Notice.
Supersedes / rescinds	“P5280.08 Furloughs (2/4/98)” (PS 5280.09 at p. 1)
Governing statute	18 U.S.C. § 3622, Temporary release of a prisoner (offenses on or after Nov. 1, 1987). For offenses before that date the authority is 18 U.S.C. § 4082(c) as it existed before Pub. L. 98-473, delegated to the Director by 28 C.F.R. § 0.96(d).
Governing regulation (28 C.F.R.)	28 C.F.R. part 570, subpart C — §§ 570.30 through 570.38, nine sections. The Program Statement reproduces every one of them and says so at p. 20: “Regulations cited in this Program Statement are contained in 28 CFR §§ 570.30-38.”
Related BP forms	BP-A0291, “Furlough Application – Approval and Record” — the form that documents an approved furlough and carries the Conditions of Furlough the person signs. BP-A0952, “Furlough Questionnaire” — sent to the U.S. Probation Office or CSOSA. BP-199, “Request for Withdrawal of Inmate’s Personal Funds” — used to encumber the urinalysis fee. BP-A0381, Inmate Activity Record — where the post-furlough interview is documented.
Official PDF	PS 5280.09, Inmate Furloughs

Checked against the BOP policy set · 2026-09-06.

A furlough is an authorized absence from a federal prison without a staff escort — for a funeral, a dying relative, a medical appointment, a court appearance, release planning, or the trip to a halfway house. Congress made it discretionary: 18 U.S.C. § 3622 says the Bureau “may release a prisoner … for a limited period,” and this Program Statement adds, in its own words, that “[a] furlough is not an entitlement.”

This page explains what the rules are. If you need help with a specific request — a family emergency happening now, a denial you want to challenge, a transfer furlough that has stalled — that belongs on our temporary release and furlough requests page, which handles the case-by-case work. The transfer furlough is also how many people physically travel to a halfway house; that program is explained at Community Corrections Center Utilization and Transfer Procedure (PS 7310.04).

The rule itself: the furlough types, durations, purposes and eligibility

Six tables. The first is the statute — the source of every number on this page, including the thirty-day cap. The second is the type-and-duration table from the regulation the Program Statement reproduces. The third is the enumerated list of purposes. The fourth and fifth are the eligibility rules, which differ for transfer furloughs and for everything else, and which include the single most useful table in this policy: the time-remaining grid. The sixth is the conditions. Tables B through F are regulatory text reproduced inside the Program Statement, which is why they are quoted with both the section number and the page anchor.

Table A — the statute, 18 U.S.C. § 3622

Element	Text, verbatim
The grant of authority	“The Bureau of Prisons may release a prisoner from the place of his imprisonment for a limited period if such release appears to be consistent with the purpose for which the sentence was imposed and any pertinent policy statement issued by the Sentencing Commission …, if such release otherwise appears to be consistent with the public interest and if there is reasonable cause to believe that a prisoner will honor the trust to be imposed in him, by authorizing him, under prescribed conditions, to—”
(a) — the cap and the six purposes	“visit a designated place for a period not to exceed thirty days, and then return to the same or another facility, for the purpose of— (1) visiting a relative who is dying; (2) attending a funeral of a relative; (3) obtaining medical treatment not otherwise available; (4) contacting a prospective employer; (5) establishing or reestablishing family or community ties; or (6) engaging in any other significant activity consistent with the public interest;”
(b) — study release	“participate in a training or educational program in the community while continuing in official detention at the prison facility; or”
(c) — work release	“work at paid employment in the community while continuing in official detention … if (1) the rates of pay and other conditions of employment will not be less than those paid or provided for work of a similar nature in the community; and (2) the prisoner agrees to pay to the Bureau such costs incident to official detention as the Bureau finds appropriate and reasonable.”

Source: 18 U.S.C. § 3622, current text. Note the permissive “may”: nothing in this statute entitles anyone to a furlough.

