Rules And Discipline

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

Every rule a person in federal prison can be punished for breaking is written down in one place: a numbered list of prohibited acts sorted into four severity levels, published at 28 C.F.R. § 541.3 and reproduced in the Bureau of Prisons’ Program Statement 5270.09, Inmate Discipline Program. The severity level of the code you are charged with — 100, 200, 300 or 400 series — determines who decides your case, how much time can be taken from you, and how long you can be held in disciplinary segregation.

Governing regulation	28 C.F.R. part 541, subpart A (§§ 541.1–541.8)
Bureau policy implementing it	PS 5270.09, Inmate Discipline Program, dated 8 July 2011; Change Notice CN-1 dated 18 November 2020
Severity levels	Four — Greatest (100 series), High (200 series), Moderate (300 series), Low (400 series)
Charging document	Form BP-A0288, Incident Report
Who can take good conduct time	The Discipline Hearing Officer only — never the Unit Discipline Committee
Maximum disciplinary segregation	12 months (Greatest) · 6 months (High) · 3 months (Moderate) · none listed (Low)
Appeal route	Administrative Remedy Program, 28 C.F.R. part 542, subpart B

Verified against the eCFR text current as of 6 August 2026 and against the Program Statement PDF as posted by the Bureau. A Program Statement is the Bureau’s own internal instruction — agency policy, not law. Where the two differ, the regulation controls, and on one significant point they now do differ. See “Where the Program Statement is behind the regulation,” below.

The four severity levels, and why the number matters more than the words

Federal prison discipline runs on a numbered code. Staff do not charge “fighting” — they charge Code 201. They do not charge “having a phone” — they charge Code 108. The number is not a filing convenience. It is the single fact that sets the ceiling on everything that follows.

The regulation divides prohibited acts into “four separate categories based on severity: Greatest; High; Moderate; and Low,” and the available sanctions are keyed to those categories rather than to individual codes. Two consequences follow immediately, and both matter more than most people realize.

First, severity level decides who hears your case. A Greatest- or High-severity charge — anything in the 100 or 200 series — must be referred to the Discipline Hearing Officer. The Unit Discipline Committee has no power to resolve it. Moderate and Low charges can be handled by the UDC at the unit, and can be informally resolved and removed from your record entirely. That difference is the whole ballgame, because only the DHO can take good conduct time, order disciplinary segregation, or impose a monetary fine.

Second, severity level decides what can be taken. The regulation sets a different sanctions menu for each level. At the Greatest level the Bureau can forfeit up to 100% of earned statutory good time and disallow between 27 and 41 days of the good conduct time available for the year. At the Low level the good-time sanction is not even available unless you have committed the same act twice within six months.

There is one more rule that quietly widens the whole table: under § 541.3(a), “[a]iding, attempting, abetting, or making plans to commit any of the prohibited acts is treated the same as committing the act itself.” The Bureau records these with the letter A appended to the code — planning an escape is charged as Code 102A. An attempt carries the same severity level, and therefore the same sanctions, as the completed act.

The complete list of prohibited acts

What follows is Table 1 of PS 5270.09, reproduced from the Program Statement at pp. 45–55 and cross-checked against the current regulatory text at 28 C.F.R. § 541.3. Codes marked “(Not to be used)” appear that way in the Bureau’s own table — they are retired numbers the Bureau has not reassigned, and their presence in the published list is deliberate.

Greatest severity level — the 100 series

Every 100-series charge goes to the DHO. The UDC cannot resolve one and cannot informally resolve one.

