FCI Herlong Guide: Visiting, Mail, Money and RDAP

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

FCI Herlong at a glance

FCI Herlong is a medium-security federal prison for men in Lassen County, California, with a minimum-security camp beside it, and it sits farther north than any of the other nine federal institutions the Bureau of Prisons lists in the state. It stands about seven miles east of U.S. 395, between Susanville and Reno, Nevada.

Official name	Federal Correctional Institution, Herlong
BOP code	HER
Security level	Medium; men
Population	636 (as of September 2026)
Visiting	Sunday, Monday, and federal holidays, 8:30 a.m.–3:00 p.m.; no one processed after 2:00 p.m.
Inmate mail	FCI: Inmate Name & Register Number · FCI Herlong · Federal Correctional Institution · P.O. Box 800 · Herlong, CA 96113 Camp: Inmate Name & Register Number · FCI Herlong · Federal Correctional Institution · Satellite Camp · P.O. Box 800 · Herlong, CA 96113
Send money	Lockbox · Western Union (code city FBOP, DC) · MoneyGram (receive code 7932)
Phone	530-827-8000 · Fax 530-827-8024
Street address	741-925 Access Road A-25, Herlong, CA 96113 · Lassen County
Judicial district	Eastern District of California
BOP region	Western
Designated capacity	1,151 at the FCI, 128 at the camp
Special Housing Unit	Yes, 98 segregation cells
Medical care level	Level 1
Mental health care level	Level 1
RDAP	Yes
UNICOR	Unsettled; see the programs section
Camp	Minimum-security satellite camp

The population was 636 as of September 2026: 554 in the main institution and 82 at the camp, less than half the 1,460 recorded by the April 2024 PREA audit. FCI Herlong is one of ten federal prisons in California and reports to the Bureau’s Western Region, whose regional office is in Stockton, California; Lassen County lies in the Eastern District of California under 28 U.S.C. § 84(b). Visiting is on Sundays and Mondays, not Saturdays; listings that give Saturday visiting are out of date.

FCI Herlong is not a Susanville state prison or the Army depot

FCI Herlong belongs to the federal Bureau of Prisons, and the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation has nothing to do with it. The state runs High Desert State Prison at 475-750 Rice Canyon Road in Susanville, with its own inmate mailing address, P.O. Box 3030, Susanville, CA 96127-3030, and its own number, (530) 251-5100, according to the state’s facility locator. The state’s other Susanville prison, the California Correctional Center, was “deactivated on June 30, 2023,” the same locator says. Mail or money for a federal prisoner sent to either state address has gone to the wrong government.

The two systems meet once a year: High Desert and FCI Herlong host a Fallen Officers Memorial Service together, and on June 15, 2026, the state corrections department reported on the nineteenth, held at the federal institution in Herlong.

Herlong is also home to the Sierra Army Depot, which federal prosecutors describe as located “in Herlong in Lassen County”; nothing on this page concerns it. And Herlong is a surname. Federal prosecutors in South Carolina reported in 2017 that Senior U.S. District Judge Henry M. Herlong, Jr., of Greenville, had imposed sentences in their case, so a docket entry mentioning “Judge Herlong” may have nothing to do with this prison.

The camp goes by three names in the Bureau’s own paperwork: the visiting supplement calls it the Federal Prison Camp, or FPC; bop.gov’s mailing block calls it the Satellite Camp; and the population report lists HERLONG-CAMP. They are one place with no separate code, and it uses the institution’s P.O. Box 800.

How many federal prisons are in California, and where does Herlong sit among them?

The Bureau’s roster lists ten federal institutions in California, and Herlong is the northernmost; the nearest, USP Atwater, is about 192 miles away in a straight line. The table uses the Bureau’s own map coordinates, so driving distances are longer.

Institution	Security level on the roster	Straight-line distance from Herlong
USP Atwater	High, with a camp	About 192 miles
FCI Mendota	Medium, with a camp	About 236 miles
FCI Lompoc I	Low	About 378 miles
FCI Lompoc II	Low, with a camp	About 378 miles
FCI Victorville Medium I	Medium, with a camp	About 415 miles
FCI Victorville Medium II	Medium	About 415 miles
USP Victorville	High	About 415 miles
MDC Los Angeles	Administrative	About 434 miles
MCC San Diego	Administrative	About 540 miles

Two California names still found in older directories are off the roster: CBS News reported on December 5, 2024, that the Bureau was permanently closing FCI Dublin, and the Associated Press reported on November 25, 2025, that the Bureau was suspending operations at FCI Terminal Island over crumbling infrastructure, with a spokesperson saying its prisoners would be moved “with a priority on keeping individuals as close as possible to their anticipated release locations.” Herlong is not among the institutions named in the Bureau’s July 1, 2026, closure announcement.

For drug treatment the map matters. Of the residential drug abuse programs on the Bureau’s 2026 RDAP locations list, two are in California, at FCI Herlong and FCI Lompoc; the other Western Region sites are in Arizona and Oregon. Our California federal prison guide covers the rest of the state.

How many men are held at FCI Herlong, and why has the number dropped?

The Bureau’s population report lists 636 men at FCI Herlong as of September 2026: 554 in the medium-security institution and 82 at the camp. That is far below what the prison held two years earlier, and no Bureau document explains the drop.

The counts below come from five records spread across nineteen years, so read each against its date.

Date	FCI	Camp	Record
November 29, 2007	923	122	Inspector General Audit Report 08-08, Appendix V
July 2021	1,132	79	Bureau figures reported by Northwest News Network
April 2024	1,373	87	PREA audit questionnaire, on-site visit April 9–11, 2024
June 2026	695	74	bop.gov facility page
September 2026	554	82	Bureau population report

The April 2024 audit recorded a designated capacity of 1,151 at the FCI and 128 at the camp, and said the prison had been over capacity during the previous year. By September 2026, the FCI held fewer than half as many men as that capacity, and the drop between June and September 2026 alone was 141 men at the FCI.

Herlong is not on the Bureau’s July 1, 2026, closure list, and no Bureau news release explains the drop. The records do not say whether the fall reflects transfers, fewer designations, or housing taken out of use. If a transfer to or from Herlong is under discussion, ask the unit team in writing what is planned.

What is the security level at FCI Herlong?

FCI Herlong is a medium-security institution and its camp is minimum security, as the Bureau’s roster and facility page both show; the April 2024 audit listed the custody levels in use as community, out, and in.