Table B — the two types of furlough, and how long each can last

Category	Definition, verbatim from 28 C.F.R. § 570.32 as printed in PS 5280.09
What a furlough is	“A furlough is an authorized absence from an institution by an inmate who is not under escort of a staff member, U.S. Marshal, or state or federal agents.”
(a) Transfer furlough	“A furlough for the purpose of transferring an inmate from one Bureau facility to another, a non-federal facility, or community confinement (including home confinement).”
(b) Non-transfer furlough	“A furlough for any purpose other than a transfer furlough, and which may be defined based on its nature, as either emergency or routine.”
(b)(1) Emergency furlough	“A furlough allowing an inmate to address a family crisis or other urgent situation.” The Program Statement adds: “Immediate family includes mother, father, stepparents, foster parents, brothers and sisters, spouse, and children.”
(b)(2) Routine furlough	“A furlough for any of the reasons noted below at § 570.33 (a) and (c)-(j).”
(c)(1) Day furlough	“A furlough within the geographic limits of the commuting area of the institution, which lasts 16 hours or less and ends before midnight.” The Program Statement adds that day furloughs are “approximately a 100-mile radius.”
(c)(2) Overnight furlough	“A furlough which falls outside the criteria of a day furlough.” The Program Statement adds: “Ordinarily, the length of an overnight furlough is 3 to 7 calendar days. This time frame may only be extended for specific medical, educational, or vocational reasons per 18 U.S.C. § 3622 and § 4082.”
Overall ceiling	§ 570.33: “The Warden or designee may authorize a furlough, for 30 calendar days or less.”
Sub-labels the Bureau uses	Social furlough — “a day or overnight furlough used primarily for purposes listed in Section 4.(b)-(e),” i.e. release planning, family and community ties, religious, educational, recreational, civic, or crisis. Legal furlough — purposes 4(f)–(h). Training/Work furlough — purpose 4(i). Transfer furlough — “[i]nmate movement that is institution-to-institution or institution-to-Residential Reentry Center (RRC).”

Source: PS 5280.09 at pp. 5–6, reproducing 28 C.F.R. § 570.32.

Table C — the ten authorized purposes, 28 C.F.R. § 570.33

“The Warden or designee may authorize a furlough, for 30 calendar days or less, for an inmate to:”

§	Purpose, verbatim	SENTRY assignment (Attachment A)
(a)	“Transfer directly to another Bureau institution, a non-federal facility, or community confinement”	FURL TRANS (to an RRC); FURL TR NC (not to an RRC)
(b)	“Be present during a crisis in the immediate family, or in other urgent situations”	FURL CRI
(c)	“Participate in the development of release plans”	FURL REL
(d)	“Establish or reestablish family and community ties”	FURL TIES
(e)	“Participate in selected educational, social, civic, and religious activities which will facilitate release transition”	FURL EDC, FURL CIV, FURL RLG, FURL REC
(f)	“Appear in court in connection with a civil action”	FURL LEG
(g)	“Comply with an official request to appear before a grand jury, or to comply with a request from a legislative body, or regulatory or licensing agency”	FURL LEG
(h)	“Appear in or prepare for a criminal court proceeding, but only when the use of a furlough is requested or recommended by the applicable court or prosecuting attorney”	FURL LEG
(i)	“Participate in special training courses or in institution work assignments, including Federal Prison Industries (FPI) work assignments, when daily commuting from the institution is not feasible”	FURL TRAIN, FURL CSP
(j)	“Receive necessary medical, surgical, psychiatric, or dental treatment not otherwise available”	FURL MED, FURL MED E

The Program Statement adds one route for anything outside this list: “The Warden refers a request for a furlough in other situations through the Regional Director to the Assistant Director, Correctional Programs Division, for approval.”

