On November 11, 2026, two senior fellows at Reason Foundation, Colleen P. Eren and Hanna Liebman Dershowitz, published a commentary on recent changes to how the Federal Bureau of Prisons applies the First Step Act. They called the changes "a step in the right direction." The most practical of those changes sits in one sentence of federal regulation, and it affects people during the weeks between sentencing and arrival at a designated prison.
If you are about to be sentenced, or if someone you love is in a county jail or a transfer center waiting to move, read this change closely. It may change when First Step Act time credits can begin.
Read What the Rule Changed
For years, the Bureau's regulation said a person could begin earning First Step Act time credits on "the date the inmate arrives or voluntarily surrenders at the designated Bureau facility where the sentence will be served." A person who spent two months in jails and transit facilities after sentencing could not earn credits during that stretch, even while serving the sentence.
Courts pushed back. In April 2026, the First Circuit wrote in Miles v. Bowers that the regulation's view of when a sentence commences "plainly conflicts with the text of the FSA," and several district courts had reached similar conclusions. On August 31, 2026, the Bureau published an interim final rule that removed the arrival language. Since September 30, 2026, the regulation has read: "An eligible inmate begins earning FSA Time Credits after the inmate's term of imprisonment commences."
Know When Your Sentence Begins
The new wording ties credits to the date your sentence begins, so you need to know that date. Federal law answers the question in 18 U.S.C. § 3585(a). The Bureau explains that a term of imprisonment begins on the date a person is received in custody awaiting transportation to the designated facility, or on the date the person voluntarily surrenders at the institution where the sentence will be served.
The answer depends on how you start serving the sentence. If the judge remands you at sentencing, your sentence may begin that day, while you are still in the custody of the U.S. Marshals Service. If you self-surrender at your designated prison, your sentence begins when you walk through that door, so the change affects you less. Time spent in custody before the judge imposed the sentence raises a separate question about prior-custody credit. Our article on your federal sentence term and start date explains the difference.
The Bureau's own numbers show what the waiting period can look like. For people whose sentences began from 2023 through 2025, the average time from sentencing to arrival at the designated facility was 66.06 days. During that period, people may be held in local, county, or regional jails or federal detention centers, and some pass through transfer hubs such as FTC Oklahoma City. Based on current risk levels, the Bureau estimated that the average transit period would produce 23.81 days of time credits.
Ask About Programs While You Wait
The rule does not hand out credits for waiting. The Bureau wrote that the change "does not mean that every eligible inmate will automatically begin earning Time Credits immediately after their sentence is imposed." A person must still take part in the evidence-based programs or productive activities assigned based on that person's assessed needs. Eligible people earn 10 or 15 days of credit for every 30 days of successful participation, depending on their recidivism risk level.
The rule does not say what programming each jail or transit facility will offer, and conditions differ from place to place. So ask. When you arrive at a holding facility, ask staff which programs or work assignments are available, whether any of them count as approved First Step Act programs or productive activities, and how participation gets reported to the Bureau. Write down each answer, the date, and the name of the person who gave it.
During my 26 years in federal prison, I learned that the people who advanced were the people who used the time in front of them rather than waiting for a better setting. A holding cell is a hard place to study. It is also a place where you can read, write, and plan the first months at your designated prison. That work belongs to you, whether or not it ever earns a credit.
Keep Your Own Record of the Weeks in Transit
Keep a simple log from the day of sentencing. Record each place you were held and the dates you arrived and left. List every program, class, or work assignment you joined, with start dates, end dates, and any certificate or sign-in sheet you received. Ask a family member to keep copies of anything you mail home.
Records from a transit period can be hard to rebuild later. A person who saves dates and documents can answer questions about credits with specifics. A person who relies on memory has a harder time.
Check Your Credits When You Arrive
Once you reach your designated prison, ask your case manager how the Bureau recorded your time between sentencing and arrival. Compare that answer with your log. If the records do not match, raise the issue early and in writing. Our lesson on the administrative remedy process explains how a written request becomes part of a record.
You can also model how credits may affect your timeline with our free federal sentence calculator. It produces a projection, not an official computation, and the Bureau's sentence computation controls. Our plain-English explanation of First Step Act earned time credits covers how credits may move a person to a halfway house, home confinement, or supervised release.
Start With the Time You Have
A change in a regulation can open a door. You still have to walk through it. The weeks after sentencing often feel like dead time, and many people spend them waiting for the next move. The rule now gives eligible people a reason to treat those weeks as part of the sentence they are already building.
Write Your Own Answer
If you were sentenced tomorrow and spent the next two months in transit, what would you do with those weeks, and how would you prove you did it?
Prison Professors used AI tools to help draft this article. Our team reviewed and edited it for accuracy before publication. It is educational information, not legal advice.
Sources
- Federal Register, "First Step Act Time Credits-Revisions," interim final rule, 91 FR 55740 (Aug. 31, 2026; effective Sept. 30, 2026)
- eCFR, 28 CFR 523.42, Earning First Step Act Time Credits
- Reason Foundation, "First Step Act implementation tweaks get closer to the law's intent to send more people home earlier" (Nov. 11, 2026)