Program Statement 5511.08 at a glance
| Field | Value |
|---|---|
| Program Statement | 5511.08 |
| Subject | Inmate Request to Staff (the Program Statement was renamed; the prior edition was titled Request to Staff, Inmate) |
| Effective / current edition date | March 19, 2026 (approved by William K. Marshall III, Director, Federal Bureau of Prisons; OPI DPI CPD) |
| Change notice | None. This is a full reissue, not a change notice |
| Supersedes / rescinds | Program Statement 5511.07, Request to Staff, Inmate (8/14/1998) |
| Governing statute | None cited in the Program Statement |
| Governing regulation (28 C.F.R.) | None cited in the Program Statement. The related grievance regulation is 28 C.F.R. part 542, subpart B |
| Related BP forms | BP-A0148, Inmate Request to Staff — the only form prescribed by this Program Statement |
| Official PDF | PS 5511.08 (March 19, 2026) |
Checked against the BOP policy set · 2026-09-06.
A “cop-out” is the written request an incarcerated person sends to a staff member or a department, and Program Statement 5511.08 is the Bureau of Prisons policy that says how it must be sent, how often, and how quickly staff should answer. Since the March 19, 2026 reissue, the default channel is electronic — the Request to Staff Service inside TRULINCS — and the paper BP-A0148 is reserved for people the Warden has exempted and for anyone housed in a Protective Custody Unit.
If you are trying to understand how a complaint moves from a cop-out through the formal grievance chain, read this page alongside our plain-English guide to filing a grievance in federal prison, which walks through the BP-8, BP-9, BP-10 and BP-11 steps and what each one is for. This page covers the request itself — the paper and the rules that govern it. The formal remedy program that a request can turn into is covered on our Administrative Remedy Program (PS 1330.18) page.
On this page
The rule itself: the seven operating rules of a cop-out under PS 5511.08
Program Statement 5511.08 is three pages long. It contains no code table and no point scale — what it contains is a short set of operating rules and one prescribed form. Those rules are reproduced below in the Bureau’s own words. This is the whole of the operative policy; everything else in the document is a purpose statement, a references list, and ACA accreditation citations.
| # | Rule | What PS 5511.08 says, verbatim | Page |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Who it covers | “The procedures specified in this program statement apply to all inmates housed in Bureau facilities with access to inmate computers, including pretrial and holdover inmates.” | p. 1 |
| 2 | Program objective | “All inmates have the opportunity to address questions, requests, or concerns to Bureau staff or departments.” | p. 1 |
| 3 | Institution Supplement | “Institution Supplement. None.” | p. 1 |
| 4 | Default channel | “In accordance with the Program Statement Trust Fund/Deposit Fund Manual, inmates must submit a request to staff via the electronic Request to Staff Service in the Trust Fund Limited Inmate Communication System (TRULINCS). A written response from a staff member will be provided when necessary.” | pp. 1–2 |
| 5 | Volume limit | “Inmates are limited to submitting one request per department per day.” | p. 2 |
| 6 | PREA reporting route | “Inmates may report allegations of sexual abuse and harassment directly to the U.S. Department of Justice, Office of the Inspector General via the Request to Staff Service.” | p. 2 |
| 7 | Response time | “Ordinarily, if warranted, a response will be completed within 30 calendar days.” | p. 2 |
Source: PS 5511.08 at pp. 1–2.
Who may still file on paper
The electronic default is not absolute. Section 3 of the Program Statement sets out an exemption and one categorical exclusion, and directs both groups to the paper form.
| Category | What PS 5511.08 says, verbatim | Page |
|---|---|---|
| Warden’s exemption | “The Warden may exempt inmates from the requirement to submit requests electronically using the Request to Staff Service in TRULINCS. The exemption is determined based on physical or mental incapacity, other extraordinary circumstances that prevent the inmate from using the TRULINCS terminal, or the inmate poses special security concerns prohibiting regular access to TRULINCS terminals (e.g., Special Housing Unit).” | p. 2 |
| Protective Custody Unit | “The Request to Staff Service will not be available to inmates housed in a Protective Custody Unit (PCU).” | p. 2 |
| What both groups use | “Exempted inmates and inmates housed in a PCU must submit a paper request via the BP-A0148, Inmate Request to Staff.” | p. 2 |
Source: PS 5511.08 at p. 2.