Code	Prohibited act
100	Killing.
101	Assaulting any person, or an armed assault on the institution’s secure perimeter (a charge for assaulting any person at this level is to be used only when serious physical injury has been attempted or accomplished).
102	Escape from escort; escape from any secure or non-secure institution, including community confinement; escape from unescorted community program or activity; escape from outside a secure institution.
103	Setting a fire (charged with this act in this category only when found to pose a threat to life or a threat of serious bodily harm or in furtherance of a prohibited act of Greatest Severity, e.g., in furtherance of a riot or escape; otherwise the charge is properly classified Code 218, or 329).
104	Possession, manufacture, or introduction of a gun, firearm, weapon, sharpened instrument, knife, dangerous chemical, explosive, ammunition, or any instrument used as a weapon.
105	Rioting.
106	Encouraging others to riot.
107	Taking hostage(s).
108	Possession, manufacture, introduction, or loss of a hazardous tool (tools most likely to be used in an escape or escape attempt or to serve as weapons capable of doing serious bodily harm to others; or those hazardous to institutional security or personal safety; e.g., hacksaw blade, body armor, maps, handmade rope, or other escape paraphernalia, portable telephone, pager, or other electronic device).
109	(Not to be used).
110	Refusing to provide a urine sample; refusing to breathe into a Breathalyzer; refusing to take part in other drug-abuse testing.
111	Introduction or making of any narcotics, marijuana, drugs, alcohol, intoxicants, or related paraphernalia, not prescribed for the individual by the medical staff.
112	Use of any narcotics, marijuana, drugs, alcohol, intoxicants, or related paraphernalia, not prescribed for the individual by the medical staff.
113	Possession of any narcotics, marijuana, drugs, alcohol, intoxicants, or related paraphernalia, not prescribed for the individual by the medical staff.
114	Sexual assault of any person, involving non-consensual touching by force or threat of force.
115	Destroying and/or disposing of any item during a search or attempt to search.
196	Use of the mail for an illegal purpose or to commit or further a Greatest category prohibited act.
197	Use of the telephone for an illegal purpose or to commit or further a Greatest category prohibited act.
198	Interfering with a staff member in the performance of duties most like another Greatest severity prohibited act. This charge is to be used only when another charge of Greatest severity is not accurate. The offending conduct must be charged as “most like” one of the listed Greatest severity prohibited acts.
199	Conduct which disrupts or interferes with the security or orderly running of the institution or the Bureau of Prisons most like another Greatest severity prohibited act. This charge is to be used only when another charge of Greatest severity is not accurate. The offending conduct must be charged as “most like” one of the listed Greatest severity prohibited acts.

High severity level — the 200 series

High-severity charges also go automatically to the DHO.

Code	Prohibited act
200	Escape from a work detail, non-secure institution, or other non-secure confinement, including community confinement, with subsequent voluntary return to Bureau of Prisons custody within four hours.
201	Fighting with another person.
202	(Not to be used).
203	Threatening another with bodily harm or any other offense.
204	Extortion; blackmail; protection; demanding or receiving money or anything of value in return for protection against others, to avoid bodily harm, or under threat of informing.
205	Engaging in sexual acts.
206	Making sexual proposals or threats to another.
207	Wearing a disguise or a mask.
208	Possession of any unauthorized locking device, or lock pick, or tampering with or blocking any lock device (includes keys), or destroying, altering, interfering with, improperly using, or damaging any security device, mechanism, or procedure.
209	Adulteration of any food or drink.
210	(Not to be used).
211	Possessing any officer’s or staff clothing.
212	Engaging in or encouraging a group demonstration.
213	Encouraging others to refuse to work, or to participate in a work stoppage.
214	(Not to be used).
215	(Not to be used).
216	Giving or offering an official or staff member a bribe, or anything of value.
217	Giving money to, or receiving money from, any person for the purpose of introducing contraband or any other illegal or prohibited purpose.
218	Destroying, altering, or damaging government property, or the property of another person, having a value in excess of $100.00, or destroying, altering, damaging life-safety devices (e.g., fire alarm) regardless of financial value.
219	Stealing; theft (including data obtained through the unauthorized use of a communications device, or through unauthorized access to disks, tapes, or computer printouts or other automated equipment on which data is stored).
220	Demonstrating, practicing, or using martial arts, boxing (except for use of a punching bag), wrestling, or other forms of physical encounter, or military exercises or drill (except for drill authorized by staff).
221	Being in an unauthorized area with a person of the opposite sex without staff permission.
222	(Not to be used).
223	(Not to be used).
224	Assaulting any person (a charge at this level is used when less serious physical injury or contact has been attempted or accomplished by an inmate).
225	Stalking another person through repeated behavior which harasses, alarms, or annoys the person, after having been previously warned to stop such conduct.
226	Possession of stolen property.
227	Refusing to participate in a required physical test or examination unrelated to testing for drug abuse (e.g., DNA, HIV, tuberculosis).
228	Tattooing or self-mutilation.
229	Sexual assault of any person, involving non-consensual touching without force or threat of force.
231	Requesting, demanding, pressuring, or otherwise intentionally creating a situation, which causes an inmate to produce or display his/her own court documents for any unauthorized purpose to another inmate.
296	Use of the mail for abuses other than criminal activity which circumvent mail monitoring procedures (e.g., use of the mail to commit or further a High category prohibited act, special mail abuse; writing letters in code; directing others to send, sending, or receiving a letter or mail through unauthorized means; sending mail for other inmates without authorization; sending correspondence to a specific address with directions or intent to have the correspondence sent to an unauthorized person; and using a fictitious return address in an attempt to send or receive unauthorized correspondence).
297	Use of the telephone for abuses other than illegal activity which circumvent the ability of staff to monitor frequency of telephone use, content of the call, or the number called; or to commit or further a High category prohibited act.
298	Interfering with a staff member in the performance of duties most like another High severity prohibited act. This charge is to be used only when another charge of High severity is not accurate.
299	Conduct which disrupts or interferes with the security or orderly running of the institution or the Bureau of Prisons most like another High severity prohibited act. This charge is to be used only when another charge of High severity is not accurate.

