FCI Texarkana (low-security)
FCI Texarkana is a low-security federal correctional institution for men in Texarkana, Texas, operated by the Federal Bureau of Prisons. It held about 1,081 people as of November 2025. It does not offer the Residential Drug Abuse Program. The institution's main number is 903-838-4587.
Location
Physical location: TEXARKANA, TX 75501
Mailing address: 4001 LEOPARD DRIVE, TEXARKANA, TX 75501
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.
Daily life and programs
The Federal Correctional Institution, Texarkana is a low-security federal prison for adult men in Texarkana, Bowie County, in the far northeast corner of Texas near the Arkansas state line, roughly 175 miles east of Dallas and 70 miles north of Shreveport, Louisiana. It is operated by the U.S. Bureau of Prisons within the agency's South Central Region and opened in 1940, making it one of the older institutions in the federal system. The complex pairs the main low-security FCI with an adjacent minimum-security satellite prison camp, which is a distinct facility with its own population and rules. Population figures reported by secondary prison-guide sources vary, generally placing about 1,000 to 1,290 men in the main low-security institution and roughly 150 to 290 additional men in the camp. Housing in the main institution ranges from two-, four-, and ten-person rooms to open dormitories holding up to about 40 men, and the perimeter is secured with double fencing rather than the high walls associated with higher-security penitentiaries.
Work and vocational training are central to daily life. UNICOR (Federal Prison Industries) operates at the FCI, where it runs a recycling program and produces industrial goods, providing inmate pay in the standard range of roughly $0.12 to $1.15 per hour. The institution offers advanced occupational education in fields such as business computing, culinary arts, graphic design, HVAC, upholstery, and welding, alongside apprenticeships in areas including dental assistance, electrical work, and HVAC. Additionally, academic programming covers literacy, GED preparation, and English-as-a-Second-Language instruction, plus Adult Continuing Education, parenting classes, and reentry-oriented workshops. Regarding drug treatment, there is an important distinction by security level: the intensive 500-hour Residential Drug Abuse Program (RDAP), which can earn eligible participants up to a year off a sentence, is administered at the adjacent minimum-security camp rather than inside the low-security main institution. By contrast, the FCI itself provides Drug Abuse Education and the Non-Residential Drug Abuse Program (NR-DAP).
Everyday conditions at the facility follow standard BOP practice for a low-security institution. Recreational opportunities include a walking and jogging track, basketball, handball and racquetball courts, softball and soccer fields, as well as areas for bocce and horseshoes. For indoor fitness, inmates have access to cardio and resistance equipment, as free weights were removed from most federal facilities in the mid-1990s and replaced with cable machines and resistance equipment. The men communicate with the outside world through monitored telephone access capped at about 300 minutes per month, the text-only TRULINCS email system, and postal mail that is subject to inspection. In-person visiting is accommodated on weekends and federal holidays. Additionally, commissary spending is capped at roughly $360 per month. Comprehensive health services available to the population encompass a sick-call process, chronic-care and mental-health support, annual dental exams, and a nominal co-pay for inmate-initiated medical visits.
For more than eight decades, the institution has held a range of high-profile federal prisoners, including organized-crime figures and a civil-rights-era conspirator. However, its most widely reported inmate is Keith Judd, who, while confined at the FCI, qualified for the 2012 West Virginia Democratic presidential primary ballot and drew about 41 percent of the vote against the incumbent, President Barack Obama. It is worth noting for accuracy that some frequently cited Texarkana names belong to the minimum-security camp rather than the low-security institution. For example, former New Orleans mayor Ray Nagin reported to the Texarkana camp, not the main FCI. Because public sources aggregating the facility's notable inmates often do not distinguish between the two, security-level placement must generally be reasoned from each person's offense profile.
Notable inmates
| Name | Sentence | Offense | Dates |
|---|---|---|---|
| Keith Judd[1] | 17.5 years | Making a threatening communication to the University of New Mexico (a bomb/extortion threat); while incarcerated at the FCI he qualified for the 2012 West Virginia Democratic presidential primary ballot and won about 41% against President Obama | incarcerated at FCI Texarkana c. 2009-2013 |
| Carlos Marcello | New Orleans Mafia boss; convicted in the FBI BRILAB bribery and racketeering sting | early 1980s | |
| Ricky Donnell 'Freeway Rick' Ross | life, later reduced; released 2009 | Large-scale cocaine trafficking during the 1980s Los Angeles crack trade | |
| Terry Loewen | 20 years; release scheduled 2030 | Attempted 2013 Wichita, Kansas airport suicide-bombing plot (attempted use of a weapon of mass destruction) | |
| Jimmy Snowden | Conspirator in the 1964 murders of civil rights workers James Chaney, Andrew Goodman, and Michael Schwerner (the 'Mississippi Burning' case) | transferred to Texarkana 1971, released 1972 |
References
- ↑ "Keith Judd". '. Retrieved 2026-07-07.