The form itself
The Program Statement prescribes exactly one form. Its “Bureau Forms Prescribed by 5511.08” list at p. 3 contains a single entry: BP-A0148, Inmate Request to Staff. The form asks for the name and title of the staff member, the date, the sender’s name and register number, work assignment and unit, and then a subject block whose printed instruction is the most consequential sentence on the page:
“Briefly state your question or concern and the solution you are requesting. Continue on back, if necessary. Your failure to be specific may result in no action being taken. If necessary, you will be interviewed in order to successfully respond to your request.”
The bottom half is reserved for staff — a “DISPOSITION” block, a staff signature and a date — and the footer directs that the record copy be filed in Section 6 of the Inmate Central File unless it belongs in the Privacy Folder. You can read the blank form on the Bureau’s own site: BP-A0148 (PDF).
What the Request to Staff policy means for you
If you are the person inside: filing a cop-out on TRULINCS
Use the Request to Staff Service on the TRULINCS terminal unless you have been exempted or you are in a Protective Custody Unit; the Program Statement makes the electronic route the default and directs the paper BP-A0148 only for those two situations (PS 5511.08 at p. 2). Address the request to the department that actually owns the decision — Records for a sentence-computation question, Health Services for a medical one, the Unit Team for programming, Trust Fund for an account problem — because the one-request-per-department-per-day cap is counted by department, and a misrouted request burns a day.
Write it the way the form tells you to write it: state the concern and the specific solution you want. The form warns in its own text that failure to be specific may result in no action being taken. Name the date, the policy or form number if you know it, and the outcome you are asking for. Keep a copy or a screen record of what you sent and when.
Do not treat the cop-out as the end of the road. It is a request, not a grievance. If the answer does not come, or comes back wrong, the next steps are informal resolution and then the formal Administrative Remedy Request — and those steps run on their own clock, which is described below and on our Administrative Remedy Program page.
If you are a family member: why you cannot file a cop-out
You cannot file a cop-out for your loved one. Under 28 C.F.R. § 542.10, the Administrative Remedy Program lets an incarcerated person “seek formal review of an issue relating to any aspect of his/her own confinement,” and “[a]n inmate may not submit a Request or Appeal on behalf of another inmate” — the same principle runs through the request-to-staff process. What you can do is far more useful than filing: help your loved one build the record.
Get the facts straight on the outside and send them in. Dates, medical records, a court docket entry, a letter from a treating physician, the name of the staff member who said what. Then help track the timeline — the date the request went in, the date any response came back, and whether the 30 days in PS 5511.08 at p. 2 have run. Families are very often the only party in a position to keep a calendar, and a missed deadline in the grievance chain is one of the most common reasons a real problem never gets reviewed.
If you are counsel: cop-outs
The cop-out is where the exhaustion record starts, and it is the cheapest document in the file to get right. The Prison Litigation Reform Act’s exhaustion requirement is enforced by reference to the agency’s own procedural rules, so the paper trail your client generates at the institution determines what a court will later say was, or was not, properly presented. Ask for the TRULINCS request history early; it is generated by the Bureau’s own system and it dates every submission.
Two structural points matter for planning. First, PS 5511.08 states no regulatory deadline of its own — its 30-day figure is an internal expectation (“[o]rdinarily, if warranted”), not a rule your client can enforce. Second, the binding grievance deadlines sit elsewhere: 28 C.F.R. § 542.14 starts the 20-calendar-day BP-9 clock from “the date on which the basis for the Request occurred,” not from the date staff answered a cop-out. A client who waits politely for a request-to-staff response can lose the BP-9 window while waiting. Build the calendar from the underlying event.
What changed in the 2026 Request to Staff reissue
This is a genuine reissue, not a touch-up. PS 5511.08 rescinds Program Statement 5511.07, Request to Staff, Inmate (8/14/1998) outright, and the “Summary of Changes” block on p. 1 lists three changes in the Bureau’s own words: it “[a]dds language to address the Electronic Request to Staff Service,” it “[a]ddresses the use of the BP-A0148, Inmate Request to Staff form,” and it “[u]pdates the name of the policy from Request to Staff, Inmate to Inmate Request to Staff.”
