The subject of the study is the processes of corruption combating in the penitentiary system of Russia. The purpose of the study is to analyze the legal prerequisites for the corruption emergence in the penitentiary system and search for promising areas of legislation improvement in this area. The work is based on the complex application of a number of General and special research methods (structural and functional analysis, comparative legal, formal-logical, system-structural methods). The information base of the study is represented by domestic and foreign regulations, official data of the Federal penitentiary service of Russia, the results of research conducted by Russian and foreign authors. The main result of the study lies in substantiation of the essential conclusions about the need for a clearer definition of the penitentiary system officials’ powers in order to reduce the risks of committing acts with signs of corruption. The most significant, from the point of view of corruption manifestations occurrence risks, spheres of penitentiary system employees activity are defined. The directions of law enforcement practice improvement in the studied sphere are substantiated. The materials of the study can be useful for scientists-penitentiaries, practitioners, as well as during the study of special disciplines by students, undergraduates and graduate students of the relevant areas of training and specialties.