The right-hand column of the table above pairs each regulatory purpose with the SENTRY assignment the Bureau uses to record it. The purposes and the code list are both verbatim; the pairing is drawn from the Program Statement’s own definitions — a “social furlough” is one “used primarily for purposes listed in Section 4.(b)-(e),” a “legal furlough” one used “primarily for purposes listed in Section 4(f)-(h),” a “training/work furlough” one used “primarily for purposes listed in Section 4(i),” and a transfer furlough one “used primarily for purposes listed in Section 4(a)(1)-(3)” — read together with the code descriptions in Attachment A. The Program Statement gives three of the pairings expressly: “the SENTRY assignment for family visits is FURL TIES; to attend religious functions, FURL RLG; to attend court proceedings, FURL LEG.”

Source: PS 5280.09 at pp. 6–8, 21, reproducing 28 C.F.R. § 570.33.

Table D — transfer furlough eligibility, 28 C.F.R. § 570.35

§	Requirement, verbatim
(a)	“Inmates transferring to administrative, low, medium, or high security facilities are generally not eligible for participation in the Bureau’s transfer furlough program.”
(b)	“For a transfer furlough, inmates other than those described in (a) must: (1) Be physically and mentally capable of completing the furlough; and (2) Demonstrate sufficient responsibility to provide reasonable assurance that furlough requirements will be met.”
(c)	“Inmates transferring to minimum security facilities must meet the requirements described in (b), and must also be: (1) Transferring from a low or minimum security facility; and (2) Appropriate for placement in a minimum security facility based on the inmate’s security designation and custody classification at the time of transfer.”
(d)	“Inmates transferring to community confinement must meet the requirements described in (b), and must also be appropriate for placement in community confinement based on the inmate’s security designation and custody classification at the time of transfer.”
e (policy)	“The Warden may grant a furlough to an inmate with OUT custody only when the furlough is for transferring directly to another institution (except RRCs – COMMUNITY custody is required when transferring to a RRC) or for obtaining local medical treatment not otherwise available at the institution. (Ordinarily, local medical treatment does not exceed one day.)”
f (policy)	“Except as provided in paragraphs (c) and (e) of this section, the Warden may grant a furlough only to an inmate with COMMUNITY custody.”

Source: PS 5280.09 at p. 10, reproducing 28 C.F.R. § 570.35.

Table E — the time-remaining grid for every other furlough, 28 C.F.R. § 570.36(a)

This is the table people actually need, and it is the reason most furlough requests are denied without anyone reaching the merits. It applies on top of the § 570.35(b) requirements.

If an inmate has …	Then the inmate may only be considered for …
“been confined at the initially designated institution for less than 90 days”	“an emergency furlough.”
“more than two years remaining until the projected release date”	“an emergency furlough.”
“2 years or less remaining until the projected release date”	“an emergency furlough or a routine day furlough.”
“18 months or less remaining until the projected release date”	“an emergency furlough, a routine day furlough, or a routine overnight furlough within the institution’s commuting area.”
“1 year or less remaining until the projected release date”	“an emergency furlough, a routine day furlough, or a routine overnight furlough either within or outside the institution’s commuting area.”

“Projected release date,” for this rule, is the first of these that applies: “The inmate’s mandatory (statutory) release date. The Good Conduct Time Release date for an inmate sentenced under CCCA is considered the ‘statutory’ release date”; “The inmate’s minimum expiration date”; “The inmate’s presumptive parole date”; “The inmate’s effective parole date.” And the grid is not absolute: “If the Warden approves a furlough outside the above guidelines, he/she documents the reasons in the inmate’s central file.”

Three further restrictions, § 570.36(b): “Ordinarily, Wardens will not grant a furlough to an inmate if: (1) The inmate is convicted of a serious crime against a person; (2) The inmate’s presence in the community could attract undue public attention, create unusual concern, or diminish the seriousness of the offense; or (3) The inmate has been granted a furlough in the past 90 days.” Again with an escape valve: “If the Warden approves a furlough for such an inmate, he/she documents the reasons in the inmate’s central file.”

