Who Decides Where a Federal Inmate Goes? DSCC, OMDT, and Facility Types Explained

The Designation and Sentence Computation Center (DSCC) handles two major pieces: where someone gets placed in the federal prison system and how their sentence is calculated. The office uses information from the sentencing court, federal law, and BOP policy to make these determinations. Located in Grand Prairie, Texas, the DSCC is the office behind designation decisions - even though it's nowhere near the prison where someone actually serves their time.

OMDT - the Office of Medical Designations and Transportation - handles placements when an inmate has specific medical needs. Overseen by the BOP Health Services Division, OMDT designates inmates whose health care requirements drive their placement decisions. If medical issues are shaping where someone goes, this is the office involved.

The BOP organizes its facilities into several categories, and the acronym in a prison's name tells you which type it is. Inmates may be designated to a United States Penitentiary (USP), Federal Correctional Institution (FCI), Federal Medical Center (FMC), Federal Prison Camp (FPC), Federal Detention Center (FDC), or Administrative Maximum Facility (ADX). When you see "FCI" in a facility name, that's identifying it as a Federal Correctional Institution within this broader system.

How Families Use Info

• ✓ When you’re trying to understand a designation or sentence computation issue, use the right names: the DSCC is the BOP center associated with designation and sentence computation, and OMDT is the office tied to designations involving specific medical needs.
• ✓ If medical care is the main concern, ask questions in a way that clearly separates “general designation” from “medical designation,” since OMDT is the office described as handling medical-needs placement.
• ✓ Use facility-type language (USP, FCI, FMC, FPC, FDC, ADX) when you’re asking what kind of institution someone is headed to - those categories are the BOP’s own labels, and they help you ask clearer questions about what services and housing might look like.

Published guidance can change, which is why double-checking designation information matters. The 2019 BOP Legal Resource Guide said inmates could be designated to contract (private) facilities. The 2025 version states that no federal inmates are designated to private facilities "at this time." Treat the 2025 statement as the current baseline - but if you're hearing something different in a real case, verify it with the most recent BOP materials or through official channels.