BOP Federal Release Lookup

Federal Releases from Garfield Cases

The BOP Inmate Locator applies to federal inmates, not county-only detainees. Use it when the person was convicted in federal court, transported by U.S. Marshals Service into federal custody, or held under a federal sentence. If the Garfield County Jail record only shows a local arrest and release, the sheriff and court records remain the right sources.

BOP's own records page says its locator covers federal inmates from 1982 to present. It also says that if the listed release date is in the past and no facility location is shown, the person was released on that date and is no longer in BOP custody. That is a federal custody statement. It does not prove the person has no state, local, parole, supervised-release, immigration, or court status elsewhere.

How to Confirm a BOP Release

Use the federal locator when the facts point to federal custody. A Garfield County booking can end because a person is moved to federal authorities, but BOP may not show a person until federal prison custody exists.

1. Check the Garfield jail record or court docket for federal terms such as federal warrant, writ, USMS, or federal case references.
2. Open the BOP Inmate Locator and search by register number if known, or by name.
3. Read the facility and release-date fields carefully.
4. If the release date is past and no facility appears, treat that as no longer in BOP custody, consistent with BOP's explanation.
5. Use federal court, USMS, or local court records when the question is federal pretrial custody rather than BOP prison custody.

The BOP locator screenshot from the research set shows the official federal entry point.

Use it only for federal prison records and keep it separate from Garfield County Jail release confirmation.

BOP Date vs Jail Release

A BOP release date and a Garfield County Jail release date can be different events. A person might leave the jail for federal transport, appear later in BOP, and be released from BOP at a later date. A person might also be released from BOP but still have supervised release or another legal process. The BOP record is strong for federal prison custody, but it is not the Garfield sheriff booking sheet.

Federal Record Limits

BOP warns that release dates may be recalculated, including issues such as federal credits. Do not import that federal warning into Colorado jail or CDOC calculations. Garfield County local release dates are tied to sheriff and court records. Colorado prison dates are tied to CDOC and Title 17. Federal prison dates are tied to BOP and federal law.

If the person was released from Garfield County Jail on a federal hold, ask whether the release was to the community, to USMS transport, to BOP designation, or to another court appearance. The wording matters because "released from Garfield County Jail" may mean only that local custody ended.

Contact and Next Steps

BOP is an online federal locator, not a Garfield County office. For Garfield local records, use the sheriff records division and the court docket. For federal prisoner handling before BOP custody, use U.S. Marshals Service information. For immigration custody after a jail release, use ICE ODLS and immigration court tools. The Garfield County released inmates home page separates these paths by custody type.

Garfield Federal Custody Chain

A Garfield County case can touch federal custody in stages. First, the person may be held locally on a federal warrant or writ. Second, USMS may take custody for federal court. Third, if convicted and sentenced federally, the person may be designated to BOP. Fourth, BOP may later show a release date or no current facility. Each stage has a different record holder, so a single search rarely answers the whole release question.

When the Garfield jail record shows release but BOP has no match, that does not automatically mean the person was released to the community. The person may not have reached BOP custody, may be in marshal custody, or may be in a different system. Check the federal court context and USMS path before drawing a conclusion.

Past BOP Release Dates

The BOP about-records page is useful because it explains how to read a past release date. If the release date is in the past and no facility location is listed, BOP says the inmate is no longer in BOP custody. That does not answer local Garfield court obligations, state custody, immigration custody, or supervision questions. It answers the federal prison custody question.

For Garfield County users, pair that federal result with the local court record if the federal case began from a local hold or arrest. The federal release date may occur months or years after the Garfield County Jail release or transfer date.

If the search returns no result, check whether the person was ever sentenced to BOP custody. A federal arrest, federal warrant, or USMS hold can exist before BOP designation. The Garfield jail record may show a federal custody handoff while BOP still has no public prison record. In that case, federal court and USMS sources are more useful than repeated BOP searches.

Also check the name format. BOP records can use legal names, aliases, register numbers, and date details that differ from a county booking. When possible, search by federal register number and compare age, release date, and facility fields against the court record.

If BOP shows a past release date, write down the date and whether a facility is listed. Then return to Garfield County or federal court sources for any case conditions or local custody events. A full timeline may have three separate dates: the Garfield County Jail release or transfer date, the federal sentencing or designation date, and the BOP release date. Keeping those dates separate prevents a federal prison release from being confused with the earlier county jail custody change.