FCI Beckley (minimum-security camp)

MALE

Gender

MINIMUM

Security Level

~70

Population (Nov. 2025)

No RDAP

FCI Beckley Camp is a minimum-security federal satellite prison camp for male offenders in Beaver, Raleigh County, West Virginia. It sits roughly 51 miles southeast of Charleston and 136 miles northwest of Roanoke, Virginia. The Federal Bureau of Prisons runs it as part of the Mid-Atlantic Region. It's right next to the medium-security Federal Correctional Institution Beckley, which opened in 1994. Residents here do maintenance and support work for the main facility while taking part in vocational programs designed to help them transition back into society.

Notes from Alumni

• One former inmate who'd been at Beckley Camp before moving to Butner Federal Prison Camp gave positive marks: "Beckley Camp was a good camp. They have numerous ways to achieve certificates & a good fitness center with a lot of activities, basketball, softball, handball, & a 1/4 of a mile track to walk or run on. The scenery is awesome with animals that will let you pet them." He offered practical advice too: "If you have to do time there just keep focused, stay in your lane, & keep your nose clean. Before you know it, it will be time for your release date." Inmate Intake

• On the guards, he said: "The guards there are pretty cool, well most of them. They are a select few that tend to ruffle your feathers, but that's their nature. Plus it's their job." Inmate Intake

• Another former resident put it this way: "You can make it easy or hard for yourself it's all up to you. I met some good people in there that I'm still friends with. Just because you have to do time doesn't mean that you're a horrible person, you just got caught doing something illegal." On medical care, he noted: "I had some health problems while I was there & that took good care of me." Inmate Intake

• A DC Corrections Information Council inspection turned up something troubling. Staff behavior was the issue inmates complained about most. They said staff were "unwilling to help" and gave the "run-around."

Keep in mind that experiences vary and may not match what people encounter today.

Notable Alumni

Name	Sentence	Offense	Dates
Note: FCI Beckley Camp houses minimum-security, non-violent offenders near their release dates. Notable individuals connected to FCI Beckley (including Steven Warshak, James Kopp, and Eric DeWayne Boyd) were at the adjacent medium-security FCI rather than the camp.

History

FCI Beckley opened in 1994 near Beaver, in Raleigh County, West Virginia.

⚠️ A note on a common confusion: the Beckley Work Release Center, opened 1974 and reorganized in 1997 as the Beckley Correctional Center, is a West Virginia state facility and is not this institution. Its history, including the 2011 expansion onto the Jackie Withrow Hospital grounds for a Residential Substance Abuse Treatment unit, belongs to the state facility and has been widely mis-attributed to the federal FCI.

The main facility sits on 282 acres and uses serious security: double fences, razor wire, motion detection systems, microwave detection systems, video surveillance, and 24-hour dual roving perimeter patrol. The adjacent satellite camp holds minimum-security offenders, typically people with short sentences left to serve.

FCI Beckley is the largest medium-security FCI in the Bureau of Prisons that isn't part of a federal prison complex. Population has dropped from around 2,200 down to roughly 1,700 (camp included), which staff said made things better for everyone, both residents and employees.

Housing & Facilities

FCI Beckley Camp has open-bay dormitories with two-person cubicles. That's pretty different from the main FCI, which uses two-person cells in three four-level housing units.

You'll find a Special Housing Unit (SHU) at the main facility. It can hold up to 143 residents.

Camp Amenities include:

• Fitness center
• Basketball courts
• Softball field
• Handball courts
• Quarter-mile track for walking/running
• Scenic outdoor areas with wildlife

Schedule & Counts

Daily life at camp runs on a structured schedule with regular counts. You've got controlled procedures for moving between areas. The Disciplinary Hearing Officer (DHO) for FCI Beckley rotates among this facility, FCI McDowell, and Federal Prison Camp Alderson.

Work Assignments

All medically-cleared residents need to keep a work assignment or take part in educational courses. Camp residents do essential labor for the main facility:

• Food service
• Laundry services
• Facility maintenance

The main FCI runs a UNICOR factory that makes ergonomic chairs and office furniture. The camp doesn't have its own UNICOR operation.

Educational Programs

• General Education Diploma (GED)
• English as a Second Language (ESL)
• Adult Continuing Education (ACE) courses
• Parenting programs
• High school diplomas (through paid correspondence)
• Postsecondary education (through paid correspondence)

New River Community and Technical College runs advanced occupational college classes.