Ten policy categories the Bureau treats as ordinarily inappropriate, § 7.c of the Program Statement: (1) a current or prior offense listed in the Program Statement on Categorization of Offenses — “[o]rdinarily, an inmate is precluded from receiving a furlough if he/she has an offense listed in either Section 3, Offenses Categorized as Crimes of Violence, or Section 4”; (2) an unwaived Public Safety Factor — such furloughs “are considered only in highly unusual circumstances and require the Regional Director’s prior written approval”; (3) refusing the Inmate Financial Responsibility Program, and “[i]nmates not making payments commensurate with their ability to pay are also ineligible”; (4) withdrawing from education before the GED; (5) refusing required drug abuse treatment or the Release Preparation Program; (6) “100 OR 200 level prohibited acts, or the prohibited acts of using drugs or alcohol, drug possession, possession of drug paraphernalia, or introduction of drugs into Bureau institutions within the last three years from the date of the incident”; (7) other incident reports, “assessed in terms of overall institutional adjustment”; (8) “a prior history of escape or attempted escape from secure custody”; (9) “a detainer or unresolved outstanding warrant”; (10) furloughs outside U.S. jurisdiction — “[a] furlough may only be authorized within the U.S. and possessions and territories in which the U.S. Government retains jurisdiction (e.g., Guam, Puerto Rico, Virgin Islands).”

Source: PS 5280.09 at pp. 11–13, reproducing 28 C.F.R. § 570.36.

Table F — the conditions, 28 C.F.R. § 570.38

§	Condition, verbatim
(a)	“An inmate who violates the conditions of a furlough may be considered an escapee under 18 U.S.C. 4082 or 18 U.S.C. 751, and may be subject to criminal prosecution and institution disciplinary action.”
(b)(1)	While on furlough the person “[r]emains in the legal custody of the U.S. Attorney General, in service of a term of imprisonment.”
(b)(2)	“Is subject to prosecution for escape if he/she fails to return to the institution at the designated time.”
(b)(3)	“Is subject to institution disciplinary action, arrest, and criminal prosecution for violating any condition(s) of the furlough.”
(b)(4)	“May be thoroughly searched and given a urinalysis, breathalyzer, and other comparable test, during the furlough or upon return to the institution, and must pre-authorize the cost of such test(s) … The inmate must pre-authorize all testing fee(s) to be withdrawn directly from his/her inmate deposit fund account.”
(b)(5)	“Must contact the institution (or United States Probation Officer) in the event of arrest, or any other serious difficulty or illness.”
(b)(6)	“Must comply with any other special instructions given by the institution.”
(c)	“While on furlough, the inmate must not: (1) Violate the laws of any jurisdiction; (2) Leave the area of his/her furlough without permission …; (3) Purchase, sell, possess, use, consume, or administer any narcotic drugs, marijuana, alcohol, or intoxicants in any form, or frequent any place where such articles are unlawfully sold …; (4) Use medication that is not prescribed and given to the inmate by the institution medical department or a licensed physician; (5) Have any medical/dental/surgical/psychiatric treatment without staff’s written permission, unless there is an emergency …; (6) Possess any firearm or other dangerous weapon; (7) Get married, sign any legal papers, contracts, loan applications, or conduct any business without staff’s written permission; (8) Associate with persons having a criminal record or with persons who the inmate knows to be engaged in illegal activities without staff’s written permission; (9) Drive a motor vehicle without staff’s written permission, which can only be obtained if the inmate has proof of a currently valid driver’s license and proof of appropriate insurance; or (10) Return from furlough with anything the inmate did not take out with him/her (for example, clothing, jewelry, or books).”

Cost. 28 C.F.R. § 570.34: “All expenses of a furlough, including transportation, food, lodging, and incidentals, are the responsibility of the inmate, the inmate’s family, or other appropriate source approved by the Warden, except that the government may bear the expense of a furlough if it is for the government’s primary benefit.” The Program Statement adds a hard rule on drug testing: “The urinalysis fee must be paid, through an encumbrance, in full before release on furlough and cannot be waived. Inability or failure to pay the full cost of the urinalysis results in the furlough being denied.”

