Designation
Will I Get a Camp? How the BP-337 Score Actually Works
This is the question almost everyone asks first, and it has a more precise answer than most people expect. The Bureau of Prisons does not weigh a camp request. It scores a form, and the form has nine items on it.
Program Statement 5100.08 governs the scoring. Form BP-337 carries it. Almost every input comes out of the presentence report, which is why the answer to this question is usually settled months before anyone reports anywhere.
The Thresholds
A camp is minimum security. The entire question is whether the point total lands under the minimum-security ceiling with no Public Safety Factor applied.
| Security level | Custody | Men | Women |
|---|---|---|---|
| Minimum (camp) | Community and Out | 0 to 11 points | 0 to 15 points |
| Low | Out and In | 12 to 15 points | 16 to 30 points |
| Medium | Out and In | 16 to 23 points | Not applicable |
| High | In and Maximum | 24 points and up | 31 points and up |
For a man, three points separate a camp from a low. Voluntary surrender is worth three points on its own. That is how narrow the margin usually is.
The Nine Items on the Form
Every one of these is scored from the record, and the record is overwhelmingly the presentence report.
| Item | Points | What it means |
|---|---|---|
| Voluntary surrender status | 0, or minus 3 | The only item on the form that subtracts. Requires that the court allowed self-surrender and that the person was not taken into custody by the Marshals at sentencing. |
| Severity of current offense | 0 to 7 | 0 lowest, 1 low moderate, 3 moderate, 5 high, 7 greatest. Scored on the Bureau’s own offense severity scale, which is not the same as the statute of conviction. |
| Criminal history score | 0 to 10 | 0 for 0 to 1 points, 2 for 2 to 3, 4 for 4 to 6, 6 for 7 to 9, 8 for 10 to 12, 10 for 13 and up. Converted from the criminal history points in the presentence report, or from NCIC. |
| History of violence | 0 to 7 | Two scales, minor and serious, each scaled by recency. Minor within five years scores 5, serious within five years scores 7. Nothing older than 15 years scores above 2. |
| History of escape or attempts | 0 to 3 | A minor escape decays with age. A serious escape scores 3 no matter how long ago it happened. |
| Type of detainer | 0 to 7 | 0 none, 1 lowest or low moderate, 3 moderate, 5 high, 7 greatest. Scored on the most serious detainer lodged. |
| Age | 0 to 8 | 0 for 55 and over, 2 for 36 to 54, 4 for 25 to 35, 8 for 24 or less. Often the single largest number on a young defendant’s form. |
| Education level | 0 to 2 | 0 for a verified high school diploma or GED, 1 for enrolled and making satisfactory progress, 2 for neither. |
| Drug or alcohol abuse | 0 or 1 | 1 for abuse within the last five years, 0 for never or more than five years ago. |
The Public Safety Factors Override the Score
This is the part that surprises people who have added up their points and concluded they qualify. A Public Safety Factor moves a person out of minimum security regardless of the total. It is not a tiebreaker. It is a gate.
A sex offender factor, deportable alien status, a threat to government officials, serious telephone abuse, or juvenile violence each moves someone out of a camp at any score. For men, more than ten years remaining on the sentence does the same thing. A maximum of three factors may be applied to any one person, and only the Administrator of the Designation and Sentence Computation Center can waive one.
In practice the Public Safety Factor is the binding constraint more often than the point total is. Someone scoring 4 with a factor applied is not going to a camp. Someone scoring 11 with none applied is.
What Can Actually Be Influenced, and When
Age is age. Offense severity is scored on the Bureau's own scale. Criminal history is a conversion of points already documented in the presentence report. None of those move.
Three things do. Voluntary surrender status is worth minus three and is decided at sentencing, which is the single largest lever on the form. Education scores 0 for a verified diploma or GED against 2 for neither, so verification obtained before designation is worth a point or two. And type of detainer scores up to 7, which means an unresolved state charge left sitting is one of the most common reasons an otherwise low score is not low enough.
Every one of those is a pre-designation decision. That is the practical point of this page: by the time someone is asking which camp they will be sent to, most of the answer has already been written down. It was written down in the presentence report.
One caution worth stating plainly. Under 18 U.S.C. 3621(b) the Bureau designates, weighing bed availability, security designation, programming and medical needs, proximity to the person's primary residence, and the sentencing court's recommendation. Sam Mangel is a consultant, not an attorney, and no consultant can secure placement at a named facility. Anyone who says otherwise is describing something the Bureau does not allow.
The Full Camp List
All 67 minimum-security camp locations, with populations from the Bureau's July 30, 2026 report, are listed in the companion guide.
Federal Prison Camps: The Complete ListCamp Designation Questions People Actually Ask
How many points do you need for a federal prison camp?
Minimum security, which is what a camp is, requires a security point total of 0 to 11 for men and 0 to 15 for women, with no Public Safety Factor applied. Low security is 12 to 15 for men and 16 to 30 for women. The gap between a camp and a low is three points for a man, and voluntary surrender alone is worth three points.
What is a BP-337?
Form BP-337 is the Bureau of Prisons custody classification form used under Program Statement 5100.08. It scores voluntary surrender status, severity of the current offense, criminal history, history of violence, history of escape, type of detainer, age, education, and drug or alcohol abuse. The inputs come almost entirely from the presentence report.
Can a Public Safety Factor keep me out of a camp even with a low score?
Yes, and it is usually the binding constraint rather than the points. A sex offender, deportable alien, threat to government officials, serious telephone abuse or juvenile violence factor moves a person out of minimum security at any point total. For men, more than ten years remaining on the sentence does the same. A maximum of three factors may be applied, and only the DSCC Administrator can waive one.
Can a prison consultant get me designated to a specific camp?
No. The Bureau of Prisons designates. Under 18 U.S.C. 3621(b), BOP places a person as close as practicable to their primary residence and, to the extent practicable, within 500 driving miles, subject to bed availability, security designation, programmatic needs, medical and mental health needs, faith-based requests, the recommendation of the sentencing court, and other security concerns. A consultant builds the record that supports a designation and advocates for it. Anyone promising placement at a named camp is describing something the Bureau does not permit them to do.
Which items on the score can actually be influenced?
Three, and all of them before designation. Voluntary surrender status is worth minus three and is decided at sentencing. Education scores 0 for a verified high school diploma or GED, 1 for enrollment with satisfactory progress, and 2 for neither, so getting a diploma verified in advance is worth a point or two. Type of detainer scores up to 7, and an unresolved state charge is one of the most common reasons a low score is not low enough. Age, offense severity and criminal history are what they are.
Find Out Where You Actually Score
The score is built from the presentence report, and the items worth influencing are decided before designation. That is the window where this work matters.
Not a law firm. Federal prison consulting services by Sam Mangel. Consultations are free.