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28 CFR § 541.21 - Special Housing Units (SHUs).

---
identifier: "/us/cfr/t28/s541.21"
source: "ecfr"
legal_status: "authoritative_unofficial"
title: "28 CFR § 541.21 - Special Housing Units (SHUs)."
title_number: 28
title_name: "Judicial Administration"
section_number: "541.21"
section_name: "Special Housing Units (SHUs)."
chapter_name: "BUREAU OF PRISONS, DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE"
subchapter_number: "C"
subchapter_name: "INSTITUTIONAL MANAGEMENT"
part_number: "541"
part_name: "INMATE DISCIPLINE AND SPECIAL HOUSING UNITS"
positive_law: false
currency: "2026-04-05"
last_updated: "2026-04-05"
format_version: "1.1.0"
generator: "[email protected]"
authority: "15 U.S.C. 301; 18 U.S.C. 3621, 3622, 3624, 4001, 4042, 4081, 4082 (Repealed in part as to offenses committed on or after November 1, 1987), 4161—4166 (Repealed as to offenses committed on or after November 1, 1987), 5006—5024 (Repealed October 12, 1984 as to offenses committed after that date), 5039; 28 U.S.C. 509, 510."
cfr_part: "541"
---

# 541.21 Special Housing Units (SHUs).

Special Housing Units (SHUs) are housing units in Bureau institutions where inmates are securely separated from the general inmate population, and may be housed either alone or with other inmates. Special housing units help ensure the safety, security, and orderly operation of correctional facilities, and protect the public, by providing alternative housing assignments for inmates removed from the general population.