FPC Pensacola (Closed)
Federal Prison Camp, Pensacola (FPC Pensacola) was a minimum-security federal prison camp for men at Saufley Field, part of Naval Air Station Pensacola in Florida. Opened in 1988, it was for decades one of the best-known destinations for white-collar and other low-risk federal defendants before it closed in 2026.[1] This page is maintained as a historical record of the facility.
The facility
FPC Pensacola operated on Navy-owned land and buildings, with its population working support jobs on the base — one of the classic "camp" arrangements in the federal system, where minimum-security men serve time with dormitory housing and no perimeter fence.[2] At its height the camp held roughly 500 men with about 100 staff, and its reputation as a comparatively soft landing made it a frequent request among self-surrendering defendants.[1]
Why it closed
The buildings belonged to the Navy, and by the mid-2020s the Bureau of Prisons described them as in "significant disrepair" — deficiencies the Bureau concluded were not worth remediating on land it did not own.[1] The closure was announced in December 2024, with the Bureau anticipating roughly nine months to wind the camp down; Director William K. Marshall III completed the closure in 2026, and the Navy planned to demolish the structures and fold the site back into Naval Air Station Pensacola.[3][4] Its roughly 500 residents were relocated to other minimum-security facilities.[1]
Legacy
Pensacola's closure removed one of the federal system's most-requested camps and foreshadowed the wider 2026 wave of Bureau of Prisons shutdowns driven by staffing shortages and a multibillion-dollar maintenance backlog, including FCI Terminal Island and the closures announced in July 2026.[4] Reaction in the Pensacola community was mixed, weighing the loss of a local institution and its base workforce against the condition of the buildings.[5]
First-Person Accounts & Reporting
Accounts from people who spent time at FPC Pensacola and reporting on the camp before its closure:
- Todd Chrisley's time at FPC Pensacola, before his 2025 pardon — Pensacola News Journal (local paper). Reporting on the facility's amenities and Todd Chrisley's time there before his pardon.
- Todd Chrisley speaks on Pensacola prison, critiques inmate treatment — WKRG (local TV). Report on Chrisley's public comments critiquing RDAP administration at the camp.
- Anyone been to FPC Pensacola? — Reddit (r/Prison). First-person conditions thread on lack of AC and camp ranking.
Please remember that experiences are unique and may not reflect today's experience.
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 "Federal Prison Camp Pensacola to permanently close, be demolished". WEAR-TV. Retrieved 2026-07-13.
- ↑ "Federal Prison Camp, Pensacola". Wikipedia. Retrieved 2026-07-13.
- ↑ 4.0 4.1 "Bureau Of Prisons Announces Multiple Facility Closings Citing Budget". Forbes. Retrieved 2026-07-13.
- ↑ "'Not taking accountability': Mixed responses to Federal Prison Camp Pensacola's closure". WEAR-TV. Retrieved 2026-07-13.