Source: PS 5280.09 at pp. 8–9, 17–18, reproducing 28 C.F.R. §§ 570.34 and 570.38.

What furlough policy means for you

If you are the person inside: requesting a furlough

Start with Table E, because the time-remaining grid decides most requests before anyone considers the reason for them. If more than two years remain to your projected release date, the only category open to you is an emergency furlough — a family crisis or other urgent situation. At two years or less a routine day furlough becomes possible; at eighteen months or less, an overnight within the commuting area; at one year or less, an overnight anywhere in the United States. And if you have been at your current institution fewer than 90 days, you are back to emergency furloughs only, regardless of your release date.

You may submit a request. 28 C.F.R. § 570.37(a) says “[i]nmates may submit a furlough application to staff, who will review it for compliance with these regulations and Bureau policy.” Two things then happen that you should know about. The unit team may use the Abbreviated Recommendation for Disapproval — a memorandum to the Warden seeking a denial without a full application. The policy is unusually specific about what that memorandum must contain: “the underlying reason for disapproving the furlough request be explained in narrative form; it is insufficient to simply ‘check a box’ or reference a section number of policy,” and the Warden must “indicate in writing, and on the memorandum itself, the decision and reason.” If you are denied that way, “[a] copy is provided to the inmate.” Ask for it and read the narrative.

The other thing that happens is verification. A unit team member “contacts the family member or person being visited to verify that the inmate is welcome,” and a Furlough Questionnaire (BP-A0952) goes to the U.S. Probation Office in the district you would visit. Neither is required for a transfer furlough. Tell your family in advance that a call is coming, because an unreturned call reads as a problem.

If you are a family member: emergency furloughs

For an emergency — a death, a dying relative — speed matters more than paperwork, and the request has to come from inside. Call the institution and ask for the unit team or the chaplain; verifiable documentation of the death or the medical crisis is what staff will need. Understand what you are asking for: a furlough is unescorted. An escorted trip is a different program with different rules, and if the answer is no to a furlough, that is the next question to ask.

Expect to be contacted. Before a non-transfer furlough, “[a] member of the inmate’s unit team contacts the family member or person being visited to verify that the inmate is welcome,” and that contact is documented in the Central File. Answer the call, and say clearly that the person is welcome at your address.

Expect to pay. Under 28 C.F.R. § 570.34, the family or the person in custody bears transportation, food, lodging and incidentals unless the trip is primarily for the government’s benefit. And the urinalysis fee that follows a social furlough must be encumbered in the person’s trust fund account before release — the policy says it “cannot be waived” and that inability to pay “results in the furlough being denied.” If the account is empty, that is a solvable problem, but only if you know about it in time. See trust fund and commissary.

Finally, read the “must not” list in Table F to your relative before they leave. Getting married, signing a contract or a loan application, and driving a car are all prohibited without written staff permission, and people who assume otherwise come back to an incident report.

If you are counsel: furlough requests

Furlough is discretionary in the plainest possible statutory language: the Bureau “may release a prisoner,” 18 U.S.C. § 3622. There is no entitlement, and the Program Statement volunteers the point in its own objectives — “[a] furlough is not an entitlement. Neither is it a reward for good behavior or successful programming, nor a means to shorten a criminal sentence.” Two consequences follow. There is no merits argument that a client “qualifies.” And 18 U.S.C. § 3625 removes 5 U.S.C. §§ 554, 555 and 701–706 from this subchapter, so ordinary APA review is not the vehicle.

What is reviewable is process, and this Program Statement supplies unusually concrete process. Section 570.37(b) requires that “[w]here a furlough application is denied, the inmate will be notified of the reasons for the denial.” The abbreviated-disapproval procedure requires a narrative reason, expressly forbids a box-check or a bare policy citation, and requires the Warden’s own written decision on the memorandum. Section 570.36 requires the Warden to document the reasons whenever a furlough is granted outside the grid — meaning the guidelines are not absolute bars and the Bureau’s own text says so. And § 570.37(c) supplies the route: “An inmate may appeal any aspect of the furlough program through the Administrative Remedy Program, 28 CFR Part 542, Subpart B.”

