FCI Seagoville (low-security)
FCI Seagoville is a low-security federal correctional institution for men in Seagoville, Texas, operated by the Federal Bureau of Prisons. It held about 1,357 people as of November 2025. It does not offer the Residential Drug Abuse Program. The institution's main number is 972-287-2911.
Location
Physical location: SEAGOVILLE, TX 75159
Mailing address: 2113 NORTH HWY 175, SEAGOVILLE, TX 75159
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, Seagoville (FCI Seagoville) is a low-security federal prison for men in Seagoville, Texas, in Dallas County roughly 11 to 15 miles southeast of downtown Dallas. It is operated by the Federal Bureau of Prisons within the South Central Region and sits alongside an adjacent minimum-security satellite camp that holds the lowest-risk, work-cadre inmates. Reported populations vary by source and date, generally cited at roughly 1,340 to 1,500 in the main low-security institution plus about 90 to 170 at the camp. Seagoville is a designated Sex Offender Management Program (SOMP) institution, meaning a large share of the population, commonly reported at around 40 percent, has a current or past sexual offense. As a SOMP low it functions as a comparatively safe yard where inmates whose charges would make them targets at other institutions can move about the compound with less threat of violence.
The site has an unusual history. It opened on October 10, 1940 as the Federal Reformatory for Women. After the attack on Pearl Harbor, the government converted the property into a Federal Detention Station monitored by the Immigration and Naturalization Service. During World War II, the facility interned people of Japanese, German, and Italian descent classified as 'enemy aliens'. Detainees even produced a German-language newsletter, and several hundred people were held there until the station closed in June 1945. It then became a minimum-security facility for male offenders. The site later housed youth offenders from the late 1960s into the 1970s and operated as a Federal Prison Camp. Finally, in 1981, the location gained a perimeter fence and the Federal Correctional Institution designation it carries today.
Daily life at the facility resembles that of a low-security compound characterized by relatively open movement. Housing is largely dormitory-style rather than being divided into individual cells. Formerly incarcerated people note that some housing units lack air conditioning, which is a relevant detail given Texas summers and makes the process of obtaining a medical air-conditioning pass a common concern. Recreation includes outdoor tracks, sports fields, basketball courts, indoor cable weight machines, a retained weight pile, table tennis, and hobby-craft activities. Specialized programming serves as a significant draw for eligible inmates. The facility runs the Residential Drug Abuse Program (RDAP), an intensive and voluntary treatment program that can yield up to a year off a sentence upon successful completion. Consistent with its SOMP mission, the institution also facilitates a non-residential Sex Offender Treatment Program (SOTP-NR). Furthermore, the UNICOR Federal Prison Industries operation at Seagoville produces clothing and textiles; according to inmate accounts, this specific enterprise hires heavily from the sex-offender population. Education, vocational classes, and a well-stocked leisure and law library round out the institutional offerings.
The most significant recent event at Seagoville was one of the largest early COVID-19 outbreaks in the federal prison system. By August 2020, reporting indicated that roughly 1,300 of about 1,750 inmates had tested positive, accounting for near 75 percent of the population and resulting in several inmate deaths. Because the institution concentrates high-profile and vulnerable populations, it has also housed a range of well-known inmates. These individuals include corrupt public officials, a terrorism-financing defendant, and figures from high-publicity sexual-offense cases, all housed in the main low-security institution rather than the camp.
First-hand accounts
First-person accounts and reporting about life at this facility. Experiences are individual and may not reflect current conditions.
- Best Federal Low for SO (thread by a mother of a man facing federal CSAM charges asking which low is safest) - Reddit. Discussion thread in which multiple formerly incarcerated people and their families weigh in on FCI Seagoville as one of the better low-security yards for sex offenders, repeatedly citing its safety, RDAP, SOTP, UNICOR, and library programs.
- First-hand account: 'I went to Seagoville FCI and had no issues at all' - Reddit. A former Seagoville inmate from Florida says he had no problems there, still keeps in touch with friends inside, notes conditions have changed somewhat due to federal budget cuts, and warns that some housing units lack air conditioning so new arrivals should get an AC pass as soon as possible because of the brutal Texas summers.
- First-hand operational detail on Seagoville programs and compound life - Reddit. Detailed insider comment describing Seagoville as a SOMP low with RDAP, retained weight piles, large recreation yards, a UNICOR that hires almost exclusively sex offenders, a solid education department and well-stocked library, and widely available contraband cell phones on the compound.
- First-hand assessment: 'FCI Seagoville is the best low for SOs' - Reddit. Commenter with direct knowledge calls Seagoville the best low for registered sex offenders, noting it offers the non-residential SOTP and RDAP and runs a population of roughly 1,400 to 1,800, while advising that a facility recommendation carries little weight because the BOP places by bed space within about 500 miles of home.
Notable inmates
| Name | Sentence | Offense | Dates |
|---|---|---|---|
| Josh Duggar[1] | 151 months (about 12.5 years) | Receipt and possession of child sexual abuse material (former '19 Kids and Counting' reality-TV figure) | Held at FCI Seagoville from June 27, 2022 until transfer to FMC Fort Worth on May 29, 2026 |
| Christopher (Chris) Epps | 235 months (about 19.6 years) | Bribery and filing a false tax return; former Mississippi Department of Corrections Commissioner who took at least $1.4 million in bribes (Operation Mississippi Hustle) | Moved to FCI Seagoville by July 2017 |
| Mufid Abdulqader[2] | 20 years | Material support for terrorism; fundraising for the Holy Land Foundation, found to have funneled money to Hamas (half-brother of former Hamas politburo chief Khaled Mashal) | Served at FCI Seagoville; released to a halfway house on December 12, 2024 |
| Ralph Shortey | 15 years | Child sex trafficking; former Oklahoma state senator | Held at the main low-security FCI (release date reported around 2030) |
References
- ↑ "Josh Duggar". '. Retrieved 2026-07-07.
- ↑ "Mufid Abdulqader". '. Retrieved 2026-07-07.