FMC Fort Worth (medical facility)

Daily life and programs

Located at 3150 Horton Road in Fort Worth, Tarrant County, Texas, FMC Fort Worth is an administrative security United States federal prison that houses adult male inmates of all security levels who have special medical and mental health needs. The facility is operated by the Federal Bureau of Prisons within the U.S. Department of Justice. The institution originally opened in 1971 as a low security prison known as the Federal Correctional Institution (FCI) Fort Worth. It was first converted to a Federal Medical Center in 1994 before being returned to FCI status at the end of 2006. In 2017, the facility was reconverted to a Federal Medical Center, which is the designation it holds today. Reported population figures for the site fall in the range of roughly 1,340 to 1,500 inmates. It should not be confused with FMC Carswell, the separate federal medical center for women that is also located in Fort Worth.

Because it is a care facility, medical services define daily life at FMC Fort Worth. The institution operates at a Care Level 3/4 for medical needs and Care Level 3 for mental health, providing emergency medical and psychological services 24 hours a day in addition to a weekday-morning sick call. Services include chronic-care management, dental and medical triage, physical examinations, medications, and eyeglasses. Housing is mixed; inmates live in units that range from two-, three-, four-, six-, and eight-person cells up to open dormitories holding roughly 20 to 30 men. Published inmate-facing guides characterize the environment as comparatively laid back and relatively safe for a facility of its size. The institution experiences low levels of violence, though the medical mission means a population that is older and more infirm than at a typical FCI.

Programming centers on rehabilitation and re-entry. The facility runs the Residential Drug Abuse Program (RDAP), which is the BOP's nine-month, 500-hour intensive treatment program. Successful completion can earn eligible inmates up to a 12-month sentence reduction. The facility also provides Drug Education and a Non-Residential Drug Abuse Program. Education offerings include literacy, GED, and English-as-a-Second-Language classes, Adult Continuing Education (ACE) courses, a parenting program, and college coursework through partner community colleges. Furthermore, inmates have access to vocational training such as an HVAC apprenticeship and advanced occupational education in Building Service Maintenance and Office Technology. UNICOR (Federal Prison Industries) is not operated at this facility. Recreation covers indoor hobby and craft shops, fitness equipment, and music and card rooms, accompanied by outdoor sports courts, fields, a track, and weightlifting areas. Visitation is generally held on Saturdays, Sundays, and Mondays, as well as on federal holidays.

Operating as a medical center, FMC Fort Worth receives medically or mentally complex inmates who are transferred from across the federal system. Consequently, a number of high-profile prisoners have passed through the facility for treatment. The institution has also been the setting for notable criminal cases and incidents of staff misconduct. These events include a widely reported 2012 murder-for-hire plot in which an inmate solicited the killing of the federal judge assigned to his own case, in addition to several separate prosecutions of staff members for smuggling or sexual misconduct over the years.

Notable inmates

Name	Sentence	Offense	Dates
Joseph Maldonado-Passage ("Joe Exotic" / Tiger King)	21 years (resentenced); projected release around 2036	Murder-for-hire plot targeting Carole Baskin plus wildlife trafficking (Lacey Act / Endangered Species Act) violations	Transferred to FMC Fort Worth for medical care (cancer treatment)
Josh Duggar	151 months (about 12.5 years); scheduled release February 2, 2033	Receipt/possession of child sexual abuse material	Held at FMC Fort Worth as of early June 2026 (subsequently moved to a transfer holdover)
Eric Kay	22 years	Fentanyl distribution resulting in the overdose death of Los Angeles Angels pitcher Tyler Skaggs (Kay was the team's communications director)	Sentenced October 11, 2022
Steve Stockman	10 years; sentence commuted by President Trump in December 2020	Fraud and related charges (former U.S. Representative, R-Texas)
Leland Yee	Released June 2020	Public corruption / racketeering (former California State Senator)
Jacques Roy	35 years; scheduled release around 2040	Health-care fraud conspiracy (large-scale Medicare fraud, physician)
Chris Kirchner	20 years	Fraud (former Slync.io CEO)
Phillip Monroe Ballard	20 years	Solicitation of murder-for-hire of U.S. District Judge John McBryde, the judge assigned to his tax case, while an inmate at the facility	Solicited in 2012; sentenced March 17, 2014