Under the Bureau’s security designation rules, Program Statement 5100.08, 16 to 23 security points ordinarily makes a man a medium-security case with “out” or “in” custody, while 0 to 11 points indicates minimum and 12 to 15 low. Points are not the whole story: the manual’s Table 5-2 sends a man with a serious escape history, or more than 20 years left to serve, to at least medium security even when his score says minimum or low. Our guide to medium-security prisons explains the scoring.

A judge can recommend a prison and the Bureau must consider it, but 18 U.S.C. § 3621(b) says a designation “is not reviewable by any court.” Herlong’s record shows how that plays out. Former Representative TJ Cox’s December 2025 judgment recommended “a Lompoc, California facility, but only insofar as this accords with security classification and space availability,” yet the Bureau’s locator lists him at Herlong. In 2022 the Bureau assigned a Washington cattle rancher to Herlong’s camp although his judge had recommended FCI Sheridan; his lawyer then asked for a Lompoc recommendation, saying the camp held 73 men and offered few programs that would earn early-release credit, Capital Press reported in November 2022.

One recent recommendation from this district shows the limit of a court challenge. Recommending dismissal of a Herlong prisoner’s habeas petition on July 24, 2025, a magistrate judge agreed that the First Step Act’s language about housing a prisoner within 500 miles of home “is not a mandatory directive” and that federal courts lack jurisdiction to review the Bureau’s placement decisions. The 500-mile provision is a factor to press in a designation or transfer request, not an entitlement.

Who are the notable inmates at FCI Herlong?

The best-known person held at FCI Herlong is former U.S. Representative TJ Cox, the only well-known person linked to Herlong whom the Bureau’s Inmate Locator still lists there. A locator result names a place, such as “Herlong FCI”; the three-letter code in parentheses below is the facility code in the person’s record.

Person (register number)	Connection to Herlong	Bureau record (facility code)
Terrance John “TJ” Cox (16598-510)	Former congressman from the Fresno area; sentenced December 15, 2025 on two wire-fraud counts (E.D. Cal. No. 1:22-cr-00214)	Herlong FCI (code HER); projected release March 3, 2027
Christopher Dorsey, “B.G.” (31969-034)	Rapper from the 1990s group Hot Boys; the Los Angeles Times reported in September 2023 that he had spent the previous 11 years at Herlong	Released February 1, 2024
Troy X. Kelley (44910-086)	Former Washington State Auditor; reported to the Herlong camp in 2021 (Northwest News Network)	Released February 18, 2022
Tim DeChristopher (16156-081)	Climate activist; by his own account held at Herlong until May 2012	Released April 19, 2013
Tre Arrow (70936-065)	Environmental activist convicted of arson; in June 2009 the Associated Press reported that the Bureau listed his release date as December 4, from Herlong	Released December 4, 2009
Cody Easterday (37593-509)	Washington rancher; assigned to Herlong in 2022 (Capital Press)	McKean FCI (code MCK), in Pennsylvania; projected release May 31, 2028

Cox’s sentence is one year and one day on each of two counts, served concurrently, under the judgment Judge Dale A. Drozd signed on December 22, 2025; the Fresno Bee’s report of “one year and one month” does not match the judgment. The locator’s “Herlong FCI” entry does not say whether he is at the FCI or the camp. Easterday is no longer at Herlong, and Tre Arrow and Tim DeChristopher left the Bureau’s custody in 2009 and 2013.

In March 2012, Outside magazine reported, DeChristopher was moved from the camp to “isolated confinement” in the special housing unit, which his lawyer attributed to an email, and was soon returned to the camp; he later said he stayed at Herlong until May 2012 and was then sent to Englewood, in Littleton, Colorado (Democracy Now!, April 22, 2013).

How do I find someone at FCI Herlong?

To find someone at FCI Herlong, search the Bureau’s Inmate Locator by the eight-digit register number, or by first and last name, since the name search will not run without both; if a surname with a hyphen or a space finds nothing, try other spellings. The locator lists a man held here as “Herlong FCI,” and because the Bureau’s roster uses the single code HER for the FCI and its camp, the entry does not say which one he is in, so ask him or his unit team. Once a man is released, the locator says only that he is not in Bureau custody and gives the release date (Dorsey’s shows February 1, 2024), not where he went.

How do I write to someone at FCI Herlong?

Letters to anyone at FCI Herlong go to P.O. Box 800, Herlong, CA 96113, whether the man is at the FCI or the camp; the camp’s address adds one line. The Bureau’s facility page gives these two blocks:

A man at the FCI	INMATE NAME & REGISTER NUMBER FCI Herlong FEDERAL CORRECTIONAL INSTITUTION P.O. BOX 800 HERLONG, CA 96113
A man at the camp	INMATE NAME & REGISTER NUMBER FCI Herlong FEDERAL CORRECTIONAL INSTITUTION SATELLITE CAMP P.O. BOX 800 HERLONG, CA 96113

Do not copy the address out of Herlong’s 2024 PREA audit. Its “Mailing Address” field reads P.O. Box 900, which bop.gov lists as the staff mail box. Freight and non-postal parcels go to a named staff member at the street address, marked ATTN: WAREHOUSE, and the Bureau’s communications page limits what families may ship to release clothing and approved medical devices, each cleared in advance.

Legal mail needs its marking. Under the Bureau’s correspondence rules, Program Statement 5265.14, special mail is opened only in the presence of the prisoner if the sender is adequately identified on the envelope and the front is marked “Special Mail — Open only in the presence of the inmate”; other mail may be opened and read by staff.

How do I send money to someone at FCI Herlong?

Money for someone at FCI Herlong never goes to the prison. It goes to the Bureau’s lockbox in Des Moines, or through MoneyGram or Western Union, identified by the eight-digit register number followed by the person’s last name. The Bureau’s communications page gives these instructions:

Method	What to enter
Western Union	Code City FBOP, state DC; account = register number and last name with no space (for example 12345678DOE); attention line = committed name; in person, through Send2Corrections, or at 1-800-634-3422, option 2
MoneyGram	Receive Code 7932; company Federal Bureau of Prisons, Washington, DC; same account format; beneficiary = committed name; online transfers up to $300 by MasterCard or Visa
By mail	Federal Bureau of Prisons, committed name, register number, Post Office Box 474701, Des Moines, Iowa 50947-0001; money orders, government checks, cashier’s or certified checks, and bank drafts only; no cash or personal checks; return address required
When it posts	Electronic transfers sent from 7:00 a.m. to 9:00 p.m. Eastern generally post within two to four hours; later ones post by 7:00 a.m. Eastern the next morning

On Pacific time that 9:00 p.m. Eastern cutoff is 6:00 p.m., so money sent after dinner in California posts the next morning. Mailed instruments other than postal money orders and government checks can be held 15 days, foreign ones 45, and the Bureau asks senders to wait until the person has physically arrived at a Bureau institution.

