| Form number | BP-A0394 (Program Statement 5800.15 calls it “BP-A394”) |
|---|---|
| Title as printed | DETAINER ACTION LETTER |
| Form-face date | APR 10 |
| Prescribed by | “Prescribed by P5800” |
| Replaces | “(Replaces BP-394(58) dtd MAR 03)” |
| Governing Program Statement | 5800.15, Correctional Systems Manual (January 1, 2009), Ch. 6 §§ 601–606, as amended by CN-1 (September 23, 2016) |
| Governing law | Interstate Agreement on Detainers, 18 U.S.C. app. 2 (Pub. L. 91-538, 84 Stat. 1397); 18 U.S.C. § 3161 |
| Governing regulation | None prescribes the letter. 28 C.F.R. § 571.30 governs the release-day consequence of a detainer |
| Published by BOP? | Yes — https://www.bop.gov/policy/forms/BP_A0394.pdf. This corrects our own pre-drafting research, which recorded it as unpublished |
| Pages / structure | 1 page; addressee block, identification row, seven check-box paragraphs, signature block |
| Distribution as printed | “Original – Addressee, Copy – Judgment & Commitment File; Copy – Inmate; Copy -Central File (Section 1); Copy – Correctional Services Department” |
| Signed by | “Inmate Systems Manager” (pre-printed). No inmate signature line |
| Privacy Act notice / false-statement warning | Neither appears on the form |
Checked against the BOP form set · 2026-09-07 · How we verify
A Detainer Action Letter is how a federal prison talks to a sheriff, a prosecutor or another agency about a hold on someone in its custody. It is a one-page letter with seven pre-printed paragraphs and a check-box beside each; staff check the one that applies, fill in the blanks, and mail it — and one of those seven is the paragraph that tells an outside agency a detainer has been removed.
The policy behind it is on detainers and the Interstate Agreement, and where the letter lands afterward is on the inmate central file and records — which matters because of one entry on the distribution line: a copy goes to the inmate.
What this letter is, and who sends it
The Bureau defines what the letter is about: “Detainer. A formal request from a Federal, state, or local jurisdiction for an inmate’s custody upon completion of a term of imprisonment. This definition includes requests for criminal and non-criminal charges (e.g., material witnesses, deportation, probation/parole violator warrants, child support, etc.).” Reproduced from Program Statement 5800.15 at p. 37.
The letter is the Bureau’s outbound correspondence about that request. PS 5800.15 directs staff to use it in five situations: to open an inquiry when the file suggests pending charges; to acknowledge a lodged detainer; to acknowledge a request for release notification; to return paperwork that arrived without a proper cover letter; and to tell an agency its detainer has been removed. PS 5800.15 at pp. 38–39.
Staff open the inquiry from the record: “CSD staff must review the FBI RAP sheet and the PSI to learn the existence of any possible pending charges or sentences. When possible, pending charges or sentences are indicated, CSD staff will initiate an inquiry by sending a Detainer Action Letter (BP-A394) (DAL) to the appropriate officials, usually the Sheriff or Prosecuting Attorney. The manager or designee must sign the DAL.” PS 5800.15 at p. 38.
Two timing rules sit in the same policy. If an inquiry goes unanswered, “a second and final DAL will be sent within one year of release.” And: “No later than 90 calendar days before the inmate’s release, CS staff will notify the agency that placed a detainer or notification, usually via a DAL or letter, of the inmate’s projected release date.” PS 5800.15 at pp. 38 and 40. A Program Statement instructs staff; it is not a rule a reader enforces in court — but it is what a written request can reasonably ask about.
On this page
The letter, block by block, in printed order
It is a fillable PDF: the printed text extracts, the check-boxes and rules do not. Every element below is named by the text BOP prints.
The addressee block
At the top left, TO: with room for an agency and address. At the top right, Institution and Date. The letter is addressed outward — to the sheriff, prosecutor, court, Marshals Service office or immigration office that holds, or might hold, a claim.
The identification row
Four fields run across: Case/Dkt# · Inmate’s Name · Fed. Reg. No. · DOB/SEX/RACE, then a second row: Aliases · Other No. These make the letter match a specific case file at the receiving end. A wrong docket number here is an ordinary cause of a detainer that will not resolve.
“The below checked paragraph relates to the above named inmate:”
That single line introduces the seven options, and only the checked paragraph applies. The same one-page letter can mean “tell us whether you want a hold,” “your hold is on file,” or “your hold is gone” — and which it means is a tick-mark, not a change in the wording.