Read against the 1998 edition it replaces, the practical shift is the channel. For twenty-eight years the governing national policy assumed a piece of paper handed to a staff member. The 2026 edition inverts that: the electronic Request to Staff Service inside TRULINCS is now the required route for anyone with terminal access, and the paper BP-A0148 is the exception for exempted individuals and Protective Custody Units. The reissue also carries something the 1998 policy could not have: a stated route for reporting sexual abuse and harassment allegations directly to the DOJ Office of the Inspector General through the same service (PS 5511.08 at p. 2).
Two changes matter for how the document should be cited. The subject line moved — the policy is now Inmate Request to Staff, and citations to “Request to Staff, Inmate” are citations to the rescinded 5511.07. And the form is now expressly prescribed by this Program Statement; the “Bureau Forms Prescribed by 5511.08” list at p. 3 names BP-A0148 and nothing else. Finally, the reissue states “Institution Supplement. None” — meaning there is no local supplement layered on top of this policy, which is unusual in the Bureau’s inmate-facing policy set and removes one common source of institution-to-institution variation.
Where people get stuck when 30 days pass with no answer
Thirty days pass and nothing comes back
The Program Statement says a response “[o]rdinarily, if warranted, … will be completed within 30 calendar days” (PS 5511.08 at p. 2). Read that sentence closely: “ordinarily,” “if warranted,” and — most importantly — it is a Program Statement, which is the Bureau’s internal instruction to its own staff, not a regulation you can enforce as a deadline. Silence on a cop-out is not a legal event.
What is a legal event is the grievance clock. 28 C.F.R. § 542.14 sets the deadline for completing informal resolution and submitting the formal Administrative Remedy Request on the BP-9 at 20 calendar days following the date on which the basis for the Request occurred. That clock does not pause while a cop-out sits unanswered. If the issue is time-sensitive, send the request and start the informal-resolution step in parallel rather than waiting; 28 C.F.R. § 542.13 directs that an inmate “shall first present an issue of concern informally to staff,” and that each Warden “shall establish procedures to allow for the informal resolution of inmate complaints.”
You are in the SHU or a Protective Custody Unit and cannot reach a terminal
This is the situation PS 5511.08 anticipates, and it resolves in your favor on paper. The Warden may exempt someone from the electronic requirement based on “physical or mental incapacity, other extraordinary circumstances that prevent the inmate from using the TRULINCS terminal, or the inmate poses special security concerns prohibiting regular access to TRULINCS terminals (e.g., Special Housing Unit),” and the Request to Staff Service “will not be available to inmates housed in a Protective Custody Unit (PCU)” (PS 5511.08 at p. 2). Both groups “must submit a paper request via the BP-A0148.”
In practice the friction is supply: getting blank BP-A0148 forms into a restricted housing unit, and getting completed ones out. Ask the unit officer, the SHU lieutenant, and your correctional counselor, and note each request and refusal by date and name. If paper is not being delivered, that is itself an issue relating to your confinement and can be raised through the Administrative Remedy Program — and § 542.14(b) recognizes an extension of the filing deadline where the inmate demonstrates a valid reason for delay. Our Special Housing Units (PS 5270.12) page covers the conditions rules that apply while you are there.
One request per department per day is not enough for a complicated problem
The cap is explicit: “Inmates are limited to submitting one request per department per day” (PS 5511.08 at p. 2). For a layered problem — a sentence computation that also affects a halfway-house date, or a medical issue that also affects a work assignment — that limit forces triage.
The workable approach is to split by department rather than by grievance. A sentence-computation question goes to Records; the release-planning consequence goes to the Unit Team; the medical piece goes to Health Services. Each of those is a different department, so each can receive a request the same day. Write each one to stand alone, because they will be read by different people who will not see the others. Where the underlying issue is designation, sentence computation, discipline, or medical care, a cop-out is a starting point and not a strategy — those four categories are the ones where a mistake compounds quietly for months, and they are worth a consultation rather than a stack of forms.
Staff treat the cop-out response as the final answer
It is not. A request to staff sits outside the Administrative Remedy Program; 28 C.F.R. § 542.10 describes that Program as the route to “seek formal review,” and PS 5511.08 describes a request-to-staff service that produces “[a] written response from a staff member … when necessary.” Those are different things, and a disposition written in the bottom half of a BP-A0148 is not a decision you have appealed.