Do not bring money for his account to a visit: Herlong’s rules say “Money will not be accepted for credit to an inmate’s account,” visitors may carry no more than $25 a visit in $5 and $1 bills, and only visitors may operate the vending machines. Spending is capped at $460 a month, as the commissary section explains. The Bureau lists 202-307-2712, 8:00 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. Eastern, for deposit questions, and our money guide covers each method.

What are the visiting hours at FCI Herlong?

Visiting at FCI Herlong and its camp is on Sundays, Mondays, and federal holidays from 8:30 a.m. to 3:00 p.m., and no one is processed in after 2:00 p.m., under Institution Supplement HER 5267.09E, the local supplement to the Bureau’s visiting regulations, dated May 15, 2026, which replaced the 2025 edition.

There is no Saturday visiting. The Saturday-and-Sunday schedule printed in Herlong’s 2012 orientation handbook, which bop.gov still links, is out of date.

Sunday and holiday mornings have a gap built in. Visitors may not be on the grounds before 8:00 a.m., and for the 10:00 a.m. official count the lobby stops processing at 9:15 a.m. until the count clears; you may not wait in the parking lot or the waiting room meanwhile. Once you leave the visiting room, your visit is over for the day unless the operations lieutenant or duty officer approves a return.

A man in the Special Housing Unit gets non-contact video visits on Mondays only, 8:30 a.m. to 3:00 p.m., first come, first served, ordinarily for two hours and two men at a time. A man in holdover status with no approved list may see immediate family, verified from his presentence report, on the first and third Fridays of the month from 8:30 a.m. to 2:00 p.m., once the Associate Warden of Programs approves.

The supplement asks families to call 530-827-8000 before driving and says schedule changes are posted on Herlong’s bop.gov page. The national legal activities rule, Program Statement 1315.08 (2026), requires alternative legal access once a disruption passes 24 hours and directs staff to make reasonable efforts to tell families and lawyers when visiting is disrupted.

Who can visit, and how many at once

Each man may have up to 20 approved visitors, family and friends combined (HER 5267.09E § 8b). He mails each person the Visitor Information form, which the supplement calls “BP-329” although the Bureau’s form number is BP-A0629, and his unit team runs a National Crime Information Center check before approving anyone. Visitors ordinarily must have known him before he was locked up; the supplement allows exceptions, “particularly for inmates without other visitors,” with approval from the Associate Warden of Programs for the FCI or the camp unit manager. Staff will not give out visitor information by telephone.

No more than five adults may visit one man at a time, children under 16 must be immediate family, and anyone under 18 needs an adult. If more arrive, the duty officer may allow a split visit, but anyone who leaves may not return. The visiting room’s maximum capacity is 255, and when it fills, visits are cut to two hours, starting with volunteers, then visitors who live nearby, then the most frequent visitors, so a family that has driven a long way sits lower on that list than a local one.

A minister of record, approved through the chaplain, does not count against the 20, and Prisoner Visitation and Support visitors need not be on the list at all.

Lawyers who are not on the list are scheduled by the unit team, on weekdays in the FCI visiting room’s attorney-client room and on non-visiting days in the camp visiting room. A recorder or other electronic device needs a memo the Warden approves. The supplement promises access to counsel “as soon as it is safely possible after Institutional issues and/or Disruptive events.”

What visitors can wear and bring

The dress code is strict and specific. It bars sweat suits, pajamas, spandex, body suits, skinny jeans, leggings, and other form-fitting pants; shorts, except on children under 8; skirts and dresses, slits included, that end above the natural break at the back of the knee; sleeves shorter than mid-bicep; open-toed shoes, flip-flops, sandals, slippers, and heels over one inch; and hats other than religious headwear. Clothing resembling the inmate or staff uniform in color or style is barred, and the 2012 handbook describes the inmate uniform as khaki or green. If staff object to your clothes, the supplement requires that you be offered the chance to change before a visit is denied, so a spare outfit in the car can save the trip.

You may carry one small clear plastic bag or container, no more than eight inches high or wide, holding up to $25 in $5 and $1 bills, new unopened feminine hygiene items, and life-sustaining medication, which the officer keeps at the station. At the FCI everything else, phones and purses included, stays in your vehicle and your keys go in the lockers provided; at the camp the visiting officer holds your car keys and ID. “All smart watches are strictly prohibited upon entry of the institutional front lobby,” Attachment A says, and cameras, recording devices, and smart glasses are not allowed on the grounds. No food, drinks, gifts, or photographs may be brought in.

For a baby you may bring pre-mixed formula or baby food in sealed original containers, two bottles no more than three-quarters full, six diapers, sealed or clear-packaged wipes, one change of clothes, and two blankets no larger than two by three feet; no powders, creams, bowls, cups, carriers, or strollers. Mothers nursing at the FCI use the legal-visit cubicle area, and the camp provides barriers. At the FCI the man you are visiting may not enter the children’s play area, which is for ages 5 to 12; at the camp he may.

Identification, searches, and the ion scanner

Everyone 16 or older needs a current photo ID such as a driver’s license, state ID card, military ID, or passport; a foreign government’s photo ID also counts, and an expired one does not. School IDs, bank or store cards, birth certificates, and Social Security cards are not accepted. Each visitor 16 and older completes the Notification to Visitor form, BP-224, in the lobby, not in advance.

Visitors and their belongings may be searched, and a drug-detection device in the front lobby tests visitors at random. Every visitor is subject to ion spectrometry testing, and a positive reading or an attempt to bring in something unauthorized means you “will not be granted entry into the institution for a minimum of 48 hours.” A visitor who objects to a search may leave, and one who was dropped off with a prohibited item faces a blunt rule: such items “will be disposed of, or visitation will be denied.”

