How Does Someone Earn 10 Days Versus 15 Days of First Step Act Time Credits?
The 30-day earning period, and what the additional five days actually requires.
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Short answer
An eligible person earns 10 days of First Step Act Time Credits for every 30 days of successful participation in evidence-based recidivism reduction programs or productive activities assigned based on the person's risk and needs assessment. An additional five days for each 30-day period requires a Bureau of Prisons determination of minimum or low recidivism risk and that the person has not increased their risk of recidivism over two consecutive assessments. It is not 15 days a month for everyone, and CaseSteps calculates nothing.
Attorney review pending. This is general education, not legal advice.
Plain-English overview
An eligible person earns 10 days of First Step Act Time Credits for every 30 days of successful participation in evidence-based recidivism reduction programs or productive activities assigned based on the person’s risk and needs assessment.
An additional five days for each 30-day period requires a Bureau of Prisons determination of minimum or low recidivism risk and that the person has not increased their risk of recidivism over two consecutive assessments.
BOP has reported that risk and needs reassessments generally occur at least every 180 days. That helps explain why people sometimes describe a six-month waiting period. The legal rule, however, is based on two consecutive assessments—not a guaranteed number of days or months.
Why this matters
The difference between 10 and 15 days is one of the most repeated—and most frequently misstated—points in federal custody conversations. Planning around “15 days a month” assumes a risk determination that may not exist, and assumes an earning history the Bureau of Prisons has not recorded.
Why this question causes confusion
Two separate conditions are usually collapsed into one. The 10-day figure depends on successful participation in assigned programming over a 30-day period. The additional five days depends on a risk determination, held across two consecutive assessments.
Because BOP has reported that reassessments generally occur at least every 180 days, people describe the additional five days as “after six months.” The reassessment interval is a practical explanation for the wait, not the rule itself.
The governing distinctions
- 10 days for every 30 days of successful participation in assigned evidence-based recidivism reduction programs or productive activities.
- The assignment is based on the person’s risk and needs assessment.
- An additional five days for each 30-day period requires a Bureau of Prisons determination of minimum or low recidivism risk.
- The person must also not have increased their risk of recidivism over two consecutive assessments.
- Earning credits is separate from having credits applied.
Statements that are not accurate
That everyone receives 15 days per month.
That everyone receives only 10 days for the first 60 days.
That everyone receives only 10 days for exactly six months.
That the additional five days begins automatically upon arrival.
That a minimum or low score on a single assessment automatically produces 15 days.
That credits automatically reduce the prison sentence.
That the same timeline applies to every person.
What can change the answer
- Whether the person is eligible to earn credits at all.
- Whether programs or productive activities have been assigned, and whether they are available.
- Whether participation for a period is recorded as successful.
- The two most recent recidivism-risk determinations.
- Interruptions, absences, an opt-out, a refusal, or disallowed days.
- The accuracy of the Bureau of Prisons’ own records.
Records to locate
- The current FSA Time Credit Assessment.
- PATTERN assessment history, including the two most recent assessments.
- The needs assessment and the list of assigned programs and productive activities.
- Participation records, and any recorded opt-out, refusal or disallowed days.
- Do not upload any of these records to CaseSteps. Nothing here accepts files.
Questions for the unit team
- Which participation periods were counted?
- Which periods were not counted, and why?
- What are my two most recent PATTERN assessments?
- Are the credits shown as earned, applied, or projected?
- What document explains the current calculation?
What CaseSteps cannot do
CaseSteps does not calculate credits, good-conduct time, a release date, a PATTERN score or a placement date.
CaseSteps does not decide whether anyone is eligible, and does not predict what the Bureau of Prisons will do.
The Bureau of Prisons controls official sentence computation, credit records and placement decisions. Individual questions belong with the unit team and with qualified counsel.
Questions to discuss with counsel
- In general terms, what does the earning rule require in a situation like mine?
- What is the difference between earning credits and having them applied?
- What records would show how the Bureau of Prisons recorded participation?
- Is there an administrative-review process available if the record appears incorrect?
- Should any of this be raised with the court, or is it a Bureau of Prisons matter?
Official sources
- 18 U.S.C. § 3632 — Development of risk and needs assessment system (readable version from the Legal Information Institute, Cornell Law School — a nonprofit legal-information publisher, not a government website)
- 28 C.F.R. § 523.41 — Definitions (FSA Time Credits)
- 28 C.F.R. § 523.42 — Earning First Step Act Time Credits
- Bureau of Prisons — First Step Act FAQ
- Bureau of Prisons — Federal Time Credit Application Guide (October 16, 2025)
- U.S. Sentencing Commission — First Step Act earned time credits
This is general federal legal education, not legal advice. Procedures and outcomes depend on the facts, the controlling law, court orders and local practices. Confirm deadlines and decisions with qualified counsel.
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