# The tools and the rules

Everything on this site that is not a guide. It works the same whether you are the one going or the one waiting.

The calculators run entirely in your browser. Nothing you type into them is sent anywhere, and that is not going to change.

## The calculators

The math nobody does for you at sentencing.

### [Time calculator](/resources/federal-prison-release-date-calculator)

How long you or your loved one will actually serve. Good conduct time, FSA credits, and jail credit.

### [PATTERN score calculator](/resources/bop-pattern-score-calculator)

The risk score that decides whether FSA credits get applied at all. The BOP's own form, with both the male and female instruments.

## The facilities

What a specific prison is actually like, and who to ask when this site does not know.

### [The facility guide](/resources/federal-prisons)

Stamp rates, store markups, housing style, photo rules, and how each place runs. Per facility, with honest unknowns.

### [Support groups, by facility](/resources/federal-prison-support-groups)

The Facebook groups run by spouses and moms. The best intel about any specific prison lives here, not here.

### [Lockdown alerts](/lockdown-alerts/subscribe)

One email when visiting stops at a facility you watch, and one when it lifts. So you find out before you drive six hours.

### [Search the site](/search)

Ask it a plain question rather than guessing keywords. It searches meaning, not spelling.

## The one that needs an account

Everything above works signed out. This one does not, because it generates something that belongs to you.

### [Inside Tools](/inside-tools)

A dedicated TRULINCS address so the person inside can email me their own questions and get answers, with a copy to you unless they ask me to keep one private. Free, and the same account manages your lockdown alerts.

## The Bureau's own words

When somebody tells you what the rule is, this is how you check.

### [Program statements worth reading](/resources/bop-program-statements)

The BOP's own rulebook: raw text, official links, and translations into regular talk where it matters.

### [The glossary](/resources/federal-prison-slang-and-terms)

Count, callout, shot, car. Every term tagged official or slang, so "R&D" and "commissary day" aren't a surprise.

## The other half — The guides are separate

These are the tools. The long-form writing splits by who you are: [for the one going in](/going-to-federal-prison) and [for the one waiting](/federal-prison-for-families). Before you pay anybody in this industry, including me, there is [a whole section on that](/resources/before-you-pay-anyone).

**Need help with this? Just ask.**

These pages cover the general rules. Your situation has details they don't. Email me a question. **Answers are free** , and "you don't need to pay anyone for this" is my most common answer.

[josh@federalprisondude.com](mailto:josh@federalprisondude.com?subject=Tools%20question)

I answer in the order received, usually within a couple of days. I have a day job. If your situation genuinely needs more than an email, I take a limited number of consults, so say so and we'll work it out.