There is no Code 230, and that gap is recent history rather than an oversight. Code 231 was added to the table by a rule published at 85 FR 66226 (19 October 2020) and effective 18 November 2020 — the same change the Bureau issued as Change Notice CN-1 to PS 5270.09. It criminalizes pressuring another incarcerated person to show his own court paperwork, a practice used to identify people whose cases make them targets.

Moderate severity level — the 300 series

Moderate charges may be resolved by the UDC or referred to the DHO. They may also be informally resolved and removed from your record.

Code	Prohibited act
300	Indecent Exposure.
301	(Not to be used).
302	Misuse of authorized medication.
303	Possession of money or currency, unless specifically authorized, or in excess of the amount authorized.
304	Loaning of property or anything of value for profit or increased return.
305	Possession of anything not authorized for retention or receipt by the inmate, and not issued to him through regular channels.
306	Refusing to work or to accept a program assignment.
307	Refusing to obey an order of any staff member (may be categorized and charged in terms of greater severity, according to the nature of the order being disobeyed).
308	Violating a condition of a furlough.
309	Violating a condition of a community program.
310	Unexcused absence from work or any program assignment.
311	Failing to perform work as instructed by the supervisor.
312	Insolence towards a staff member.
313	Lying or providing a false statement to a staff member.
314	Counterfeiting, forging, or unauthorized reproduction of any document, article of identification, money, security, or official paper (may be categorized in terms of greater severity according to the nature of the item being reproduced).
315	Participating in an unauthorized meeting or gathering.
316	Being in an unauthorized area without staff authorization.
317	Failure to follow safety or sanitation regulations (including safety regulations, chemical instructions, tools, MSDS sheets, OSHA standards).
318	Using any equipment or machinery without staff authorization.
319	Using any equipment or machinery contrary to instructions or posted safety standards.
320	Failing to stand count.
321	Interfering with the taking of count.
322	(Not to be used).
323	(Not to be used).
324	Gambling.
325	Preparing or conducting a gambling pool.
326	Possession of gambling paraphernalia.
327	Unauthorized contacts with the public.
328	Giving money or anything of value to, or accepting money or anything of value from, another inmate or any other person without staff authorization.
329	Destroying, altering, or damaging government property, or the property of another person, having a value of $100.00 or less.
330	Being unsanitary or untidy; failing to keep one’s person or quarters in accordance with posted standards.
331	Possession, manufacture, introduction, or loss of a non-hazardous tool, equipment, supplies, or other non-hazardous contraband (tools not likely to be used in an escape or escape attempt, or to serve as a weapon capable of doing serious bodily harm to others, or not hazardous to institutional security or personal safety) (other non-hazardous contraband includes such items as food, cosmetics, cleaning supplies, smoking apparatus and tobacco in any form where prohibited, and unauthorized nutritional/dietary supplements).
332	Smoking where prohibited.
333	Fraudulent or deceptive completion of a skills test (e.g., cheating on a GED, or other educational or vocational skills test).
334	Conducting a business; conducting or directing an investment transaction without staff authorization.
335	Communicating gang affiliation; participating in gang related activities; possession of paraphernalia indicating gang affiliation.
336	Circulating a petition.
396	Use of the mail for abuses other than criminal activity which do not circumvent mail monitoring; or use of the mail to commit or further a Moderate category prohibited act.
397	Use of the telephone for abuses other than illegal activity which do not circumvent the ability of staff to monitor frequency of telephone use, content of the call, or the number called; or to commit or further a Moderate category prohibited act.
398	Interfering with a staff member in the performance of duties most like another Moderate severity prohibited act.
399	Conduct which disrupts or interferes with the security or orderly running of the institution or the Bureau of Prisons most like another Moderate severity prohibited act.