The seven checked paragraphs
Reproduced verbatim, in printed order; blank fill-in lines are shown as ____. The two typographic errors in paragraph 1 — “have if lodged” and “youhave” — are printed on the form, not transcription errors.
| # | Paragraph as printed |
|---|---|
| 1 | “This office is in receipt of the following report: ____ . Will you please investigate this report and advise what disposition, if any, has been made of the case. If subject is wanted by your department and you wish a detainer placed, it will be necessary for you to forward a certified copy of your warrant to us along with a cover letter stating your desire to have if lodged as a detainer. If youhave no further interest in subject, please forward a letter indicating so.” |
| 2 | “A detainer has been filed against this subject in your favor charging ____ . Release is tentatively scheduled for ____ , however, we will again notify you no later than 60 days prior to actual release. To check on an inmate’s location, you may call our National Locator Center at: 202-307-3126 or check our BOP Inmate Locator Website at www.bop.gov.” |
| 3 | “Enclosed is your detainer warrant. Your detainer against the above named has been removed in compliance with your request.” |
| 4 | “Your detainer warrant has been removed on the basis of the attached ____ . Notify this office immediately if you do not concur with this action.” |
| 5 | “Your letter dated ____ requests notification prior to the release of the above named prisoner. Our records have been noted. Tentative release date at this time is ____ .” |
| 6 | “I am returning your ____ on the above named inmate who was committed to this institution on ____ to serve ____ for the offense of ____ . If you wish your ____ filed as a detainer, please return it to us with a cover letter stating your desire to have it placed as a hold or indicate you have no further interest in the subject.” |
| 7 | “Other:” |
Reproduced verbatim from BP-A0394, p. 1.
Paragraphs 3 and 4 both report a removal and are not interchangeable. Paragraph 3 is a removal at the agency’s own request — “in compliance with your request.” Paragraph 4 is a removal on the Bureau’s initiative, on the basis of an attached document, and it invites the agency to object: “Notify this office immediately if you do not concur with this action.” If the copy that arrived has paragraph 4 checked, the removal is not necessarily the end of the conversation.
Paragraph 1 also states what the Bureau requires before a hold is placed: a certified copy of the warrant plus a cover letter asking for it to be lodged as a detainer. Where a document arrives without that cover letter, “staff must return the document(s) to the issuing agency with instructions to forward a certified copy of the warrant/abstract along with a cover letter. CSD staff will use the DAL for this purpose.” PS 5800.15 at p. 38. Federal authorities are exempt from the certification requirement.
Signature, and the copy that goes to the person
The letter closes with “Sincerely,” over the pre-printed title “Inmate Systems Manager.” No inmate signature line — nobody in custody signs it — and no Privacy Act notice or false-statement warning anywhere on the page.
The distribution line names five copies: “Original – Addressee, Copy – Judgment & Commitment File; Copy – Inmate; Copy -Central File (Section 1); Copy – Correctional Services Department.” Reproduced verbatim from BP-A0394, p. 1. The third entry matters: a copy is meant to reach the person the letter is about. If a detainer was added or removed and no copy arrived, that is an answerable question for the Records Office.
What the Interstate Agreement on Detainers adds
Where the hold rests on an untried charge from a state that has joined the Interstate Agreement on Detainers, a body of federal law applies that the letter itself never mentions. The Agreement is enacted at 18 U.S.C. app. 2; the official text is Pub. L. 91-538, 84 Stat. 1397.
Article III(c) places a duty on the custodian: the warden or other official having custody “shall promptly inform him of the source and contents of any detainer lodged against him and shall also inform him of his right to make a request for final disposition of the indictment, information, or complaint on which the detainer is based.”
Article III(a) sets the prisoner-initiated clock: on a proper written request delivered to the prosecuting officer and the court, the person “shall be brought to trial within one hundred and eighty days,” subject to continuances for good cause in open court.
Article IV(c) sets the prosecution-initiated clock: where the receiving state takes temporary custody, “trial shall be commenced within one hundred and twenty days of the arrival of the prisoner in the receiving State,” again subject to continuances.
Article IV(e) is the consequence: if trial is not had before the prisoner is returned to the original place of imprisonment, “such indictment, information, or complaint shall not be of any further force or effect, and the court shall enter an order dismissing the same with prejudice.”
Two limits matter. The Bureau’s policy names the jurisdictions that have not joined: “The states of Louisiana, Mississippi, the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, and the territories or possessions have not joined the IADA to date.” PS 5800.15 at p. 37. And the Agreement does not reach probation or parole violation holds — the Supreme Court held in Carchman v. Nash, 473 U.S. 716 (1985), that a detainer based on a probation-violation charge is not one based on an “untried indictment, information or complaint” within Article III. PS 5800.15 cites that case for the same point.
None of this predicts what will happen to any particular detainer. Whether a clock has started, whether it has run, and what follows are questions for counsel with the actual documents. Related: state writs and transfers and transfer to state custody before release.
