How the Sentencing Table Zones Work After Nov. 1

On November 1, 2026, the federal Sentencing Guidelines put the sentence options for every zone in one place. New USSG §5A1.1 lists probation, a split sentence, and prison for Zones A through D, and it prints that list before the Sentencing Table. The months in the table did not change. The change is Amendment 841.

What §5A1.1 now lists

The Sentencing Table is the grid in Chapter Five. The offense level runs down the side. The criminal history category runs across the top. The box where they meet is the guideline range in months. The guideline's own example is offense level 15 and category III, which is 24 to 30 months (USSG §5A1.1(a)). Our sentencing table page shows the full grid.

Before November 1, those zone options were scattered in other guidelines. Amendment 841 collects them in §5A1.1(b), in front of the table. The list is subject to any statute that limits the sentence in that case. The guideline points to §5B1.1(b) for probation and to §§5G1.1 and 5G1.2 for statutory minimums and maximums.

New commentary at the start of Chapter Five, Part A says a court must consider "all available sentencing options," and it cites 18 U.S.C. § 3553(a)(3). The statute's words are "the kinds of sentences available." The commentary also says imprisonment, probation, and a fine each punish, and that the court chooses the option, or mix of options, that is "sufficient, but not greater than necessary." Congress told the Commission to write guidelines for "whether to impose a sentence to probation, a fine, or a term of imprisonment" (28 U.S.C. § 994(a)(1)(A)). Our page on the § 3553(a) factors walks through the rest of that statute.

What each zone allows

The zone depends on the bottom number of the range. Amendment 841 did not change those lines. They are still in USSG §5C1.1.

Zone A, when the minimum is 0 months. Prison is not required, unless the Chapter Two guideline for the offense expressly requires it (§5C1.1(b)). The court may impose:

• probation, with or without intermittent confinement, community confinement, or home detention;
• a "split sentence," meaning some of the term in prison and the rest on supervised release with community confinement or home detention in place of prison; or
• imprisonment.

A fine may be the only sanction when the guidelines do not require imprisonment (§5A1.1, comment. (n.3); §5C1.1, comment. (n.2)).

Zone B, when the minimum is at least 1 month and not more than 9. The court may impose imprisonment, or a split sentence with at least one month in prison. Probation is allowed only if intermittent confinement, community confinement, or home detention covers the minimum (§5B1.1(a)(2); §5C1.1(c)).

Zone C, when the minimum is 10 or 12 months. The court may impose imprisonment, or a split sentence with at least half of the minimum in prison (§5C1.1(d)). The guidelines do not authorize probation (§5B1.1, comment. (n.2)).

Zone D, when the minimum is 15 months or more. The minimum must be served in prison. The substitutes in §5C1.1(e) do not count (§5C1.1(f) and comment. (n.8)).

One day of intermittent confinement, community confinement, or home detention stands in for one day of imprisonment (§5C1.1(e)). Community confinement means living in a community treatment center, halfway house, or similar facility. Intermittent confinement is time in jail or prison. A day counts when the person is confined for 24 hours, and also when the person works in the community and is confined for the rest of that calendar day.

Two limits sit next to that list. The commentary does not recommend imprisonment substitutes for most people in criminal history category III or higher (§5C1.1, comment. (n.6)). And if the person received the zero-point adjustment under §4C1.1 and the range is in Zone A or B, a sentence other than imprisonment is "generally appropriate," under §5C1.1(b) or (c)(3) (§5C1.1, comment. (n.9)). That note cites 28 U.S.C. § 994(j), which tells the Commission to reflect the general appropriateness of a sentence other than imprisonment for a first offender who has not been convicted of a crime of violence or an otherwise serious offense. Our guide to alternatives to prison explains the zero-point rule.

What did not change

The Commission says the Sentencing Table in §5A1.1(c) is "unchanged by the amendment." The same options were already in §5B1.1 and §5C1.1. Amendment 841 moves the list. It does not add a new kind of sentence.

It also does not lower anyone's range. The 2026 Manual's list of amendments that can support a reduction under 18 U.S.C. § 3582(c)(2) ends with amendment 821 (USSG §1B1.10(d)). Amendment 841 is not on that list, and neither is any other 2026 amendment.

Other amendments that took effect the same day can change the offense level, and the offense level picks the row. The inflation update to the fraud loss table is one example. Our post on the 2026 fraud and multiple-count amendments covers that change. This post is only about the zone list.

The court uses the Guidelines Manual in effect on the day of sentencing (USSG §1B1.11(a)). If that Manual would violate the ex post facto clause because it produces a higher range, the court uses the Manual in effect when the offense was committed (§1B1.11(b)(1); Peugh v. United States, 569 U.S. 530 (2013)). The court applies one Manual as a whole, not pieces of two (§1B1.11(b)(2)). Because Amendment 841 does not change the months, this piece of the 2026 Manual does not raise the range by itself. A different 2026 amendment might. Compare both Manuals when the offense level could move. Our offense level page shows how that number is built.

A statute can still block an option

The zone list is what the guidelines authorize. A statute can take an option away.

18 U.S.C. § 3561(a) bars probation in three situations: the offense is a Class A or Class B felony; the offense expressly bars probation; or the person is sentenced at the same time to prison for the same or a different offense that is not a petty offense. Our federal probation page explains those limits.

The guidelines have been advisory since United States v. Booker, 543 U.S. 220 (2005). After the court finds the range and the zone options, it weighs the § 3553(a) factors and chooses a sentence sufficient, but not greater than necessary. A sentence outside the range is a variance. See departures and variances.

Why the list moved

The Commission said it wrote the list this way after feedback during the amendment cycle, including a Sentencing Options Roundtable in December 2025. It also cited its 2023 report on demographic differences in federal sentencing. For people sentenced in fiscal years 2017 through 2021, the Commission found that differences were tied largely to whether the sentence included any incarceration, not only to the length of a prison term once prison was chosen. After controlling for available personal and offense characteristics, the Commission reported that Black males were 23.4 percent less likely, and Hispanic males 26.6 percent less likely, than White males to receive probation. It reported that Black females were 11.2 percent less likely, and Hispanic females 29.7 percent less likely, than White females.

Those figures describe the Commission's data for that period. They do not predict the sentence in any one case. Amendment 841 does not change who qualifies for probation. The Commission said it placed the options before the table so the choice of sentence type is visible, not only the number of months.

Who it affects

• Someone being sentenced on or after November 1, 2026. The months come from the same table. The zone, and the options that go with it, are now written out in §5A1.1(b). A presentence report that still cites "Chapter Five, Part A" without §5A1.1 is using the old label.
• A range in Zone A, B, or C. The minimum can sometimes be met without a full prison term, if a statute allows it and the commentary's limits are met. Category III or higher is the group for which the commentary does not recommend substitutes.
• A person with the §4C1.1 zero-point adjustment and a Zone A or B range. The commentary says a sentence other than imprisonment is generally appropriate. A statute can still require prison.
• Someone already sentenced. Amendment 841 does not lower the table, and it is not a basis for a § 3582(c)(2) reduction.
• A case in which another 2026 amendment changes the offense level. Check the range under the Manual in effect on the offense date and the Manual in effect on the sentencing date. Use one Manual for the whole calculation.