FCI Greenville (minimum-security camp)

FCI Greenville. Public domain photograph, via Wikimedia Commons.

FCI Greenville is a minimum-security satellite camp for women in Greenville, Illinois, operated by the Federal Bureau of Prisons. It held about 132 people as of November 2025. The institution's main number is 618-664-6200.

FEMALE

Gender

MINIMUM

Security Level

132

Population (Nov. 2025)

RDAP

Location

Physical location: GREENVILLE, IL 62246

Mailing address: 100 U.S. HWY 40, GREENVILLE, IL 62246

Visitation

There are many specific rules and procedures to be aware of when you're considering visiting the institution. Read more on our Visitation Guide.

For full, current visiting rules and scheduling, always check the institution's official page on the Bureau of Prisons website: Official BOP Page.

Frequently Asked Questions

Q: Does FCI Greenville allow conjugal visits?

No. FCI Greenville does not allow conjugal visits. The Federal Bureau of Prisons does not permit conjugal visits at any facility regardless of security level. This includes 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 Greenville?

FCI Greenville allows contact visits during designated visiting hours, typically on weekends and holidays. Contact visits permit brief embraces at the start and end of visits, but prolonged physical contact is not allowed. All visits occur in supervised visiting rooms. Visitors must be pre-approved through a background check process and must follow dress code requirements. For full details, see the Visiting Policies and Procedures page.

Daily life and programs

Operated by the Federal Bureau of Prisons, FCI Greenville is a correctional complex located in Greenville, Illinois, within Bond County. The facility is situated roughly 43 miles east of St. Louis, Missouri, and about 63 miles south of Springfield. Its primary institution functions as a medium-security prison for men, while an adjacent minimum-security satellite prison camp houses women. In 2000, administrators converted the camp into a women's facility to provide essential bed space for female inmates throughout the north-central United States. In keeping with the design of other federal camps, the site lacks perimeter fences or walls. Instead, it relies on the low-risk classification of its residents, combined with the close proximity and oversight of the higher-security FCI next door, to effectively deter walk-aways. Reported populations for the facility vary depending on the source and the year. For example, Wikipedia cites about 213 women, a documented record from September 2023 noted a population of roughly 218, and a firsthand account from about 2002 described an active population of roughly 220. The women assigned to this location are generally low-risk, nonviolent offenders with less than ten years remaining on their sentences. Furthermore, a core function of the camp is supplying inmate labor for the upkeep and landscaping of the wider FCI Greenville grounds. The facility's main contact number is 618-664-6200.

The most detailed firsthand description of daily life at the camp was provided by Kathleen Desautels, a Sisters of Providence nun and School of the Americas Watch activist who served a six-month sentence there around 2002. She documented her stay through published letters home, which are now archived on womenandprison.org. In these records, she described housing in two large dormitories divided into wings, noting that the space featured cubicles holding two beds each, steel storage chests, and limited personal storage. Daily routines were structured around meal times in a dining hall and mandatory institutional counts, specifically including afternoon and evening standing counts. Furthermore, new arrivals were assigned prison jobs such as food service on the dining line and cleaning common areas, with compensation starting at about 12 cents per hour. She characterized the overall setting as a comparatively 'laid back' camp atmosphere, while emphasizing the emotional weight of long sentences, family separation, and idle time. Ultimately, these details reflect one woman's early-2000s experience, meaning specific wages, schedules, and programs may have changed since.

Program offerings at the camp span psychology, drug treatment, education, and work. Psychology services include an Assert Yourself class, a Trauma in Life workshop on building resilience after traumatic events, and Resolve, a non-residential program for women with a history of physical or sexual abuse. For substance abuse treatment, the camp offers Drug Abuse Education and the Non-Residential Drug Abuse Program (NR-DAP). Multiple secondary sources also state that the satellite camp offers the Residential Drug Abuse Program (RDAP), a nine-month course whose completion can carry up to a year of sentence reduction, even though the men's medium facility reportedly does not host RDAP. Education programs feature GED instruction, ESL, adult continuing education, and parenting classes. However, class sizes have historically been small; for example, Desautels noted only ten to twelve women admitted to a computer class. A dog-training program also operated at the camp. Finally, UNICOR (Federal Prison Industries) operations at Greenville produce clothing and textiles.

Visitation at Greenville is generally scheduled on Mondays, Saturdays, Sundays, and holidays from 8:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m. Prospective visitors must be approved in advance and comply with BOP dress and conduct rules. Inmates fund purchases through a commissary account that carries monthly spending limits. Because the camp shares the complex address and administrative contacts with the main FCI, much of the published operational information, including the address, phone, and general visiting schedule, is common to both facilities. Prospective families are advised to confirm camp-specific details directly with the institution, since the BOP's own public listing does not always separate camp programming from the men's facility.

First-hand accounts

First-person accounts and reporting about life at this facility. Experiences are individual and may not reflect current conditions.

• Letters From Prison Camp — Women and Prison: A Site for Resistance (first-person letters/memoir). Firsthand letters by Kathleen Desautels (BOP #90966-020) written during her sentence at Greenville FPC around 2002. Explicitly names the facility ('Greenville FPC has been opened as a Women's prison for two years... approximately 220 inmates') and describes the two-dorm cubicle layout, count times, dining-line work at 12 cents/hour, small computer/GED classes, a dog-training program, and commissary limits.

See also

• FCI Greenville camp: a practical guide for women preparing to serve time there (womensfederalprison.com)