If Your Loved One Is in BOP Pretrial Custody: Legal Access Rights and How the Unit Team Helps (handbook guidance; note on Tallahassee listing)

The BOP's Pretrial Detention Legal Access Handbook lists facilities with pretrial detention centers, and FDC Tallahassee is specifically named. That's useful for confirming the handbook's pretrial guidance applies there. Still, verify where your loved one is actually being held before relying on any local procedures.

For questions about a specific facility's operations, the BOP directs you to that facility's web page in the "Locations" section of bop.gov. If you're seeing "Tallahassee" in paperwork or online, use that Locations page to verify the exact facility name and type (FDC vs. FCI, for example) and find the right contact information for legal access questions.

The handbook applies to adults in Bureau pretrial custody who are being held before sentencing. It states that people with pretrial status have constitutional rights to access the legal process and their attorney. Under the handbook, "access to an attorney" includes access to legal assistants working on the defense team.

1. Figure out what’s missing: Is the issue legal visits, attorney calls, getting documents to review, or another “legal access” question?
2. Write a clear request: If you do not know the local procedure for legal access at the facility, the handbook says you can make a legal access request to the Unit Team in writing.
3. Keep it specific: State what you are requesting and that you are asking for the facility’s legal-access procedure.
4. Save a copy: Keep a copy of what was submitted, including the date, so you can track follow-up if needed.

4

• ✓ Unit Manager
• ✓ Counselor
• ✓ Case Manager
• ✓ Unit Secretary

If your loved one needs the handbook in a different language, the document includes a sentence they can show staff to request their preferred version. If language is a barrier for your family as well, ask facility staff to help ensure your loved one receives the correct translation.

1. Confirm the exact facility: Use the BOP “Locations” area to pull up the facility’s web page, since the BOP directs facility-specific procedure questions there.
2. Verify the facility type before you assume procedures: The handbook lists FDC Tallahassee among facilities with pretrial detention centers, but you still need to confirm where your loved one is actually housed.
3. Use a written request when procedures are unclear: If you do not know the local legal-access process, submit a legal access request to the Unit Team in writing.
4. Ask for the local procedure, not legal strategy: The Unit Team can help you navigate process and routing, but legal decisions should go through defense counsel.
5. Attorneys should follow the facility’s local rules: For legal visits, attorney communication, and discovery review logistics, use the facility’s published procedures as the starting point.