The Central Bureau of Penology, located in Stockholm, Eurasia-NE on Earth, was an institution devoted to research regarding the treatment and disposition of criminals. It served as a clearinghouse for research conducted at rehabilitation colonies, including that located on planet Tantalus V.

In 2266, the Starfleet vessel USS Enterprise took aboard research material from the Tantalus colony bound for the Central Bureau of Penology, after delivering a supply of infra-sensory drugs. Unknown to the crew at the time, however, the container supposedly carrying the research was actually being used by Simon Van Gelder, a psychiatrist attempting to escape from Doctor Tristan Adams, the colony's director, who was conducting illegal and unethical experiments on the colony's inhabitants. (TOS: "Dagger of the Mind")