Handing a prisoner anything without the Warden’s consent is a federal crime, and Attachment A quotes 18 U.S.C. § 1791 and its penalty of up to twenty years; even an opened vending item may not pass between visitor and prisoner. An embrace and kiss are allowed only at the start and end of the visit; open-mouth kissing, holding hands or an arm around the chair can end the visit and bring discipline for the man. Men convicted of a sex offense involving a minor are seated in the row nearest the officer’s station.

Getting there from Reno or Susanville

Herlong is a drive from either direction. The 2026 supplement places it about 52 miles north of Reno, Nevada, and about 42 miles south of Susanville, on the north side of U.S. 395.

From Reno, take U.S. 395 north to County Road A-26; from Susanville, take 395 south to County Road A-25. The prison is about seven miles east of the highway. Follow the property road about a quarter mile; at its end the FCI is on the left and the camp on the right, and FCI visitors park in the south part of the lot. The 2012 handbook’s 50 and 35 miles are superseded.

The 2012 handbook also said there was “no public transportation available” to Herlong. The May 2026 supplement instead lists four services, posted by the lobby pay phone: three taxi companies serving Reno, Sparks, and Susanville, and Lassen Rural Bus, (530) 252-7433. Book the return ride before you go in, because the rules expect a commercial driver to arrive before the visit ends and require visitors to leave the property when it does. If you are flying, Reno, the city both Bureau documents measure from, is served by Reno-Tahoe International Airport.

Check the road before you set out. Caltrans takes highway-condition calls at 1-800-427-7623 and maps closures on its QuickMap site. In August 2026 the Bug Fire, which started on August 8 east of Route 395 and south of Bringman Road in Lassen County, burned 93,733 acres in California and Nevada; CAL FIRE’s incident page carries a traffic alert dated August 13 that “US-395 is now OPEN,” and the fire was contained on August 27. Herlong’s commissary sells knitted caps, gloves, and scarves for local use.

How do phone calls and email work at FCI Herlong?

Calls from FCI Herlong go out, never in: a man dials numbers on his approved list under the Bureau’s telephone regulations, Program Statement 5264.09, issued September 3, 2026.

That statement allows 510 minutes a calendar month. A man eligible for First Step Act telephone incentives gets 300 of them at no charge, and anyone who uses up those 300 may buy the other 210 whether or not he is FSA-eligible; the warden may add minutes for an indigent man, and properly arranged unmonitored legal calls do not count. A single call should generally not exceed 15 minutes, at least 30 minutes must pass between completed calls, a tone sounds about a minute before a call cuts off, and phones run no earlier than 6:00 a.m. and no later than 11:30 p.m., with exact hours set locally. PS 5264.09 contains no extra allowance for November or December, so do not plan around holiday minutes from the 2008 rule. If you do not want his calls, you can have your number blocked; unblocking takes a written request with a recent phone bill and valid government identification.

Herlong appears in a published Ninth Circuit decision on phone limits. Tiedemann v. von Blanckensee, 72 F.4th 1001 (9th Cir. 2023), concerned a prisoner moved from USP Tucson to FCI Herlong and then FCI Victorville while he challenged the Bureau’s former cap of 300 minutes a month, and the court applied its rule that “where a prisoner challenges a policy that applies across multiple institutions and has named at least one defendant capable of providing relief across those institutions, a prison transfer will not moot a case.” That cap has since given way to the 510-minute rule.

Electronic messages run through TRULINCS, which the Bureau’s communications page limits to 13,000 characters a message, with no attachments and with correspondents consenting to monitoring. The 2024 PREA audit found that calls to Lassen Family Services, the local advocacy agency working with Herlong under a memorandum of understanding, go over a line that is not recorded. See our phone call guide and TRULINCS guide.

What can people buy at the FCI Herlong commissary?

A man at FCI Herlong can spend up to $460 a month at the commissary, the national ceiling in the Bureau’s trust fund rules, Program Statement 4500.13, issued May 7, 2026. Herlong’s own price list (2025) prints no monthly limit.

Listings that give the limit as $360 are out of date: that was the national figure until PS 4500.13 raised it to $460. The limit rises by $50 during the November and December holiday period, for no more than one validation period. The statement also allows special purchase orders of up to $600 a quarter and caps a watch or a pair of athletic or work shoes at $150. Its list of purchases that do not count against the $460 is short and exact: postage stamps, nicotine replacement patches and lozenges, over-the-counter medicine and vitamins, certain kosher and halal entrees, copy cards and paper, mattresses, a secured media device, and footwear, “to include sneakers and safety shoes.” Telephone credit is not on the list.

The 2025 list sells a $137.80 tablet, a $49.40 watch, a Sangean digital radio for $49.95, Koss headphones for $33.80, safety boots for $99.95, and SPF 30 sunblock for $4.20. Typewriter ribbons and correction supplies are stocked for local use. Chips are limited to eight in total and soup to two cases, and the food list includes El Pato sauces, cotija cheese, chorizo with beans, and carnitas. A knitted cap ($6.50), gloves ($3.55) and a scarf ($10.40) are marked for local use only.

One line does not add up: stamps are “Limited to $13.60 total,” yet the book of Forever stamps on the same list costs $14.60. Ask the commissary how that limit is applied. A man on commissary restriction may buy only stamps, batteries, hygiene items, over-the-counter medicine, and stationery, one of each; there are no exchanges at the window, “ALL SALES ARE FINAL ONCE YOU LEAVE THE WINDOW,” clothing prices are posted in the lobby, and special orders go by cop-out, the written request to staff. Our commissary guide explains the spending cycle.

What programs are available at FCI Herlong?

FCI Herlong offers the Residential Drug Abuse Program and Hydroponics and Gardening, the two programs the Bureau’s August 2026 First Step Act Approved Programs Guide ties to Herlong by name. Most of its other programs carry a location entry saying they may be offered at all Bureau institutions, which is permission, not proof that a class is running here. Ask the unit team in writing which programs are operating, how long the waiting lists are, and which ones earn time credits.

Residential drug treatment (RDAP)

FCI Herlong is on the Bureau’s residential drug program list printed in the August 2026 guide, the list headed “57 RDAPS at 50 Locations,” as one of five Western Region sites and one of two in California, with FCI Lompoc. Completing the 500-hour program is the route to the sentence reduction of up to one year that 18 U.S.C. § 3621(e)(2)(B) allows for a nonviolent offense, subject to the Bureau’s exclusions.

The list names “FCI Herlong.” It prints camp programs elsewhere with the label “SCP,” and it lists no Herlong camp program. A camp resident who wants RDAP should ask his unit team, in writing, whether he can take part in the FCI’s program or would need a transfer; no Bureau document answers the question. See our pages on the residential drug abuse program and RDAP and early release.