The route out is the one the regulation lays down. Informal resolution first (§ 542.13); then the BP-9 to the Warden within 20 calendar days of the event (§ 542.14); then the BP-10 to the Regional Director within 20 calendar days of the date the Warden signed the response, and the BP-11 to the General Counsel within 30 calendar days of the date the Regional Director signed (§ 542.15). Response times run 20 calendar days at the institution, 30 at the region and 40 at the Central Office, and if no response arrives within the time allowed, including any extension, “the inmate may consider the absence of a response to be a denial at that level” (§ 542.18).
Related BOP policy on requests and grievances
| Page | What it covers |
|---|---|
| Filing a grievance in federal prison | The paired plain-English guide: what a BP-8, BP-9, BP-10 and BP-11 are, and what each step is for |
| Administrative Remedy Program (PS 1330.18) | The formal grievance policy, the deadlines, and the sensitive-filing route |
| Special Housing Units (PS 5270.12) | Conditions and privileges in the SHU, including access to forms and paper |
| Inmate Discipline Program (PS 5270.09) | Incident reports, the UDC and the DHO, and how discipline appeals differ from ordinary grievances |
| PREA and sexual abuse prevention (PS 5333.01) | The separate reporting and review track for allegations of sexual abuse and harassment |
| Federal Tort Claims Act claims (PS 1320.07) | The statutorily separate route for personal-injury and property claims, which the remedy program does not cover |
| FOIA and Privacy Act requests (PS 1351.05) | How to obtain records, including the request history and central-file material behind a dispute |
| Federal prison early release | Where a documented, exhausted institutional record becomes the foundation for a filing in court |
Frequently Asked Questions About the Inmate Request to Staff
What is a “cop-out” in federal prison?
“Cop-out” is the common name for the Inmate Request to Staff — a written request from an incarcerated person to a staff member or department, governed by Program Statement 5511.08. Since March 19, 2026 the Bureau directs that these be submitted through the electronic Request to Staff Service in TRULINCS, with the paper form BP-A0148 used by people the Warden has exempted and by anyone in a Protective Custody Unit.
How long does the BOP have to answer a cop-out?
Program Statement 5511.08 states that “[o]rdinarily, if warranted, a response will be completed within 30 calendar days” (at p. 2). That is the Bureau’s internal expectation for its own staff, not a regulation, and it is qualified twice — “ordinarily” and “if warranted.” It is not the same as the enforceable response deadlines in the Administrative Remedy Program, which are 20 calendar days at the institution, 30 at the region and 40 at the Central Office under 28 C.F.R. § 542.18.
How many cop-outs can I send in a day?
One per department per day. PS 5511.08 states flatly: “Inmates are limited to submitting one request per department per day” (at p. 2). Because the limit is counted per department, a person with issues in Records, Health Services and the Unit Team can send one request to each of those three departments on the same day.
Is a cop-out the same thing as a BP-8?
No, although in many institutions the same paper is used for both. A cop-out under PS 5511.08 is a request to staff. A BP-8 is the informal-resolution step that 28 C.F.R. § 542.13 places before a formal Administrative Remedy Request, and neither § 542.13 nor PS 5511.08 prescribes a single national form for it — the regulation instead directs that “[e]ach Warden shall establish procedures to allow for the informal resolution of inmate complaints.” Ask your correctional counselor what your institution uses, and keep copies either way.
Can my family file an Inmate Request to Staff for me?
No. The Bureau’s rule is that a person may seek review only of an issue relating to his or her own confinement, and “[a]n inmate may not submit a Request or Appeal on behalf of another inmate” (28 C.F.R. § 542.10). Family members help most by supplying documents and dates from the outside and by keeping the timeline, since the deadlines in § 542.14 and § 542.15 run whether or not anyone is watching the calendar.
What if I am in the SHU and cannot get to a TRULINCS terminal?
PS 5511.08 addresses that directly. The Warden may exempt a person from electronic filing where there are “special security concerns prohibiting regular access to TRULINCS terminals (e.g., Special Housing Unit),” and exempted individuals “must submit a paper request via the BP-A0148, Inmate Request to Staff” (at p. 2). If blank forms are not reaching the unit, document each request and each refusal by date and staff name — that record is what supports a request to extend a filing deadline for a valid reason for delay under 28 C.F.R. § 542.14.
Can I report sexual abuse through the Request to Staff Service?
Yes, and the 2026 reissue says so expressly: “Inmates may report allegations of sexual abuse and harassment directly to the U.S. Department of Justice, Office of the Inspector General via the Request to Staff Service” (PS 5511.08 at p. 2). That is one route among several, and the Bureau’s sexual-abuse prevention policy sets out the others; see our page on PREA and sexual abuse prevention (PS 5333.01).