One Moderate code carries a special routing rule that catches people out. Under PS 5270.09 at p. 11, “[a] prohibited act charge for 331 involving tobacco or nutritional supplements must be referred to the DHO for final disposition.” A 300-series charge that would normally stay at the unit goes to the hearing officer if the contraband was tobacco or supplements.

Low severity level — the 400 series

Code	Prohibited act
400	(Not to be used).
401	(Not to be used).
402	Malingering, feigning illness.
403	(Not to be used).
404	Using abusive or obscene language.
405	(Not to be used).
406	(Not to be used).
407	Conduct with a visitor in violation of Bureau regulations.
408	(Not to be used).
409	Unauthorized physical contact (e.g., kissing, embracing).
498	Interfering with a staff member in the performance of duties most like another Low severity prohibited act.
499	Conduct which disrupts or interferes with the security or orderly running of the institution or the Bureau of Prisons most like another Low severity prohibited act.

The Low series is short — six live codes and six retired ones — which tells you something about how the system actually works. Almost everything staff might want to write up has a Moderate or higher home. Code 404, abusive or obscene language, is the Low-severity counterpart to Code 312, insolence toward a staff member, and the line between them is drawn by the charging officer.

What each severity level lets the Bureau take

The sanctions menu is set by severity level, not by code. This table condenses the “Available Sanctions” half of Table 1 (PS 5270.09 at pp. 46–47, 50, 53–55) and the current regulation.

	Greatest (100)	High (200)	Moderate (300)	Low (400)
Must go to the DHO?	Yes, always	Yes, always	No — UDC may resolve	No — UDC may resolve
Can be informally resolved and expunged?	No	No	Yes	Yes
Disciplinary segregation	Up to 12 months	Up to 6 months	Up to 3 months	Not listed
Forfeit earned statutory good time / non-vested good conduct time	Up to 100%	Up to 50% or 60 days, whichever is less	Up to 25% or 30 days, whichever is less	Not listed
Disallow good conduct time available for the year (sanction B.1)	50–75% (27–41 days)	25–50% (14–27 days)	Up to 25% (1–14 days)	Up to 12.5% (1–7 days) on a second same-code violation within 6 months; up to 25% (1–14 days) on a third
Forfeit earned First Step Act Time Credits (sanction B.2)	Up to 41 days per act	Up to 27 days per act	Up to 27 days per act	Up to 7 days (second violation) or 14 days (third)
Monetary fine or restitution	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes
Loss of privileges, housing change, program removal, loss of job, property impoundment, contraband confiscation, restriction to quarters, extra duty	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes

Two rules govern the whole table and are easy to miss. A good conduct time sanction, and an extra-good-time sanction, may never be suspended — the regulation says so in the parenthetical after sanctions B and B.1. And under PS 5270.09 at p. 11, suspensions of any other sanction “cannot exceed six months,” and a suspended sanction can only be revoked and executed if you are found to have committed a later prohibited act.

