FCI Phoenix (minimum-security camp)

FCI Phoenix is a minimum-security satellite camp for women in Phoenix, Arizona, operated by the Federal Bureau of Prisons. It held about 191 people as of November 2025. The institution's main number is 623-465-9757.

FEMALE

Gender

MINIMUM

Security Level

191

Population (Nov. 2025)

RDAP

Location

Physical location: PHOENIX, AZ 85086

Mailing address: 37900 N 45TH AVE, PHOENIX, AZ 85086

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 Phoenix allow conjugal visits?

No. FCI Phoenix 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 Phoenix?

FCI Phoenix 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

Operating within the Bureau of Prisons' Western Region, FCI Phoenix opened in April 1985 on a desert campus located roughly 25 miles north of downtown Phoenix at 37900 N. 45th Ave, Phoenix, AZ 85086. The complex pairs a medium-security institution for men with an adjacent minimum-security satellite camp that houses female offenders. Wikipedia and the BOP describe the camp population at roughly 200 to 300 women. A BOP snapshot from mid-2024 cited about 300 camp inmates within a ~1,180 total complex, although prison-consultant sources give figures closer to 204 to 275. The camp holds predominantly non-violent, white-collar women who are drawn largely from the western United States. Most of these inmates are first-time federal defendants serving sentences of about ten years or less for offenses such as embezzlement, bank fraud, wire fraud, tax fraud, securities fraud, and mortgage fraud.

As a minimum-security camp, FPC Phoenix uses dormitory-style housing rather than cells. Inmates reside in two-person bunks arranged in four- and eight-woman cubicles, with each inmate assigned a personal locker. The facility's programming centers on the 500-hour Residential Drug Abuse Program (RDAP), which operates as the BOP's intensive voluntary treatment track. Program completion can earn eligible participants up to a 12-month sentence reduction plus additional prerelease custody. The camp also offers non-residential drug programming, drug education, and Alcoholics Anonymous. Education includes GED preparation and English-as-a-Second-Language classes. Federal Prison Industries (UNICOR) work is available, and consultant sources describe warehousing and quality-control roles. Furthermore, vocational and institutional work assignments span food service, landscaping, carpentry, HVAC, plumbing, painting, and general maintenance. Finally, First Step Act earned-time credits apply to eligible inmates.

Day-to-day, the camp reflects standard BOP minimum-security operation: work-based routine, no perimeter fence, in-house medical care with outside hospital referral for serious needs, and faith services accommodating Christian, Muslim, and Jewish inmates. Prison-consultant sources report visitation on Saturdays, Sundays, and federal holidays from roughly 8:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m., and standard BOP telephone access (about 300 monthly minutes, rising to 400 in November-December). The Sonoran Desert setting means extreme summer heat is a defining environmental condition of the site. These operational specifics come from secondary consultant pages rather than a primary BOP handbook and should be reconfirmed against the facility's current Admission & Orientation handbook before publication.

Regarding the history of the complex, the highest-profile documented incident occurred at the men's medium-security FCI rather than the women's camp. This event involved the November 2005 killing of Jewish Defense League activist Earl Krugel in an exercise yard, a crime for which his attacker, David Frank Jennings, was later sentenced to 35 years. The notable inmates listed on Wikipedia, including Sonny Barger, Cris Kirkwood, and the rapper Casanova, likewise reflect the men's institution. Consequently, no notable individual has been verified as having served at the women's satellite camp specifically. Sources also disagree on the camp's current gender designation. Although Wikipedia, the BOP, and women's-prison consultant pages describe it as female, at least one consultant site, Prison Professors, still describes the FCI Phoenix satellite camp as male. This discrepancy should be resolved against a live BOP population count before the page asserts a fixed figure or designation.

See also

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