Work, apprenticeships, and Federal Prison Industries

Herlong has a documented record of registered apprenticeships. The Bureau’s Occupational Training Directory (2017) lists thirteen Department of Labor apprenticeships at the main institution, among them baker, carpenter, dental assistant, electrical technician, HVAC, plumber, solar photovoltaic installer, and welder, and seven at the camp, all taught by Bureau employees and lasting 12 to 48 months. The directory is nine years old, so do not assume a particular trade is running today.

Whether a Federal Prison Industries factory still operates here is unsettled, and the programs guide disagrees with itself: its location entry for Federal Prison Industries names more than 50 sites and leaves Herlong out, while its institution-by-institution matrix marks Herlong for it. The older record is clearer. A March 2008 federal contracting notice seeking certified auto-repair instruction for up to 25 prisoners said “The UNICOR factory at FCI Herlong will loan the ASE program 2 HMMWVS (6.2 liter diesel) vehicles.” Ask the unit team whether the factory is operating and hiring.

Hydroponics and Gardening, a 35-hour program, lists Herlong directly in its location entry, alongside five other sites. Herlong is not one of the sixteen institutions the guide identifies for Pell-funded college programs. Our vocational training guide covers the rest.

Faith, advocacy, and reentry help

For faith needs, each man may name one minister of record through the chaplain. For survivors of sexual abuse, the 2024 audit describes an agreement with Lassen Family Services, whose advocate is cleared as a volunteer, meets with the facility monthly, accompanies victims to forensic exams, and charges nothing. Families with a concern about a specific person in the Western Region can write to the region’s Support and Advocacy Program Coordinator at BOP-RSD-SupportAndAdvocacy-S@bop.gov.

The Bureau’s contact list for reentry affairs coordinators (2021) gives Herlong’s address as HER-ReentryAffairsCoordinator-S@bop.gov; confirm it through the main number. Halfway-house placement is handled by the Residential Reentry Management office for the district where the man will live after release, not necessarily Sacramento or Long Beach, and under 18 U.S.C. § 3624(c) prerelease custody generally runs no more than 12 months, with home confinement limited to the shorter of 10 percent of the term or six months. See our halfway house guide.

First Step Act credits: what the court cases show

Three recent recommendations by magistrate judges in the Eastern District of California, none of them precedential, show how time-credit disputes from Herlong have been handled.

In Alvarado v. Warden FCI Herlong (July 24, 2025), the judge recommended dismissal because the petitioner had not shown that he tried the Bureau’s administrative remedy process, rejecting his claim that exhaustion was “futile at FCI Herlong,” and found “satisfactory evidence that Plaintiff is eligible for time credit, FCI-Herlong has sufficient time credit courses, and has been earning time credits through these courses while at FCI-Herlong.” The district judge adopted those findings in full on October 15, 2025.

In Cisneros v. Warden F.C.I. Herlong (June 25, 2026), the judge recommended dismissing as moot the petition of a man who arrived at Herlong on March 2, 2023, reasoning that 365 days is the most First Step Act credit that can move a release date and that further credit could matter only for prerelease custody, for which he was already eligible.

In Tieu v. Salmonson (May 27, 2026), a man who went to a halfway house on credits on July 1, 2024, was arrested there and returned to FCI Herlong on February 12, 2025, “presumably due to national policy changes and directives” about prerelease custody with unresolved immigration detainers, the judge wrote; the Bureau returned him to prerelease custody in Oakland in March 2025, after the Federal Defender’s office took up his case, and the petition was recommended for denial as moot after his November 2025 release, a recommendation the district judge adopted on August 13, 2026.

The practical lessons: file the administrative remedy at each level and keep copies before going to court, and if an immigration detainer is involved, remember that the judge in Tieu presumed his return to prison followed Bureau directives about detainers. Our time-credit guide and administrative remedy guide cover both steps.

What is daily life like at FCI Herlong?

Daily life at FCI Herlong runs on a weekday uniform code, rules on radios and the dining hall, and, for camp residents, work five to seven days a week. The 2012 orientation handbook is the fullest published account of its everyday rules, and the April 2024 PREA audit is the most recent outside description of its buildings and people.

The handbook’s dress code applies from 7:30 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. on weekdays other than federal holidays: the khaki or green uniform, an institution belt and black composite-toe boots, shirt tucked in, and sleeves unrolled. Radios and headphones may not be worn on the compound or on work details. Only condiments may be carried into the dining hall at meals, and the handbook adds, “Peanut Butter is not a condiment.”

The 2024 audit counted 25 buildings, 14 housing units, and 98 segregation cells. Its questionnaire classed one unit as an open-bay dormitory and none as single-cell or multiple-occupancy-cell units, categories that do not add up to 14, so the form cannot tell you how most units are laid out. Medical and mental health care are provided on site, and under Herlong’s local policy a victim who needs a forensic examination after a sexual assault is taken to Banner Lassen Medical Center. The audit also noted recent video-monitoring upgrades, including an enhanced camera system in the visiting area that can tilt and zoom.

As of the April 2024 visit, the men ranged from 19 to 69, and 1,641 people had been admitted in the previous 12 months, 1,418 of whom stayed 30 days or more. Camp residents told the auditor they were at work sites five to seven days a week.

Herlong has used 12-hour shifts to cover its posts, alongside 8-hour shifts in the later reports, according to the Bureau’s staffing reports from mid-2023 through September 2024, and the audit describes “a two-shift coverage schedule.” The Bureau’s 2024 care-level charts give Herlong medical care level 1 and mental health care level 1, matching the Care Level 1 the Inspector General’s appendix listed for the FCI and the camp in November 2007; our care levels guide explains the scale. A man with significant medical needs should ask whether Herlong can meet them before designation, not after.

What do inspectors say about conditions at FCI Herlong?

The DOJ Office of the Inspector General has not conducted an on-site inspection of this facility. On the Inspector General’s own count in May 2026 (Report 26-055), its inspection program had reached 14 Bureau institutions since 2023, and Herlong is not among them.