Three practical notes. First, § 570.33(h) is the one purpose that requires an outside actor: a furlough to appear in or prepare for a criminal proceeding is available “only when the use of a furlough is requested or recommended by the applicable court or prosecuting attorney.” If you want it, get the request from the court or the AUSA in writing. Second, the supervising agency’s view is not controlling — “[i]f the supervising agency recommends that the furlough be denied, the Warden may still grant the furlough, but documents the reason(s).” Third, on exhaustion, the BP-9 deadline is 20 calendar days from the event, BP-10 is 20 days from the Warden’s signature and BP-11 is 30 days from the Regional Director’s; a denial of an emergency furlough will almost always outrun the underlying event, so preserve the issue rather than assume it is moot.

What changed in the 2011 furlough reissue

This edition replaced PS 5280.08, Furloughs (2/4/98), and the Summary of Changes at page 2 is a list worth reading in full, because several of those 2011 changes are the rules that catch people today.

The 2011 reissuance: eliminated the required post-furlough memorandum for the Central File; required prepayment of urinalysis costs for every approved social furlough; required staff to notify victims and witnesses when a local medical furlough or transfer furlough is approved; encouraged institutions to “furlough transfer appropriate inmates to a minimum security institution, unless a more cost-effective means of transportation is available”; allowed eligible people transferring camp-to-camp “to be transported by family members”; “[l]imits the furlough eligibility for inmates found guilty of drug use, drug possession, possession of drug paraphernalia, or introduction of drugs into Bureau institutions” — the three-year lookback now in § 7.c(6); required post-furlough interviews “ordinarily within three business days”; merged the two Furlough Questionnaire forms (BP-A0302 and BP-A0303) into a single BP-A0952; required the specific furlough type to be identified on the BP-A0291; added the urinalysis advisement to the Conditions of Furlough on page 2 of the BP-A0291; eliminated the HIV test requirement before a furlough; removed the requirement of the Regional Director’s written approval for inmate furloughs generally; created the abbreviated disapproval procedure; and limited family transportation furloughs “in excess of 12 hours.” Two further changes came out of the Bureau’s Reduction and Elimination of Duties Management Assessment Project: staff no longer contact the Regional Health Services Administrator for approval of government-funded medical furloughs, and no longer need the approval of the Assistant Director, Correctional Programs Division and the Medical Director for inmate-funded medical furlough requests.

What has changed since 2011 is mostly outside the document. The statute has not moved: 18 U.S.C. § 3622 still reads as it did, with the thirty-day cap and the six purposes. The regulations have not moved either — 28 C.F.R. §§ 570.30–570.38 were verified as current, and their text matches what the Program Statement reproduces. That makes this one of the more stable statements in the BOP policy set, and it is a genuinely useful thing to know: unlike the community-corrections policies, the furlough rules you read here are the rules in force.

Two edges have moved. The transfer-furlough half of this policy interacts with community corrections, and that area has changed substantially since 2011 — the First Step Act created a prerelease-custody track at 18 U.S.C. § 3624(g) that this Program Statement predates, and the halfway house ceiling is now twelve months. And the cross-references in § 7.c point to policies that have since been reissued: the Categorization of Offenses statement the drug and violence exclusions turn on is now PS 5162.06, and the discipline policy behind the “100 OR 200 level prohibited acts” exclusion is now PS 5270.09. The exclusions themselves are unchanged; the documents they point at are newer.

Where people get stuck with furlough requests

A death in the family, and the clock

This is the hardest version of the problem and the one families call about. An emergency furlough is the category available regardless of how much time remains — it is the only category open to someone with more than two years to go, and the only one open to someone at a new institution for fewer than 90 days. But it is still discretionary, and § 7.c layers ten policy exclusions on top of the regulation, several of which are common: an unwaived Public Safety Factor requires “the Regional Director’s prior written approval,” and a 100- or 200-level incident report or a drug-related prohibited act within three years is an ordinary bar. Ask the unit team and the chaplain the same day. Get verifiable documentation of the death or the medical crisis to the institution immediately. And ask, in the same conversation, about an escorted trip, which is a different program and is sometimes available where a furlough is not.

