Can my criminal history limit my ability to get retirement benefits?

Possibly—but it might be just temporary.

You can’t receive Social Security benefits for any month that you:

    Are confined in a correctional facility for a period of 30+ days in a row due to a conviction;[1647]
    Are confined to an institution by court order because you’ve been found “guilty” but insane, “not guilty” due to insanity or mental illness, or “incompetent to stand trial”;[1648]
    Have an outstanding arrest warrant because you’re avoiding prosecution or confinement for a felony; or[1649]
    Have been determined by a judge to be violating a condition of probation or parole.[1650]
    Here is an example of how this works: If you were convicted and confined on March 29, 2014 and you stayed in jail until May 2, 2014, you weren’t entitled to any benefits for the months of March, April, or May since you were being confined for 35 days in a row.[1651] This means you cannot collect back payments for any benefits you otherwise would have received if you never had a conviction, warrant, or violation as described in the four situations above.[1652] Additionally, if you were in prison or jail over 30 days, you may have accrued an overpayment, which may be withheld from future Social Security benefits once you are released and your benefits are reinstated.[1653]

Once you qualify for Social Security retirement benefits, you stay enrolled in the program as long as you’re eligible. Although your benefits get suspended (paused) during incarceration, they don’t get terminated (permanently ended) due to your incarceration, no matter how long your incarceration lasts.[1654]

If you’re currently being incarcerated for 30 or more days, and you were already getting retirement benefits when you were arrested, those benefits were paused on your 31st day of incarceration.[1655] But you can apply to restart them once you have documents showing your release date (see PG. 481). If you weren’t already getting retirement benefits when you were arrested, and being incarcerated is the only factor disqualifying you now, you can start a new Social Security application before your release (see PG. 478).[1656]

  1. 1647

    42 U.S.C. § 402(x)(1)(A)(i), as amended by Public Law 106-170; ,Benefits After Incarceration, Soc. Sec. Admin. http://www.ssa.gov/reentry/; Your Right to Representation to the Community (2009), Bazelon Center, http://www.bazelon.org/News-Publications/Publications/List/1/CategoryID/7/Level/a/ProductID/17.aspx?SortField=
    ProductNumber%2CProductNumber    ; Your Right to Representation (2011), Prison Law Office, http://www.prisonlaw.com/pdfs/BenefitsLetter,Aug2011.pdf. ”Correctional facility” would include a prison, a jail, or a halfway house controlled by your state’s Department of Corrections. http://www.ssa.gov/reentry/. ↑

  2. 1648

    42 U.S.C. § 402(x)(1)(A)(ii), as amended by Public Law 106-170; Benefits After Incarceration, Soc. Sec. Admin., “http://www.ssa.gov/reentry/; Your Right to Representation to the Community (2009), Bazelon Center, http://www.bazelon.org/News-Publications/Publications/List/1/CategoryID/7/Level/a/ProductID/17.aspx?SortField
    =ProductNumber%2CProductNumber    . ↑

  3. 1649

    42 U.S.C. § 1382; Your Right to Representation (2011), Prison Law Office, http://www.prisonlaw.com/pdfs/BenefitsLetter,Aug2011.pdf. ↑

  4. 1650

    42 U.S.C. § 1382. See Your Right to Representation (2011), Prison Law Office, http://www.prisonlaw.com/pdfs/BenefitsLetter,Aug2011.pdf; What Prisoners Need to Know, Soc. Sec. Admin. http://www.ssa.gov/pubs/EN-05-10133.pdf. ↑

  5. 1651

    Benefits After Incarceration: What You Need to Know, Soc. Sec. Admin. http://www.ssa.gov/reentry/. ↑

  6. 1652

    42 U.S.C. § 1382; Your Right to Representation (2011), Prison Law Office, http://www.prisonlaw.com/pdfs/BenefitsLetter,Aug2011.pdf. ↑

  7. 1653

    For example, if you were convicted and incarcerated starting on the fifth of the month, the following month’s check, if cashed would be an overpayment. The best way to handle an overpayment is to return the check to SSA. http://www.socialsecurity.gov/pubs/EN-05-10098.pdf. See also, Your Right to Representation to the Community (2009), Bazelon Center, http://www.bazelon.org/News-Publications/Publications/List/1/CategoryID/7/Level/a/ProductID/17.aspx?SortField=ProductNumber%2CProductNumber. ↑

  8. 1654

    Your Right to Representation to the Community (2009), Bazelon Center, http://www.bazelon.org/News-Publications/Publications/List/1/CategoryID/7/Level/a/ProductID/17.aspx?SortField=ProductNumber%2CProductNumber. ↑

  9. 1655

    Arrested? What Happens to Your Benefits?, Bazelon Center, http://www.kitsaPGov.com/pubdef/Forms/LinkClick.Benefits.pdf. ↑

  10. 1656

    Benefits After Incarceration: What You Need to Know, Soc. Sec. Admin., http://www.ssa.gov/reentry/; What Prisoners Need to Know, Soc. Sec. Admin., http://www.ssa.gov/pubs/EN-05-10133.pdf. ↑