The Inspector General products that name Herlong are a construction audit, a staff survey, two reports that merely list the institution, and two criminal cases. The 2002 audit of the Bureau’s construction contracts (Report 02-32) carried Herlong in its table of prisons being built, with 1,280 rated beds, an estimated cost of $130 million, and 38 percent of the work done in December 2001, but its fieldwork was at four other sites: USP Coleman, the USP project in McCreary County, Kentucky, and the FCI and USP projects at Victorville. Listings that say Herlong opened in 2007 are contradicted by the Bureau’s biography of Southeast Regional Director Bryan Birkholz, which says he began his career as a correctional officer at FCI Herlong in 2005. A 2021 staff survey reports results for Herlong among many institutions, and a 2008 health-care audit and a 2023 sexual-abuse evaluation simply list it.

Both criminal cases involve contraband carried in with a staff member’s help. In May 2008, a former Herlong employee and his brother pleaded guilty to conspiring to bribe a public official, over tobacco smuggled into the prison between December 2006 and June 2007 at up to $500 a delivery. On August 6, 2026, former correctional officer Antonio Ray Ramirez pleaded guilty to distributing methamphetamine; according to court documents, in August 2024 he carried 869 grams of methamphetamine and 127 grams of heroin in at the start of an overnight shift, hid them in a laundry room, told a prisoner where to find them, and was paid $15,000. The Inspector General investigated with the FBI, and sentencing is set for January 21, 2027.

The District of Columbia Corrections Information Council, which inspects Bureau prisons holding people convicted under D.C. law, has no Herlong report in its inspection index.

The 2024 PREA audit

Karen Dalton of Dalton Consulting, LLC examined FCI Herlong under the Prison Rape Elimination Act on April 9–11, 2024, and issued her final report on May 14, 2024. She found Herlong exceeded one standard, 115.21 on evidence protocol and forensic medical examinations, met 44, and failed none, and her review took in the camp and the off-site warehouse.

On April 9, 2024, the first day of the visit, the audit counted 1,369 men at the FCI and camp together, fewer than the 1,373 and 87 its facility summary gives as the current population, a gap the report does not explain; designated capacity was 1,151 and 128. Four had limited English proficiency and two were identified as transgender or intersex. The audit records that staffing gaps are covered first with voluntary overtime and then by holding staff over.

For the 12 months before the audit, the facility reported four allegations of prisoner-on-prisoner sexual abuse, none against staff, and no harassment allegations. The report is not consistent about what followed: its questionnaire counts two criminal and two administrative investigations, while its narrative says no allegations were referred for criminal investigation in that period. It does not explain the difference.

The exceeded standard rested on Bureau and local policy, staff interviews, and the Lassen Family Services partnership described above. The facility reported no forensic examinations in the 12 months before the audit, and Lassen Family Services told the auditor that its advocate signs in as an ordinary volunteer so that no one can tell why the advocate is there.

Sexual-abuse allegations reported to GAO

The Government Accountability Office’s May 5, 2026, report on sexual abuse in federal prisons, GAO-26-107343, gives two separate counts for Herlong, and they cannot be added together. Table 7 counts allegations against incarcerated people by the year the incident happened: none in 2020 or 2021, one in 2022, one in 2023, and seven in 2024, nine in all. Table 8 counts allegations against Bureau employees by the year the allegation was reported: none in 2020, one in 2021, two in 2022, three in 2023, and 23 in 2024, 29 in all.

These are allegations, not findings. GAO reports that most allegations it examined from 2014 through 2022 ended as unsubstantiated, meaning the evidence could not show whether they happened, and unsubstantiated does not mean false. GAO does not adjust for population, so the counts cannot rank Herlong against any other prison. Nor do they line up with the PREA audit, which reported no staff-on-prisoner allegations for the 12 months ending around April 2024; GAO gives no months and uses different systems, so it is not possible to tell how many of its 2023 and 2024 reports fall inside that window.

Staffing and the 12-hour shift

The Bureau’s own reports put Herlong among the eight institutions with more than 15 prisoners per correctional officer in mid-2023, and both the Bureau and federal personnel officials approved extra pay for its staff. These are the ratios the Bureau reported to Congress for Herlong:

Quarter ending	Inmates per correctional officer
June 30, 2023	15.5
September 30, 2023	14.5
December 31, 2023	13.4
March 31, 2024	13.2
June 30, 2024	11.6
September 30, 2024	12.7

The Bureau advertised a 17 percent recruitment incentive at USP Atwater, FCI Herlong, and FCI Mendota in a 2022 hiring notice. Lassen News reported in October 2023 that the Office of Personnel Management had approved 25 percent retention bonuses at eight federal prisons, Herlong among them, and, in a separate report, that Herlong would hold hiring events on the first Saturday of each month from November 4, 2023 through May 4, 2024 as it sought more than 30 officers.

Herlong employees have also sued over pay: in Alkire v. United States, No. 20-1654C (Fed. Cl. Feb. 25, 2022), the Court of Federal Claims dismissed their claims for time spent in security and health screening and let most of the rest of their overtime suit go forward.

What the courts have said

Apart from the time-credit cases above, Herlong’s court record consists mostly of medical and conditions complaints at the screening stage, which are allegations, not findings. Two recent Eastern District of California cases drew screening orders letting a deliberate-indifference claim against a Herlong physician proceed: Rodriguez-Mendez v. Ellred, No. 2:24-cv-00678 (June 6, 2024), and McCaa v. FCI-Herlong, No. 2:24-cv-1191 (Feb. 7, 2025), which the district judge confirmed on August 27, 2026 will go forward on that claim alone. A screening order decides only that a claim is pleaded well enough to go on.

In 2021 a Herlong prisoner alleged that the institution had been on modified lockdown since April 1, 2020; the magistrate judge recommended dismissing his habeas petition without prejudice because claims about conditions belong in a civil rights action (Loggins v. Federal Bureau of Prisons, No. 2:21-cv-0140, July 19, 2021). Injury and malpractice claims go through the Federal Tort Claims Act’s administrative claim first; see our tort claims guide.

FCI Herlong in the news

Recent news about FCI Herlong centers on a former correctional officer’s 2026 guilty plea and former Representative TJ Cox’s 2025 sentence; older items concern assaults on staff and prisoners, a 2024 death in custody, an escape, and a 2008 bribery case.