BP-A0236 is a different document — do not confuse them
There is a second published BOP form in this area, and it is signed by the person in custody rather than by staff. BP-A0236, IAD — Place of Imprisonment (PDF) is the Article III request itself. Its printed text includes this:
I hereby agree that this request will operate as a request for final disposition of all untried indictments, informations or complaints on the basis of which detainers have been lodged against me from your state. I Also agree that this request shall be deemed to be my waiver of extradition with respect to any charge or proceedings contemplated hereby or included herein, and a waiver of extradition to your state to serve any sentence there imposed upon me …
Reproduced verbatim from BP-A0236, p. 1.
That is a waiver, and it is signed. The BP-A0394 waives nothing and is signed by an Inmate Systems Manager. Read anything you are asked to sign in this area with counsel first. Background on the Agreement is on the Interstate Detainer Act page.
Where people get stuck when a detainer appears unannounced
“A detainer appeared and nobody told me.” The Records Office maintains the entry, and PS 5800.15 directs that a copy of the DAL go to the inmate. An Inmate Request to Staff (BP-A0148) asking what detainers or notifications are recorded, and for copies of the DALs sent, is the first step. If that produces nothing, the formal route is a BP-9 under 28 C.F.R. § 542.10.
“The hold is years old and nothing is happening.” BOP does not decide whether an outside agency keeps its detainer. Policy directs staff to verify any removal request in writing — “The name of the person contacted, title, telephone number, date, and signature of CSD staff verifying this information must be clearly marked on the correspondence requesting the removal” — then send a DAL confirming it. PS 5800.15 at p. 39. The lever, where one exists, is with the charging jurisdiction or through the Agreement, not with the Bureau.
“How does the detainer change release day?” It appears as a Yes/No entry on the BP-A0392 Release Authorization with a “Custody Will Be Taken by:” field, and it can remove the Bureau’s discretion to release early before a weekend or holiday: 28 C.F.R. § 571.30 permits that early release “unless it is necessary to detain the inmate for another jurisdiction seeking custody under a detainer.” See release before a weekend or holiday.
Applied Insight — Christopher Zoukis, JD, MBA, Managing Director: The first thing we ask for on a detainer question is the DAL file, because the letters are dated and show the sequence: who was asked, when, what came back. A file with one unanswered inquiry and no second letter tells a different story than a file with a lodged warrant and a certified copy behind it. Whether the Interstate Agreement is available, and what to do about it, is legal work handled by Elizabeth Franklin-Best and the firm’s attorneys.
Frequently Asked Questions About the Detainer Action Letter
What is a Detainer Action Letter?
BP-A0394, Detainer Action Letter, is a one-page Bureau of Prisons letter used to communicate with an outside agency about a hold on a federal prisoner. It carries seven pre-printed paragraphs with a check-box beside each — opening an inquiry, acknowledging a lodged detainer or a notification request, returning improper paperwork, confirming a removal, or “Other” — and only the checked paragraph applies. It is published at bop.gov/policy/forms/BP_A0394.pdf.
Do I get a copy of the Detainer Action Letter?
The printed distribution line says you should: “Original – Addressee, Copy – Judgment & Commitment File; Copy – Inmate; Copy -Central File (Section 1); Copy – Correctional Services Department.” PS 5800.15 also directs that a copy of the unanswered-inquiry DAL go to the inmate. If none arrived, ask the Records Office in writing.
How do I get a detainer removed?
Not through the Bureau of Prisons. BOP records and reports detainers; it does not decide whether another jurisdiction keeps one. Policy directs staff to verify a removal request from the filing authority in writing, then confirm the removal by DAL. Where the hold rests on an untried charge from a party state, the Interstate Agreement provides a route — a legal question for counsel, not an administrative request.
What does a checked paragraph 4 mean?
It means the Bureau removed the detainer warrant on the basis of an attached document rather than at the agency’s request, and it expressly invites the agency to object: “Notify this office immediately if you do not concur with this action.” Paragraph 3, by contrast, records a removal made “in compliance with your request.”
Does the letter start any deadline?
The letter is correspondence, not a legal filing, and it starts no court clock. The Interstate Agreement’s 180-day and 120-day periods run from a prisoner’s proper written request for final disposition delivered to the prosecutor and court, or from arrival in the receiving state — not from the mailing of a Detainer Action Letter.
Does a probation or parole violation hold count under the Interstate Agreement?
No. The Supreme Court held in Carchman v. Nash, 473 U.S. 716 (1985), that a detainer based on a probation-violation charge is not based on an “untried indictment, information or complaint” within Article III of the Agreement. BOP’s own Correctional Systems Manual cites the case for that proposition.
Is the BP-A0394 the same as the form I was asked to sign?
Almost certainly not. The BP-A0394 is signed by an Inmate Systems Manager and carries no inmate signature line. The form a person in custody signs in this area is usually BP-A0236, IAD — Place of Imprisonment, which contains an express waiver of extradition.
Reviewed for legal accuracy by Elizabeth Franklin-Best, Esq., Principal Attorney·September 2026