Separately, 28 C.F.R. § 541.4 makes loss of good conduct sentence credit mandatory, not discretionary, for three groups: people whose federal offense was committed on or after 26 April 1996 (the Prison Litigation Reform Act group), D.C. Code offenders whose offense was on or after 5 August 2000, and people who committed a “crime of violence” between 13 September 1994 and 26 April 1996 under the Violent Crime Control and Law Enforcement Act. For those groups the regulation sets floors: at least 41 days for a Greatest-severity act, at least 27 days for High, at least 14 days after two or more Moderate acts in the same year, and at least 7 days after three or more Low acts in the same year.

Because the number of days actually at stake depends on your offense date, your sentence length, and how much credit is available in the anniversary year, no one — including us — can tell you from a code number what a finding would do to a release date. Anyone who offers you that arithmetic without your sentence computation in front of them is guessing.

Repeat offenses within the same severity level

Table 2 of PS 5270.09 (at p. 56) adds a second, separate escalation. It applies when you commit the same code again inside a defined window, and it is measured from the earlier offense, not from the date of the hearing.

Severity level	Look-back window for the prior offense (same code)	2nd offense	3rd or more offense
Low (400 level)	6 months	Disciplinary segregation up to 1 month; forfeit earned statutory good time or non-vested good conduct time up to 10% or up to 15 days, whichever is less	Any available Moderate severity level sanction (300 series)
Moderate (300 level)	12 months	Disciplinary segregation up to 6 months; forfeit up to 37½% or up to 45 days, whichever is less	Any available High severity level sanction (200 series)
High (200 level)	18 months	Disciplinary segregation up to 12 months; forfeit up to 75% or up to 90 days, whichever is less	Any available Greatest severity level sanction (100 series)
Greatest (100 level)	24 months	Disciplinary segregation up to 18 months	—

Read the second column carefully. A second Low-severity violation of the same code within six months exposes you to a month in segregation — a sanction the Low table does not otherwise offer at all. A third Moderate violation of the same code within a year opens the entire High-severity menu. This is the mechanism by which a run of minor write-ups becomes a serious problem, and it is also why an early, unglamorous informal resolution of a 300- or 400-series report is worth far more than it looks at the time.

Who decides: the Unit Discipline Committee and the Discipline Hearing Officer

Two bodies exist, and they have very different powers.

The Unit Discipline Committee is unit staff — ordinarily two or more people, though PS 5270.09 at p. 24 permits a single-member UDC “when other members are not reasonably available,” and only one staff member is required when the report must be referred to the DHO anyway. Under § 541.7 the UDC “will ordinarily review the incident report within five work days after it is issued, not counting the day it was issued, weekends, and holidays.” You are permitted to appear, to make a statement, and to present documentary evidence. The UDC can find that you committed the act, find that you did not, or refer the report onward.

Critically, the UDC “can impose any of the available sanctions in Tables 1 and 2 of § 541.3, except loss of good conduct time credit, FSA Time Credits, disciplinary segregation, or monetary fines.” If a unit officer tells you the committee is taking your good time, the committee is exceeding its authority under the regulation.

The Discipline Hearing Officer is a single, certified, independent decision-maker who hears only cases the UDC refers. Under § 541.8 the DHO must be someone who “was not a victim, witness, investigator, or otherwise significantly involved in the incident.” You get written notice of the charges at least 24 hours before the hearing, a staff representative if you ask for one, the right to make a statement and present documentary evidence, and the right to request witnesses. The DHO can impose anything in Tables 1 and 2, and PS 5270.09 at p. 28 records that “[o]nly the DHO has authority to impose or suspend sanctions A through E” — the parole, good-time, segregation, restitution and fine sanctions. Because those are the sanctions that cost time, the hearing is where a defense has to be made rather than saved for appeal; how to defend against Bureau of Prisons disciplinary proceedings works through it step by step.

The evidentiary standard at both levels is the same and it is low. The decision “will be based on at least some facts and, if there is conflicting evidence, on the greater weight of the evidence.” The Program Statement glosses “some facts” as “facts indicating the inmate committed the prohibited act,” and “greater weight of the evidence” as going to “the strength of the evidence, not to its quantity or to the number of witnesses testifying.”