The Education Department has a video library. Residents can check out educational videos during scheduled times. Topics cover health, wellness, leisure, athletics, and sports.

Vocational Training

Camp offers these advanced occupational education programs:

• Appliance Repair & Refrigeration
• HVAC (Heating, Ventilation, Air Conditioning)
• Welding

At the main FCI, you can take additional vocational courses in computer applications, electrical work, masonry, carpentry, and blueprinting. Neither the camp nor the main FCI offer apprenticeship programs.

Substance Abuse Programs

Here's something important: the Residential Drug Abuse Program (RDAP) doesn't exist at the camp. It's only at the main FCI Beckley.

What is available:

• Drug Abuse Education Course
• Non-Residential Drug Abuse Treatment Program (NR-DAP)
• Alcoholics Anonymous (AA)

Psychology Services

Psychologists provide counseling and mental health services. Services include:

• Individual and group therapy
• Anger management
• Stress management
• Criminal thinking intervention
• BRAVE Program (Bureau Rehabilitation and Values Enhancement). This targets young offenders serving long sentences and focuses on self-improvement.

Psychiatric services are available if referred. Staff reported about 350 face-to-face clinical contacts per month. Weekly groups handle grief and trauma, anger management, and criminal thinking.

Medical Care

FCI Beckley Camp has Medical Care Level 2 status, serving stable outpatients who need quarterly clinical evaluation.

Medical services here include:

• Admission physical examinations
• Medical and dental sick call
• Routine care and physicals
• Emergency medical and dental care (24 hours)
• Prescription medications
• Chronic care clinics

For non-emergency medical evaluation, residents submit triage forms. One inspection found the medical staff consisted of two doctors, two nurse practitioners, two physician assistants, and six nurses.

Telephone

Residents use TRULINCS for phone services. Only outgoing calls are permitted to approved contacts. Calls get monitored and recorded except for attorney-client communications.

Email

TRULINCS offers electronic messaging through Corrlinks. It's text-based email that lets residents stay in touch with approved correspondents.

Video Visits

Video visitation is available through the BOP's approved vendor. Families should set up video visits in advance.

Mail

General correspondence is allowed with family, friends, and approved contacts. All incoming and outgoing mail gets inspected. Legal mail is opened only in front of the recipient.

Mailing Address (Camp):

Resident Name, Register Number

FCI Beckley

Federal Correctional Institution

Satellite Camp

P.O. Box 350

Beaver, WV 25813

Important: Don't send money to this address. All funds go to the Federal Bureau of Prisons processing center in Des Moines, Iowa.

Commissary

Residents can spend up to $360.00 per month at the commissary. Shopping happens once a week on assigned days. They use a commissary card, or they can use Form BP-199 to transfer funds for family support or other approved purposes.

Staff Misconduct

• 2024, Cody Adam Bays (32), a correctional officer at FCI Beckley, got sentenced to 18 months in federal prison for smuggling contraband. Between November 2022 and February 2023, he brought in suboxone, marijuana, synthetic marijuana, and tobacco. He also tried to smuggle fentanyl but suffered a serious overdose after testing it. Bays took in about $20,800 through cash and mobile payment apps.

• 2016, Scotty Rose, a physician's assistant at FCI Beckley, received two years in prison for unwittingly tampering with an FBI investigation. He'd gotten previous reprimands for being "too nice" to prisoners.

• 2015, Paris Leibelson, a transgender woman at FCI Beckley, sued alleging officials failed to protect her from assault, threats, and harassment between late 2013 and early 2014. According to the lawsuit, prison gangs controlled most dining tables and demanded sexual favors in exchange for letting her eat. A guard also performed an illegal strip search.

Location

FCI Beckley Camp sits adjacent to the medium-security FCI Beckley in Beaver, Raleigh County, in southern West Virginia. The BOP's Mid-Atlantic Region operates it, and it falls within the Southern West Virginia Judicial District.

Address:

FCI Beckley Satellite Camp

1600 Industrial Road

Beaver, WV 25813

Phone: 304-252-9758
Email: [email protected]

Visitation

Both camp and FCI have the same visiting hours:

• Saturdays: 8:00 AM to 3:00 PM
• Sundays: 8:00 AM to 3:00 PM
• Mondays: 8:00 AM to 3:00 PM
• Federal Holidays: 8:00 AM to 3:00 PM

Processing Cutoff: At camp, visitor processing stops at 1:30 PM (the main FCI cuts off at 2:00 PM).