Which Program Statement number should I cite?
Cite 5511.08, Inmate Request to Staff, dated March 19, 2026. The prior edition, 5511.07 (Request to Staff, Inmate, 8/14/1998), was rescinded by this reissue, and the policy’s title changed at the same time. If you are writing about conduct that occurred before March 19, 2026, cite the edition that was in force at the time and say so — the Bureau’s policy set moves, and a citation to a rescinded edition is one of the fastest ways to lose a reader’s confidence.
Applied Insight — Christopher Zoukis, JD, MBA, Managing Director: When we open a Bureau file, the first thing we ask for is the TRULINCS request history, not the grievance history. The requests are dated by the Bureau’s own system, they show which department was asked and when, and they usually reveal that the problem was raised weeks or months before anyone filed anything formal. That timeline is what turns “he never complained” into a documented record — and it is built one specific, dated, narrowly addressed request at a time.
This page is general information about federal Bureau of Prisons policy and is not legal advice; it does not create an attorney-client relationship. Elizabeth Franklin-Best, P.C. is a federal criminal defense and post-conviction practice serving clients nationwide, with offices in Columbia and Mount Pleasant, South Carolina — (843) 620-1100.
Program Statement 5511.08 — full text
What follows is the Bureau’s own text, reproduced in full from its published PDF — nothing summarized, nothing cut. Source: PS 5511.08 (PDF).
U.S. DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE Federal Bureau of Prisons
PROGRAM STATEMENT Inmate Request to Staff Approved by
William K. Marshall III Director, Federal Bureau of Prisons DPI CPD Number 5511.08 Date March 19, 2026
Summary of Changes Program Statement Rescinded:
- 5511.07 Request to Staff, Inmate (8/14/1998) Changes:
- Adds language to address the Electronic Request to Staff Service.
- Addresses the use of the BP-A0148, Inmate Request to Staff form.
- Updates the name of the policy from Request to Staff, Inmate to Inmate Request to Staff
1. PURPOSE AND SCOPE
This program statement is intended to provide procedures which allow an inmate to make a request to a Bureau of Prisons (Bureau) staff member or department. The procedures specified in this program statement apply to all inmates housed in Bureau facilities with access to inmate computers, including pretrial and holdover inmates.
a. Program Objectives.
- All inmates have the opportunity to address questions, requests, or concerns to Bureau staff or departments.
b. Institution Supplement. None.
2. PROCEDURES
In accordance with the Program Statement Trust Fund/Deposit Fund Manual, inmates must
submit a request to staff via the electronic Request to Staff Service in the Trust Fund Limited Inmate Communication System (TRULINCS). A written response from a staff member will be provided when necessary. Inmates are limited to submitting one request per department per day.
Inmates may report allegations of sexual abuse and harassment directly to the U.S. Department of Justice, Office of the Inspector General via the Request to Staff Service.
Ordinarily, if warranted, a response will be completed within 30 calendar days.
3. EXEMPTIONS
The Warden may exempt inmates from the requirement to submit requests electronically using the Request to Staff Service in TRULINCS. The exemption is determined based on physical or mental incapacity, other extraordinary circumstances that prevent the inmate from using the TRULINCS terminal , or the inmate poses special security concerns prohibiting regular access to TRULINCS terminals (e.g., Special Housing Unit).
The Request to Staff Service will not be available to inmates housed in a Protective Custody Unit (PCU).
Exempted inmates and inmates housed in a PCU must submit a paper request via the BP-A0148, Inmate Request to Staff.
REFERENCES
Program Statements Trust Fund/Deposit Fund Manual
Bureau Forms Prescribed by 5511.08 BP-A0148 Inmate Request to Staff
ACA Standards Performance-Based Standards and Expected Practices for Adult Correctional Institutions (5th Edition): 5-ACI-1A-16
Performance-Based Standards for Adult Local Detention Facilities (5th Edition): 5-ALDF-2A- 04, 5-ALDF-2A-05
Records Retention Requirements Requirements and retention guidance for records and information applicable to this program are available in the Records and Information Disposition Schedule (RIDS) on the Bureau’s intranet site.
Reviewed for legal accuracy by Elizabeth Franklin-Best, Esq., Principal Attorney·September 2026