Dated items, newest first:

• August 6, 2026: former Herlong correctional officer Antonio Ray Ramirez pleads guilty to distributing methamphetamine inside the prison in August 2024 (U.S. Attorney’s Office, Eastern District of California).
• December 15, 2025: former Representative TJ Cox is sentenced to one year and one day; the judgment set a surrender deadline of noon on May 27, 2026.
• September 5, 2025: Hewer Berlany Santos is sentenced to 21 months for striking a correctional officer in the face at the Herlong prison on August 21, 2023.
• April 6, 2024: David Valdez, 33, is found unresponsive at FCI Herlong and “subsequently pronounced deceased by outside medical personnel,” according to a prison statement reported by Lassen News.
• September 2023: the rapper B.G. leaves federal prison after 11 years at Herlong, the Los Angeles Times reports.
• September 15, 2017: Willie James McNeal is sentenced to six years and five months for a May 25, 2015, attack that fractured another prisoner’s facial bones at Herlong.
• February 27, 2015: Thomas Roullier is sentenced to eight years for beating a handcuffed prisoner in a Special Housing Unit recreation area at Herlong on April 26, 2012.
• July 10, 2014: Roderick Earl Vanga is charged with escaping from Herlong on April 5, 2013; he was caught in Seattle on February 23, 2014.
• May 9, 2008: a former Herlong employee and his brother plead guilty in the tobacco-smuggling bribery case.

Frequently asked questions about FCI Herlong

Problems at FCI Herlong: where we can help

Herlong’s own record points to a short list of recurring problems, and most of them run against a deadline.

• Distance from home. Herlong is the northernmost federal prison in California, about 192 miles in a straight line from the next one, and the Bureau can place a man here despite a judge’s recommendation for somewhere else, as the Cox and Easterday cases show. We can help build a transfer request grounded in Program Statement 5100.08 and the 500-mile factor in 18 U.S.C. § 3621(b).
• RDAP from the camp. The 2026 RDAP locations list names only the FCI’s program, so a camp resident who wants RDAP and the reduction § 3621(e) allows needs a written answer about whether he can attend. See RDAP and early release.
• Time credits and detainers. The Tieu return from a halfway house and the exhaustion ruling in Alvarado both turned on paperwork. We prepare administrative remedies at every level, review First Step Act time credits, and, where the record supports it, § 2241 petitions in the Eastern District of California.
• Serious illness. The screening orders involving a Herlong physician are allegations, but they show why a documented trail of sick-call requests matters. Compassionate release under 18 U.S.C. § 3582(c)(1)(A) starts with a request to the Warden under the Bureau’s reduction-in-sentence rules, and a motion may follow after exhaustion or 30 days.
• Visiting denials. A visitor turned away for dress, identification, or an ion-scanner reading can lose a long drive, and after a positive reading at least 48 hours; a denied place on the visiting list goes to the Warden on the unit team’s recommendation and can be challenged through the administrative remedy program.
• Discipline. Herlong’s handbook describes an incident report ordinarily delivered within five work days and a hearing officer’s hearing no sooner than 24 hours later unless waived, and a drug or alcohol finding can drop a man to maintenance pay, ordinarily for a year. We advise on disciplinary proceedings.
• The conviction or sentence itself. Those routes run through a § 2255 motion, a direct appeal, or the early-release tools the Bureau administers.

Elizabeth Franklin-Best, P.C. handles federal criminal defense, appeals and post-conviction matters nationwide, and advises families and prisoners on Bureau of Prisons designation, programming, discipline and time-credit problems, including at FCI Herlong. Call (843) 620-1100 or contact us to talk through a specific situation.

Christopher Zoukis, JD, MBA, the firm’s Managing Director, writes and maintains the federal prison policy material on this site. He is not counsel of record; legal representation is provided by Elizabeth Franklin-Best.

Sources and currency

Bureau of Prisons documents

• FCI Herlong, Federal Bureau of Prisons, 2026. The Bureau’s page for the institution.
• Visiting Regulations, Institution Supplement HER 5267.09E, Federal Bureau of Prisons, 2026. Replaced the 2025 edition.
• FCI/FPC Herlong Commissary List, Federal Bureau of Prisons, 2025.
• FCI/FPC Herlong Admission and Orientation Program Handbook, Federal Bureau of Prisons, 2012. Includes HER 5290.14E, attachment C.
• Population Statistics, Federal Bureau of Prisons, 2026.
• Inmate Legal Activities, Program Statement 1315.08, Federal Bureau of Prisons, 2026.
• Trust Fund/Deposit Fund Manual, Program Statement 4500.13, Federal Bureau of Prisons, 2026. Sets the commissary spending limit and the rules for deposits.
• Inmate Security Designation and Custody Classification, Program Statement 5100.08, Federal Bureau of Prisons, 2006, as amended in 2026.
• Inmate Telephone Regulations, Program Statement 5264.09, Federal Bureau of Prisons, 2026. Replaced Program Statement 5264.08 (2008).
• Correspondence, Program Statement 5265.14, Federal Bureau of Prisons, 2011.
• Federal Bureau of Prisons Announces Facility Closures and Operational Changes, Federal Bureau of Prisons, 2026. Press release.
• First Step Act Approved Programs Guide, Federal Bureau of Prisons, Reentry Services Division, 2026. Program locations and the RDAP locations list.
• Send Money, Federal Bureau of Prisons, 2026. Lockbox, Western Union, MoneyGram, and shipping instructions.
• Inmate to Correctional Officer (CO) Ratio, FY 2024 Q4, Federal Bureau of Prisons, 2025.
• Inmate to Correctional Officer (CO) Ratio, FY 2024 Q3, Federal Bureau of Prisons, 2024.
• Inmate to Correctional Officer (CO) Ratio, FY 2024 Q2, Federal Bureau of Prisons, 2024.
• Inmate to Correctional Officer (CO) Ratio, FY 2024 Q1, Federal Bureau of Prisons, 2024.
• Inmate to Correctional Officer (CO) Ratio, FY 2023 Q4, Federal Bureau of Prisons, 2023.
• Inmate to Correctional Officer (CO) Ratio, FY 2023 Q3, Federal Bureau of Prisons, 2023.
• Institution Care Levels for Medical Assignment and Institutional Mental Health Care Levels, Federal Bureau of Prisons, 2024. Released under Freedom of Information Act request 2024-03455 and published by the Washington Lawyers’ Committee.
• Bryan Birkholz, Executive Staff biography, Federal Bureau of Prisons, 2026.
• Nationwide Hiring Remains a Priority, Federal Bureau of Prisons, 2022. Recruitment incentives at USP Atwater, FCI Herlong, and FCI Mendota.
• Reentry Affairs Coordinator Contact List, Federal Bureau of Prisons, 2021.
• Inmate Occupational Training Directory, Federal Bureau of Prisons, 2017.
• Sources Sought: ASE Program (Notice 61903-0006-8), Federal Bureau of Prisons, FCI Herlong, 2008. Contracting notice posted on SAM.gov.

