FCI Thomson (minimum-security camp)
FCI Thomson is a minimum-security satellite camp for men in Thomson, Illinois, operated by the Federal Bureau of Prisons. It held about 131 people as of November 2025. It does not offer the Residential Drug Abuse Program. The institution's main number is 815-259-1000.
Location
Physical location: THOMSON, IL 61285
Mailing address: 1100 ONE MILE ROAD, THOMSON, IL 61285
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 Thomson allow conjugal visits?
No. FCI Thomson 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 Thomson?
FCI Thomson 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
The minimum-security satellite prison camp at Thomson is the lowest-custody component of the Federal Correctional Institution, Thomson, a men's facility in the village of Thomson, Carroll County, in far northwestern Illinois near the Mississippi River (roughly 150 miles west of Chicago). The complex was built by the State of Illinois between 1999 and 2001 as Thomson Correctional Center at a cost of about 140 million dollars, then sat largely empty for years amid state budget fights. The Federal Bureau of Prisons bought it in October 2012 for 165 million dollars. Notably, the minimum-security section was the first part of the complex ever to hold prisoners, well before the main institution was activated. The camp today has a rated capacity of roughly 200 minimum-security beds and held about 131 to 151 men as of late 2023, a small population operating alongside a much larger main institution.
The history of the main institution shaped everything surrounding the camp. From 2019 to 2023, the primary facility operated as an Administrative United States Penitentiary housing a Special Management Unit. This unit became the subject of major investigations after multiple deaths, including suspected homicides and suspected suicides, alongside a severe correctional-officer staffing shortage and documented abuse involving four-point restraints. The Bureau closed the Special Management Unit in early 2023 and redesignated the main site as a low-security FCI, which began filling with low-security men by August 2023. Throughout that turbulent period, the minimum-security camp remained a distinct and calmer component, functioning as the designated section of Thomson where nonviolent men with short remaining sentences are placed.
In accordance with standard federal minimum-security practice, camp life at Thomson is characterized by dormitory or open-bay style housing rather than locked cells, allowing for more freedom of movement than higher-security levels. Inmates perform camp labor that supports operations at the main institution and grounds, earning Federal work-program pay that ranges from roughly 0.12 to 1.15 dollars per hour. Public sources indicate that Thomson does not host a Residential Drug Abuse Program (RDAP) at either the main institution or the camp. However, a drug-abuse education course and the Non-Residential Drug Abuse Program are provided, alongside literacy, GED, ESL, parenting, and Adult Continuing Education classes. Visitation at the complex occurs on Saturdays and Sundays from 8:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m. Furthermore, family members describe frequent but usually short facility-wide lockdowns, a pattern tied to the site's chronic understaffing and its remote, harsh-weather rural location.
Federal oversight attention has reached Thomson through the clemency system as well. As part of broader First Step Act and clemency engagement with the incarcerated population there, the U.S. Pardon Attorney conducted an official visit to FCI Thomson. Because the camp operates at minimum security, the men housed there generally have the widest access to programs, work, and time-credit-earning activities available in the federal system. Consequently, correctional staff and families alike describe camp and low-security placement at Thomson as among the safest bids in the Bureau of Prisons. This secure environment stands in sharp contrast to the violence that defined the shuttered penitentiary unit next door.
First-hand accounts
First-person accounts and reporting about life at this facility. Experiences are individual and may not reflect current conditions.
- FCI Thomson?? (loved one entering minimum security, 9-year term; commenters call camps/lows the safest bid in the Bureau) - Reddit
- FCI Thomson lockdown? (family member describes a facility-wide lockdown and discussion of how frequent and short Thomson lockdowns are) - Reddit
- FCI THOMSON- Low Security (partner of an incoming man asks what to expect; reply describes working down from a low to a camp as "more like a daycare") - Reddit
- FCI Thomson (r/OnTheBlock corrections-officer thread; staff discuss Thomson's heavy overtime, understaffing, remote location, and the AUSP-to-low conversion) - Reddit (staff perspective)
Notable inmates
| Name | Sentence | Offense | Dates |
|---|---|---|---|
| Edward M. "Ed" Burke[1] | 2 years | Racketeering, bribery, and attempted extortion (federal corruption); longtime Chicago City Council alderman of the 14th Ward | Booked at the minimum-security camp September 23, 2024 |
References
- ↑ "Edward M. "Ed" Burke". '. Retrieved 2026-07-07.