Can Earned First Step Act Credits Be Lost or Restored?

Three separate things

What the Bureau of Prisons describes for restoration

• Restoration is considered case by case; it is not automatic and it is not guaranteed.
• Clear conduct over two consecutive risk and needs assessments is part of the described framework.
• A request is made at a regularly scheduled program review.
• The decision is made at the Warden level.
• Where a request is denied, the Bureau of Prisons describes reapplying after six months of continued clear conduct.

Conditions or exceptions that change the answer

• The date of the misconduct, because only credits earned as of that date are described as subject to reduction.
• Whether written notice was provided and what it stated.
• Whether the underlying disciplinary finding is itself being challenged.
• Whether the issue involves First Step Act credits, good-conduct time, or both.
• The current program review schedule.

Exactly where each statement above comes from — source checked: September 6, 2026

• Written notice and the limit to already-earned credits: 18 U.S.C. § 3632(e)(2), official U.S. Code text on GovInfo (U.S. Government Publishing Office), read September 6, 2026.
• A restoration procedure based on individual progress after the rule violation: 18 U.S.C. § 3632(e)(3).
• Loss for violating the requirements or rules of a program or productive activity, with the procedures found in 28 C.F.R. part 541: 28 C.F.R. § 523.43(a), current eCFR text read September 6, 2026.
• Seeking review through the Administrative Remedy Program in 28 C.F.R. part 542: 28 C.F.R. § 523.43(b).
• Restoration on a case-by-case basis after clear conduct for two consecutive risk and needs assessments: 28 C.F.R. § 523.43(c).
• Only earned credits may be lost, credits count as earned at the monthly auto-calculation or the last program review assessment, the sanction may be imposed only by the Discipline Hearing Officer on a finding of a prohibited act, and it cannot be a suspended sanction: Program Statement 5410.01, section 9 (page 12 of the Program Statement; page 16 of the CN-2 PDF).
• Restoration authority is delegated to the Warden and may not be delegated below Associate Warden level; the request is made at a regularly scheduled program review after clear conduct for two consecutive assessments; the unit manager submits form BP-A1156 with the unit team recommendation through the Discipline Hearing Officer to the Warden or designee for final decision: Program Statement 5410.01, section 9 (pages 12–13; CN-2 PDF pages 16–17).
• The decision, whether approved or denied, is provided to the person in writing, and a denial advises that they may reapply six months from the date of denial if clear conduct is maintained: Program Statement 5410.01, section 9.
• The Bureau of Prisons policy directory listed Program Statement 5410.01 CN-2 (March 10, 2023) and Program Statement 1330.18 (January 6, 2014) as the operative versions when checked on September 6, 2026.

What this reading does not do

Records to request or review

• The incident report and disciplinary record.
• The written notice describing the reduction of credits.
• The FSA Time Credit Assessment before and after the reduction.
• The sentence computation, to see whether good-conduct time was separately affected.
• Do not upload any of these records to CaseSteps. Nothing here accepts files.

Questions for the unit team

• How many credits were reduced, and as of what date?
• Which document is the written notice of that reduction?
• Was good-conduct time affected separately?
• What is the process for requesting restoration, and when is the next program review?
• What does my current record show as earned and applied?