Estimate the impact of the Residential Drug Abuse Program's up-to-12-month sentence reduction under 18 U.S.C. § 3621(e).
BOP has discretion within those caps. Reductions apply only after successful completion of the entire program, including the community-based transitional component.
Under 18 U.S.C. § 3621(e)(2)(B), the Bureau of Prisons may reduce an eligible nonviolent inmate's sentence by up to 12 months after successful completion of RDAP. Actual reductions are scaled by sentence length — up to 6 months for sentences of 30 months or less, up to 9 months for 31–36 months, and up to 12 months for longer sentences.
You need a verifiable substance-use disorder diagnosis within the 12 months before arrest, no offense of violence, no prior conviction for homicide/sexual assault/child abuse, no INS detainer, and enough time left to complete the 500-hour program plus community transition. BOP Psychology Services makes the diagnostic determination.
The § 3621(e) reduction is unavailable to inmates whose current offense is a felony that involved actual or threatened violence, possession/use of a firearm or dangerous weapon, sexual abuse of a minor, or that BOP categorically excludes by regulation (28 C.F.R. § 550.55).
RDAP is a 500-hour, 9-to-12-month unit-based cognitive-behavioral treatment program run inside designated BOP facilities, followed by transitional drug abuse treatment (TDAT) in an RRC or on home confinement. Participants live together in a treatment unit and complete daily programming.
Yes. RDAP's up-to-12-month § 3621(e) reduction is separate from Good Conduct Time under § 3624(b) and from First Step Act earned time credits under § 3632. Eligible inmates can benefit from all three.
Educational estimate only — not legal advice. See Terms & Sources.