Federal facilities that house women

Federal facilities that house women are the institutions of the Federal Bureau of Prisons (BOP) that hold female inmates. Women make up roughly seven percent of the federal prison population and are held across about 27 facilities nationwide, from Connecticut to California. Unlike many state systems, the federal system rarely operates standalone women's prisons; instead it often houses women in a dedicated unit inside a larger, mostly male complex.

Because of this, the security level that matters for a woman entering the system is the level of the unit she is housed in, a minimum-security camp, a low-security satellite, or the Bureau's single Secure Female Facility, not the headline (usually men's) designation of the complex she is attached to. Most sentenced women serve their time in a minimum-security camp.

How the federal system houses women

Federal women are held in four broad settings:

• Minimum-security camps. Most sentenced women are designated to a Federal Prison Camp (FPC), either a standalone women's camp such as FPC Alderson or FPC Bryan, or a satellite camp on the grounds of a larger men's institution (for example the camps at FCI Phoenix, FCI Victorville, or FCI Marianna). Camps have no perimeter fencing and the most relaxed conditions in the system.
• Low-security institutions. A smaller number of women are held in low-security fenced institutions, either women-only (FCI Waseca, FCI Estill) or in a low-security satellite of a mixed complex (FSL Danbury).
• The Secure Female Facility (SFF). The BOP operates a single Secure Female Facility, SFF Hazelton in West Virginia, the highest-security setting for federal women, holding multiple custody levels.
• Medical and detention. FMC Carswell is the only federal medical center for women, holding sentenced women of all security levels with medical or psychiatric needs. A number of administrative-security detention centers hold women short-term, pretrial, in transit, or on a holdover, rather than to serve a sentence.

Institutions where women serve sentences

Women-only institutions

Facility	Location	Women's housing (unit & security)	Population
FCI Aliceville	Aliceville, AL	Main institution (FCI) (Low security); Satellite camp (Minimum security)	Sentenced (converting to a men's facility in 2026; women relocating to FCI Estill)
FCI Estill	Estill, SC	Main institution (FCI) (Low security)	Sentenced (newly converted to women's in 2026)
FCI Waseca	Waseca, MN	Main institution (FCI) (Low security)	Sentenced
FMC Carswell	Fort Worth, TX	Federal Medical Center (all levels) (Administrative security); Satellite camp (Minimum security)	Mostly sentenced (some pretrial forensic)
FPC Alderson	Alderson, WV	Federal Prison Camp (Minimum security)	Sentenced
FPC Bryan	Bryan, TX	Federal Prison Camp (Minimum security)	Sentenced

Mixed complexes with a women's unit

These complexes hold a separate men's population; the entry below is the unit that houses the women.

Facility	Location	Women's housing (unit & security)	Population
FCI Danbury	Danbury, CT	Satellite Low (FSL) (Low security); Satellite camp (Minimum security)	Sentenced
FCI Greenville	Greenville, IL	Satellite camp (Minimum security)	Sentenced
FCI Marianna	Marianna, FL	Satellite camp (Minimum security)	Sentenced
FCI Pekin	Pekin, IL	Satellite camp (Minimum security)	Sentenced
FCI Phoenix	Phoenix, AZ	Satellite camp (Minimum security)	Sentenced
FCI Tallahassee	Tallahassee, FL	Main institution (FCI) (Low security); Detention unit (Administrative security)	Sentenced + pretrial
FCI Tucson	Tucson, AZ	Detention unit (Administrative security)	Pretrial / holdover
FCI Victorville	Victorville, CA	Satellite camp (Minimum security)	Sentenced
FMC Lexington	Lexington, KY	Satellite camp (Minimum security)	Sentenced (women's camp on BOP's 2026 closure list)
SFF Hazelton	Bruceton Mills, WV	Secure Female Facility (SFF) (Secure security)	Sentenced

Detention centers that hold women

These administrative-security facilities hold women on a short-term basis, pretrial detention, holdover, or in-transit, rather than as a place to serve a sentence.

Facility	Location	Women's housing (unit & security)	Population
FDC Honolulu	Honolulu, HI	Detention center (Administrative security)	Pretrial / holdover
FDC Houston	Houston, TX	Detention center (Administrative security)	Pretrial / holdover
FDC Miami	Miami, FL	Detention center (Administrative security)	Pretrial / holdover
FDC Philadelphia	Philadelphia, PA	Detention center (Administrative security)	Pretrial / holdover
FDC SeaTac	Seattle, WA	Detention center (Administrative security)	Pretrial / holdover
FTC Oklahoma City	Oklahoma City, OK	Detention center (Administrative security)	Pretrial / holdover
MCC Chicago	Chicago, IL	Detention center (Administrative security)	Pretrial / holdover
MCC San Diego	San Diego, CA	Detention center (Administrative security)	Pretrial / holdover
MDC Brooklyn	Brooklyn, NY	Detention center (Administrative security)	Pretrial / holdover
MDC Guaynabo	Guaynabo, PR	Detention center (Administrative security)	Pretrial / holdover
MDC Los Angeles	Los Angeles, CA	Detention center (Administrative security)	Pretrial / holdover

2026 mission changes

The Bureau reassigned several facilities in 2026, which stale rosters do not reflect:

• FCI Aliceville (Alabama) is converting from a low-security women's institution to a men's institution; its women were being relocated to FCI Estill by approximately June 2026.
• FCI Estill (South Carolina) was converted from a men's to a women's low-security institution (Care Level 2) to receive Aliceville's women.
• FCI Dublin (California), formerly a women's institution, was permanently closed in 2024 following documented staff sexual-abuse scandals.
• FMC Lexington's women's satellite camp is on the Bureau's July 1, 2026 budget-closure list.

See also

• Federal Prison Camp
• Residential Drug Abuse Program
• Federal Bureau of Prisons

References

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