Audits and inspections

• Inspection of the Federal Bureau of Prisons’ U.S. Penitentiary Canaan (Report 26-055), U.S. Department of Justice, Office of the Inspector General, 2026. Gives the number of institutions the Inspector General’s inspection program has reached.
• Federal Prisons: Improvements Needed to Prevent, Detect, and Address Sexual Abuse (GAO-26-107343), U.S. Government Accountability Office, 2026.
• PREA Audit Report: FCI Herlong, Dalton Consulting, LLC, 2024. Auditor Karen Dalton.
• The Federal Bureau of Prisons’ Efforts to Manage Inmate Health Care (Report 08-08), U.S. Department of Justice, Office of the Inspector General, 2008.
• Federal Bureau of Prisons Management of Construction Contracts (Report 02-32), U.S. Department of Justice, Office of the Inspector General, 2002.

Court records

• Former Federal Correctional Officer Pleads Guilty to Distributing Methamphetamine in Federal Prison in Lassen County, U.S. Attorney’s Office, Eastern District of California, 2026. Antonio Ray Ramirez’s guilty plea.
• Tieu v. Salmonson, No. 2:23-cv-02858 (E.D. Cal.), U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of California, 2026.
• Cisneros v. Warden F.C.I. Herlong, No. 2:25-cv-01155 (E.D. Cal.), U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of California, 2026.
• Judgment in a Criminal Case, United States v. Cox, No. 1:22-cr-00214-DAD (E.D. Cal.), ECF No. 83, U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of California, 2025.
• Federal Prisoner Sentenced to 21 Months in Prison for Assaulting Correctional Officer, U.S. Attorney’s Office, Eastern District of California, 2025. Hewer Berlany Santos’s sentence.
• Alvarado v. Warden FCI Herlong, No. 2:24-cv-03066 (E.D. Cal.), U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of California, 2025.
• McCaa v. FCI-Herlong, No. 2:24-cv-01191 (E.D. Cal.), U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of California, 2025.
• Rodriguez-Mendez v. Ellred, No. 2:24-cv-00678 (E.D. Cal.), U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of California, 2024.
• Tiedemann v. von Blanckensee, 72 F.4th 1001 (9th Cir. 2023), U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit, 2023.
• Rancher Sentenced for Running $244 Million “Ghost Cattle” Scam, U.S. Department of Justice, Office of Public Affairs, 2022. Cody Easterday’s sentence.
• Alkire v. United States, No. 20-1654C, U.S. Court of Federal Claims, 2022.
• Loggins v. Federal Bureau of Prisons, No. 2:21-cv-00140 (E.D. Cal.), U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of California, 2021.
• Six Sentenced in Federal Upstate Methamphetamine Conspiracy, U.S. Attorney’s Office, District of South Carolina, 2017. Sentences imposed by Senior U.S. District Judge Henry M. Herlong, Jr.
• Federal Inmate Sentenced to More Than 6 Additional Years in Prison for Assaulting Fellow Inmate in Federal Prison, U.S. Attorney’s Office, Eastern District of California, 2017. Willie James McNeal’s sentence.
• Court Sentences Prison Inmate To 8 Years Incarceration For Assault Against Another Prison Inmate, U.S. Attorney’s Office, Eastern District of California, 2015. Thomas Roullier’s sentence.
• Former Sierra Army Depot Employee Pleads Guilty To Stealing Sophisticated Military Equipment, U.S. Attorney’s Office, Eastern District of California, 2014. Devon Gregory Biggs’s guilty plea.
• Escapee From Federal Prison Charged, U.S. Attorney’s Office, Eastern District of California, 2014. The charge against Roderick Earl Vanga.
• Former FCI-Herlong Employee and His Brother Plead Guilty to Conspiring to Commit Bribery of a Public Official, U.S. Attorney’s Office, Eastern District of California, 2008. The Megill guilty pleas.

News and other sources

• High Desert State Prison, FCI-Herlong honor fallen officers, California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation, 2026.
• Bug Fire, CAL FIRE, 2026. Incident page.
• High Desert State Prison (HDSP), California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation, 2026. The state’s page for the prison.
• California Correctional Center (CCC), California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation, 2026. The state’s page for the prison.
• Former Fresno congressman TJ Cox sentenced to 1 year in federal prison, his attorney says, ABC30 (KFSN, Fresno), 2025.
• Ex Fresno-area Congressman TJ Cox sentenced to prison following fraud conviction, Fresno Bee, 2025.
• Terminal Island prison to close because of crumbling infrastructure, Associated Press (CBS Los Angeles), 2025.
• U.S. government to close Dublin women’s prison after years of inmate abuse, CBS News, 2024.
• Deceased inmate at FCI Herlong, Lassen News, 2024.
• FCI Herlong hosts Nov. 4 hiring event, Lassen News, 2023.
• Biden administration approves higher pay for all staff at eight federal prisons, including FCI Herlong, Lassen News, 2023.
• Rapper B.G. of Hot Boys released from prison after 11 years, Los Angeles Times, 2023.
• Easterday seeks transfer to prison with livestock program, Capital Press, 2022.
• Former Washington Auditor Troy Kelley reports to prison after last minute delay effort, Northwest News Network, 2021.
• Earth Day Exclusive: Tim DeChristopher Speaks Out After 21 Months in Prison for Disrupting Oil Bid, Democracy Now!, 2013.
• Activist Tim DeChristopher Gets In and Out of Isolated Confinement, Outside, 2012.
• Tre Arrow may go to halfway house, Associated Press (The Bulletin, Bend), 2009.
• 18 U.S.C. § 1791, Providing or possessing contraband in prison, U.S. Code (Legal Information Institute).
• 18 U.S.C. § 3582(c)(1)(A), Imposition of a sentence of imprisonment, U.S. Code (Legal Information Institute).
• 18 U.S.C. § 3621(b), (e)(2)(B), Imprisonment of a convicted person, U.S. Code (Legal Information Institute).
• 18 U.S.C. § 3624(c), Release of a prisoner, U.S. Code (Legal Information Institute).
• 28 U.S.C. § 84(b), California, U.S. Code (Legal Information Institute).

Sources reviewed September 2026.

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