28 CFR § 543.31 - Presenting a claim.

---
identifier: "/us/cfr/t28/s543.31"
source: "ecfr"
legal_status: "authoritative_unofficial"
title: "28 CFR § 543.31 - Presenting a claim."
title_number: 28
title_name: "Judicial Administration"
section_number: "543.31"
section_name: "Presenting a claim."
chapter_name: "BUREAU OF PRISONS, DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE"
subchapter_number: "C"
subchapter_name: "INSTITUTIONAL MANAGEMENT"
part_number: "543"
part_name: "LEGAL MATTERS"
positive_law: false
currency: "2026-03-24"
last_updated: "2026-03-24"
format_version: "1.1.0"
generator: "[email protected]"
authority: "5 U.S.C. 301; 18 U.S.C. 3621, 3622, 3624, 4001, 4042, 4081, 4082 (Repealed in part as to offenses committed on or after November 1, 1987), 5006-5024 (Repealed October 12, 1984 as to Offenses committed after that date), 5039; 28 U.S.C. 509, 510, 1346(b), 2671-80; 28 CFR 0.95-0.99, 0.172, 14.1-11."
cfr_part: "543"
---


# 543.31 Presenting a claim.

(a) *Claimant.* You may file a claim if you are the injured person or the owner of the damaged or lost property. A person acting on your behalf as an agent, executor, administrator, parent, guardian, or other representative may file a claim for you if the person provides a written statement signed by you giving that person permission to act for you. A representative may also file a claim for wrongful death. If you hire a lawyer or authorize a representative to act on your behalf, the agency will correspond only with that representative, and will not continue to correspond with you.

(b) *Claim form.* You may obtain a form from staff in the Central Office, Regional Offices, Bureau institutions, or staff training centers.

(c) *Presenting a claim.* You may either mail or deliver the claim to the regional office in the region where the loss or injury occurred. If the loss or injury occurred in the Central Office, you may either mail or deliver the claim to the Office of General Counsel, Central Office. A list of addresses for all the Bureau institutions and offices can be found at *www.bop.gov.*

[65 FR 34364, May 26, 2000, as amended at 70 FR 67091, Nov. 4, 2005; 88 FR 76657, Nov. 7, 2023; 88 FR 87903, Dec. 20, 2023]