Being denied without a real reason

The policy forbids exactly this. The abbreviated disapproval procedure is the Bureau’s own shortcut, and it comes with a written standard: “the underlying reason for disapproving the furlough request be explained in narrative form; it is insufficient to simply ‘check a box’ or reference a section number of policy,” and the Warden must “indicate in writing, and on the memorandum itself, the decision and reason.” A copy goes to the person denied. 28 C.F.R. § 570.37(b) independently requires that the reasons for a denial be given. If what came back is a checked box, a bare “does not meet criteria,” or nothing at all, that is the defect to raise — first in a Request to Staff asking for the memorandum, then in a BP-9 under 28 C.F.R. § 542.14 within 20 calendar days.

The urinalysis fee, and an empty trust account

A quiet, mechanical denial that surprises people. Every social furlough triggers a urine test on return; the fee must be encumbered in the trust fund account before release; and the policy says flatly that it “cannot be waived” and that “[i]nability or failure to pay the full cost of the urinalysis results in the furlough being denied.” The amount encumbered is the cost of a positive test, because a positive sample must be sent out for further testing; if the result is negative the Office of Financial Management “releases the original encumbrance of the total cost and processes a lesser fee.” Current fees are posted on the Bureau’s internal system and “[i]nmates should be advised of the amount of the fees upon request” — so ask, in writing, before the request goes in. Note also the carve-out: people already in a Residential Reentry Center who take day, evening or weekend passes are “not required to pay for their urinalysis.”

Custody level, not conduct, is what blocks a transfer furlough

Families often read a denied transfer furlough as a judgment about behavior. Usually it is arithmetic. Under § 570.35(a), people transferring to administrative, low, medium or high security facilities “are generally not eligible” for a transfer furlough at all. Under the Program Statement’s paragraphs e and f, the Warden may grant a furlough “only to an inmate with COMMUNITY custody,” except for institution-to-institution transfers and local medical trips, which OUT custody can support — and COMMUNITY custody is required to travel to an RRC. So the question to ask is not “why was he denied” but “what is his custody classification, and what would move it.” That is a security designation and custody classification question and, where a Public Safety Factor is involved, a designation consult rather than a grievance.

Related BOP policy on furloughs and temporary release

Page	What it covers
Temporary release and furlough requests	Help with a specific furlough request, an emergency, or a denial
Community Corrections Center Utilization and Transfer Procedure (PS 7310.04)	Halfway house referral and placement, the usual destination of a transfer furlough
Home Confinement (PS 7320.01)	The other community-confinement destination a transfer furlough can reach
Escorted Trips (PS 5538.08)	The staff-escorted alternative when a furlough is not available
Voluntary surrender and unescorted transfers (PS 5140.43)	The related unescorted-movement authority
Categorization of Offenses (PS 5162.06)	The offense lists that drive § 7.c(1)
Security designation and custody classification (PS 5100.08)	Custody levels and Public Safety Factors
Inmate Discipline Program (PS 5270.09)	The 100- and 200-level prohibited acts behind the three-year exclusion
Inmate Financial Responsibility Program (PS 5380.08)	Refusal or underpayment is an exclusion
Trust fund and commissary (PS 4500.13)	The account the urinalysis fee is encumbered against
Administrative Remedy Program (PS 1330.18)	The BP-9, BP-10 and BP-11 route § 570.37(c) points to
Request to Staff (PS 5511.08)	The BP-A0148 cop-out
Release Preparation Program (PS 5325.09)	Refusal is an exclusion under § 7.c(5)

Frequently Asked Questions About BOP Furloughs

Reviewed for legal accuracy by Elizabeth Franklin-Best, Esq., Principal Attorney·September 2026