Applied Insight — Christopher Zoukis, JD, MBA, Managing Director: The first thing we look at on any disciplinary file is not whether the person did it. It is whether the code charged actually matches the conduct described in Section 11 of the incident report. The Bureau’s own table tells staff that the “most like” codes — 198/199, 298/299, 398/399, 498/499 — are “to be used only when another charge of [that] severity is not accurate,” and that the hearing officer “must specify the severity level of the conduct that is most comparable” to a listed act. A 299 written without that comparison, or a 218 for property worth well under $100 when 329 is the correct code, is a defect worth putting in front of a reviewing official.

The clock: what has to happen by when

The Bureau’s own summary of the discipline system, at Appendix B of PS 5270.09 (p. 39), reduces the timeline to four steps. The regulation supplies the numbers.

Step	Deadline	Source
Staff become aware of your alleged involvement	—	§ 541.5(a)
You receive the incident report	Ordinarily within 24 hours of staff becoming aware	§ 541.5(a)
Investigating Officer appointed	Ordinarily within 24 hours of the incident report	PS 5270.09 at p. 19
Investigation finished	Ordinarily within 24 hours after the appointment	PS 5270.09 at p. 19
UDC review	Ordinarily within 5 work days after the report is issued, excluding the day of issue, weekends and holidays; any extension needs the Warden’s approval	§ 541.7(c)
Written notice of a DHO hearing	At least 24 hours before the hearing, unless you waive it	§ 541.8(c)
Written DHO report delivered to you	Ordinarily within 15 work days of the decision	PS 5270.09 at p. 35
Appeal filed	20 calendar days — DHO appeals go directly to the Regional Director	§ 542.14, § 542.15

Two of these clocks stop. If the incident is referred for criminal prosecution, the investigation is suspended, staff may not question you until the investigating agency releases the report, and PS 5270.09 at p. 20 states that the five-day UDC clock “starts when the incident report is released for administrative processing.” Staff may also suspend proceedings for up to two calendar weeks while attempting informal resolution, and if that fails, “the time requirements then restart at the point at which they were suspended.”

The word doing the most work in this table is ordinarily. These are the Bureau’s own targets, not jurisdictional deadlines, and a missed one does not void a disciplinary finding by itself. It is evidence of non-compliance to raise on appeal, alongside the substance.

Where the Program Statement is behind the regulation

This is the part no summary of federal prison discipline currently gets right, and it matters to anyone earning First Step Act Time Credits.

PS 5270.09 is dated 8 July 2011. Its only change notice, CN-1, is dated 18 November 2020 and did one thing: it added Code 231. The Program Statement’s sanctions tables have not otherwise been reissued in fifteen years.

The regulation has moved. On 19 January 2022 the Bureau’s First Step Act Time Credits final rule (87 FR 2719) amended 28 C.F.R. § 541.3 to add a new sanction B.2 at every severity level: forfeiture of earned First Step Act Time Credits. The current regulatory table authorizes forfeiture of up to 41 days of earned FSA Time Credits per act at the Greatest level, up to 27 days per act at High and at Moderate, and up to 7 or 14 days at Low depending on whether it is a second or third same-code violation within six months. The same amendment added FSA Time Credits to the list of sanctions § 541.7(f) forbids the UDC from imposing.

None of that appears in the PDF of PS 5270.09 the Bureau still posts. If you are reading the Program Statement and only the Program Statement, you will not know that a disciplinary finding can cost FSA credits as well as good conduct time.

The companion rule is at 28 C.F.R. § 523.43, which confirms that “[t]he procedures for loss of FSA Time Credits are described in 28 CFR part 541,” and adds the one genuinely hopeful provision in this whole area: someone who has lost FSA Time Credits “may have part or all of the FSA Time Credits restored to him or her, on a case-by-case basis, after clear conduct (behavior clear of inmate disciplinary infractions under 28 CFR part 541) for two consecutive risk and needs assessments conducted by the Bureau.” Restoration is discretionary and case-by-case — the regulation says “may” — but the pathway exists, and it runs through clear conduct across two assessment cycles.

