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Where Are DC Convicts Being Held?

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By D.C. Witness Staff - November 15, 2018
Featured | Homicides | Infographics | Policy |

Washington, DC does not have any federal prisons. Instead, felons of crimes in the District of Columbia are transferred to other states to carry out their sentences. The following article tracks where convicts are sent and whether their placement abides by policy guidelines enacted by the United States Department of Justice (DOJ). 

According to the Federal Bureau of Prisons (BOP), a branch within the DOJ, there is a guideline in the Inmate Security Designation and Custody Classification Program Statement that states that convicts should be placed in prisons that are “reasonably close,” or 500 miles, to their release area; in this case Washington, DC.

From January 2015 to August 2018, 115 felons were sentenced for charges connected to DC homicides, according to D.C.Witness data. 

The BOP reports that 101 of those convicts have been placed at a prison facility or residential reentry center in the United States.

Of that number, more than half are imprisoned inside the 500-mile radius at facilities in West Virginia (48 inmates), Pennsylvania (11 inmates) and North Carolina (7 inmates), including:

The hash marks note where DC convicted felons are being held. DC’s 500-mile radius is identified in purple. Illustration by Thamar Bailey; Map Copyright @ Freevectormaps.com

Other District of Columbia convicts, who are also placed within the 500-mile radius, reside at facilities, including:

Although the BOP said it attempts to abide by the 500-mile guideline, it’s not unusual for a convict to be sent further away for various factors, including: security, population, programming and medical needs.

Convicts from DC, who are placed outside the 500-mile radius, are located at the following facilities:

Graphic by Thamar Bailey

Of the 14 remaining felons, who are not being held at one of the facilities listed above, one died serving her sentence, one is serving his sentence at an unidentified juvenile facility, four were released from prison and eight are “Not in BOP Custody.”

While “Not in BOP Custody” is vague in nature, the BOP explained the designation could mean the felon completed the sentence and was released, the felon is in the custody of the DC Jail, the custody of the felon was permanently or temporarily transferred to another agency or the felon is not in BOP custody for purposes related to appearing in court.

According to DC Courts, the eight felons who are “Not in BOP Custody” have not fulfilled their sentences.

D.C. Witness contacted the U.S. Marshals Service and the DC Jail in search of the eight felons who are “Not in BOP Custody.” As of Nov. 14, D.C. Witness has not received any information on where they are being held.

Editor’s Note: Over the course of the next few months, D.C. Witness will release a series of data-based articles concerning the judicial process for murder defendants in the District of Columbia dating back to January 2015.

LaTrina Antoine, Will Lennon and Shams Sohani contributed to this article.

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