Visitation Points System:

A point system controls visits:

• Residents get 8 visitation points per month
• Weekday visits cost 1 point each
• Weekend or holiday visits cost 2 points each
• Once you're out of points, visiting privileges are suspended until the first day of next month

Requirements:

• Maximum of 5 visitors (kids included) per session
• All visitors must be on the approved visitation list
• Valid government-issued photo ID is required
• Wallets, cell phones, and bags must be left outside the visiting area
• Visitors should call ahead to confirm the schedule

See the official BOP page for FCI Beckley for complete visitation rules.

See Also

• Federal Prison Security Levels
• Self-Surrender Procedures
• FCI Beckley, The adjacent medium-security federal correctional institution
• Federal Prison Camps, Overview of minimum-security facilities
• BOP Mid-Atlantic Region
• FPC Alderson, Women's minimum-security camp in West Virginia
• FCI Gilmer, Medium-security facility in West Virginia
• USP Hazelton, High-security penitentiary in West Virginia

Frequently Asked Questions

Q: Does FCI Beckley allow conjugal visits?

No. FCI Beckley doesn't allow conjugal visits. The Federal Bureau of Prisons prohibits them at any facility regardless of security level. This covers all minimum-security federal prison camps, low-security FCIs, medium-security facilities, and high-security USPs. Only four state prison systems (California, Connecticut, New York, and Washington) allow conjugal visits for state prisoners. Federal inmates have no access to conjugal or extended family visits anywhere in the BOP system.

Q: What types of visitation are allowed at FCI Beckley?

FCI Beckley allows contact visits during designated hours, typically weekends and holidays. Contact visits let visitors have brief embraces at the start and end, but prolonged physical contact isn't permitted. All visits happen in supervised visiting rooms. Visitors must be pre-approved via background check and must follow dress codes. For full details, check the Visiting Policies and Procedures page.

Daily life and programs

The Federal Correctional Institution, Beckley (FCI Beckley) is a federal prison complex for male inmates near Beaver in Raleigh County, southern West Virginia, roughly 51 miles southeast of Charleston. The complex pairs a medium-security main institution with an adjacent minimum-security satellite camp, which is the subject of this entry. The Bureau of Prisons dates the institution to 1994. Population counts for the camp vary by source: recent federal prison guides put the camp at about 166 minimum-security men, while other references (including Wikipedia) have cited figures as high as roughly 430, so the exact count should be treated as approximate. Like other federal camps, it holds men classified as low flight risk and low threat to public safety, typically those serving shorter sentences or nearing the end of longer ones.

Housing at the camp follows the standard federal camp model, providing a contrast to the cellblocks of the main institution. Inmates reside in open-bay dormitories subdivided into two-person cubicles, and reflecting the low custody level, the camp perimeter has no walls, fences, or gun towers. Daily life revolves around work. Along with completing their own program assignments, camp residents supply much of the labor and support services for the main FCI. These functional tasks include maintenance, groundskeeping, food service, and general facilities work. Ultimately, the absence of a secure perimeter and the emphasis on work detail remain the defining features that separate camp life from the medium-security institution next door.

Programming available across the Beckley complex includes a Residential Drug Abuse Program (RDAP), a drug-education program, a non-residential drug program (NR-DAP), a Federal Prison Industries (UNICOR) operation, and BRAVE (Bureau Rehabilitation and Values Enhancement). The BOP has described BRAVE as a residential program for younger inmates that is distinctive to FCI Beckley. Because several of these services, including the residential RDAP, the UNICOR shop, and BRAVE, are run at the main institution rather than at the satellite camp, camp inmates' access depends on their individual designation and eligibility. Consequently, camp residents primarily focus on vocational and educational certificate programs intended to ease reentry. It should also be noted that some third-party summaries conflate FCI Beckley with the separately operated, state-run Beckley Correctional Center in West Virginia. The history of that state facility and its furniture-making UNICOR claim do not describe the federal camp.

Because the camp is a satellite of the larger complex, its mail, phone, and administrative services run through the main FCI Beckley operation. Recreation at the facility includes a fitness center, an approximately quarter-mile track for walking or running, and outdoor facilities for basketball, softball, and handball. Visiting takes place on weekends and holidays. Additionally, inmates shop at the commissary once a week on assigned days, subject to the federal monthly spending cap that camp guides list at about 360 dollars.

References

FCI Beckley. Public domain photograph, via Wikimedia Commons.