Defendants charged with a federal crime and detained generally are housed in a Federal Bureau of Prisons (BOP) detention facility pending the outcome of the criminal case. In some instances, federal detainees can be held at local county jails pending trial and sentencing. If an individual is convicted and sentenced to prison, he or she will be housed in any of the BOP prisons or detentions centers.

The information in this section and the links to the right cover the federal prisons and detention centers in California. For a comprehensive list of all BOP facilities, please visit their website here.