The supersession history behind the current documents is short. PS 5270.09 rescinded PS 5270.08, Inmate Discipline and Special Housing Units (4 December 2009), and split the special-housing material into a separate Program Statement. That special-housing policy has since been reissued twice; the current edition is PS 5270.12, Special Housing Units, dated 5 March 2024 with Change Notice CN-1 dated 6 March 2025.

Our page on BOP Program Statement 5270.09 tracks the document itself, and the special housing units policy explainer covers the SHU rules that attach after a segregation sanction.

What the Bureau’s own rules forbid staff from doing

PS 5270.09 opens with five principles that apply “to every disciplinary action” (at p. 4). Three of them are worth knowing by heart, because they are the Bureau telling its own staff what they may not do.

• “Disciplinary action may not be capricious or retaliatory.” The regulation says the same thing at § 541.1: “Sanctions will not be imposed in a capricious or retaliatory manner.” A write-up that follows immediately on a grievance, a complaint about a staff member, or a request for medical care is worth documenting precisely, in writing, at the time.
• “Staff may not impose or allow corporal punishment of any kind.”
• “Staff control inmate behavior in an impartial and consistent manner.”

Two more structural protections sit inside the process itself. Under § 541.6, if it appears you are mentally ill at any stage, you must be examined by mental health staff; proceedings may be postponed until you are competent to participate; and you “will not be disciplined for conduct committed when, as the result of a severe mental disease or defect, you were unable to appreciate the nature and quality, or wrongfulness of the act.” And under PS 5270.09 at p. 36, “[t]he investigator, UDC members, DHO, reporting officer, or staff representative may not investigate or help prepare the response to administrative appeals from UDC or DHO actions” — the people who decided your case are not permitted to write the answer to your appeal of it.

Finally, the regulation caps what a reviewing official can do on appeal. The Warden, Regional Director or General Counsel “may approve, modify, reverse, or send back with directions, including ordering a rehearing, any action of the UDC or DHO, but may not increase a valid sanction.” Appealing a disciplinary finding does not expose you to a worse one.

Where people get into trouble with the code table

Charging up. Several codes carry express instructions permitting a more serious charge for the same conduct. Code 307, refusing to obey an order, “may be categorized and charged in terms of greater severity, according to the nature of the order being disobeyed” — refusing an order during a fight becomes Code 201; refusing to give a urine sample becomes Code 110, a Greatest-severity act. Understanding this is the difference between a unit-level problem and a hearing that can cost good time.

Separate acts from one incident. PS 5270.09 at p. 18 tells staff that “[a]cts are different or separate if they have different elements (time, place, persons involved, actions),” and gives the example of a person charged with both fighting (201) and assaulting the staff member who broke it up (224 or 101). One event can lawfully generate several charges, and mandatory good-time loss under § 541.4 is calculated “for each act committed.”

The electronics problem. Code 108 sweeps in “portable telephone, pager, or other electronic device” as a hazardous tool — a Greatest-severity act carrying up to twelve months of segregation. That is the single most consequential classification decision in the table for most people, and it is why the rules about contraband and shakedowns matter far more than they appear to.

Electronic messaging. The Program Statement (at p. 18) directs that “[c]odes 199, 299, and 399, most like 196, 296, and 396, respectively, may be appropriate for inmates using electronic messaging (e.g., TRULINCS) in violation of policy,” with loss of messaging privileges as the suggested sanction. Email misuse is charged through the mail-abuse codes, not through a code of its own. Our page on CorrLinks and TRULINCS covers what the messaging rules actually require.

Urinalysis. A positive urine test can be contested, but only on narrow grounds. PS 5270.09 at p. 20 requires the investigator to check with Health Services whether prescribed medication contains the compound found, and to confirm authorization for combinations of medications. But the Program Statement is blunt that “[w]hile an inmate can challenge the results of a urine test, and this may be considered by the DHO, the validity of the testing process is not at issue.” See our explainer on drug testing and urine surveillance.

Frequently Asked Questions About Rules and Discipline

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