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Federal Prisons in Wisconsin

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By Elizabeth Franklin-Best, Esq., and Christopher Zoukis, JD, MBA

Federal prisons in Wisconsin at a glance

The Federal Bureau of Prisons runs one institution in Wisconsin, FCI Oxford, a low-security prison for men in Adams County that held 1,160 people as of September 2026. It belongs to the Bureau’s North Central Region.

InstitutionType and securityHoldsPopulationCamp or satelliteCityJudicial district
FCI OxfordFederal Correctional Institution · LowMen1,160—OxfordWestern District of Wisconsin
Total1 institution1,160—
Federal Bureau of Prisons facility roster and population statistics, September 2026.

Oxford has not always been a low. On June 21, 2023 the Bureau announced that “FCI Oxford will transition from a Medium security male institution to a Low security male institution,” giving no effective date. A footnote to an Inspector General audit posted on September 25, 2025 records that the change was carried out, and the roster now prints Low. Listings still calling Oxford a medium describe the institution as it was.

How many federal prisons are in Wisconsin?

One, on the roster the Bureau of Prisons publishes, which is the list this page counts. FCI Oxford stands on Elk Avenue at County Road G, in farm country about sixty miles north of Madison, and holds men at low security. The other prisons a Wisconsin search returns are state institutions, beyond the federal locator entirely. What the ratings mean is in our guide to security levels, and the shape of the system in the Bureau of Prisons directory.

One institution in a state this size means most Wisconsin families are traveling out of state or waiting for a transfer, because the nearest federal institutions for men are across the lines in Minnesota, Michigan and Illinois. Where a person goes is settled before arrival by a point score, any Public Safety Factor and any Management Variable — each of them arguable. Our FCI Oxford page sets out what this institution runs.

The roster records Oxford as holding men, so the Bureau holds no women in Wisconsin; a woman sentenced in a Wisconsin federal court is designated out of state. Our guide to women’s federal prisons explains how that is decided.

Which Bureau of Prisons regional office oversees Wisconsin?

Wisconsin’s one institution answers to the North Central Regional Office in Kansas City, Kansas, the roster placing Oxford in the North Central Region. That office decides the middle appeal, and everything about it moves by post, which the policy takes into account: Program Statement 1330.18 says at p. 7 that “The deadlines have been made deliberately long to allow sufficient mail time.” The first step is our guide to filing a BP-9.

Which RRM office handles halfway-house placement from Wisconsin?

One office, and it is in Illinois. 28 U.S.C. § 130 provides that “Wisconsin is divided into two judicial districts to be known as the Eastern and Western districts of Wisconsin,” and the Bureau’s page for RRM Chicago prints both, alongside Illinois, Northern Indiana and Western Michigan. Nothing here is shared or left unassigned — but a Milwaukee release plan is run from a Chicago suburb.

The district is not always the one a family expects here. The prison stands in Adams County, which § 130 places in the Western District, where court sits at Madison; its mailing address is the village of Oxford, in Marquette County, in the Eastern District. Placement follows neither, but the district a person is going home to: Program Statement 7310.04 at p. 12 tells the Warden, where significant doubt about a referral exists, to consider “contacting the Chief USPO in the release district.” See federal halfway houses.

How do I find, write to, visit or send money to someone in a Wisconsin federal prison?

Finding someone starts with the inmate locator, which searches every Bureau institution rather than this state alone, by register number or by a full first and last name. It does not reach Wisconsin’s own prison system or a county jail, so an empty result usually means the person is not in federal custody.

Letters go to the post office box Oxford publishes, with the unit and register number on the envelope. One trap is specific to this prison: the facility page still shows a second block for inmates at the camp, and the camp no longer holds anyone. The rules are in our guide to writing to someone inside.

Visiting is a weekend affair at Oxford: Saturdays, Sundays and federal holidays, with no weekday visiting at all. Read the current supplement before making the drive north, and see our page on visitation.

Money arrives by lockbox, Western Union Quick Collect or MoneyGram, and the slowest route is the one families try first: Program Statement 4500.13 provides at pp. 72–73 that “A 15-day hold is placed automatically on negotiable instruments, except those in paragraph 9.3.b.” See sending money.

Which federal prisons in Wisconsin are closing or have closed?

The institution is not closing, and no Wisconsin facility appears in the Bureau’s July 1, 2026 announcement of closures and operational changes. What has gone is Oxford’s satellite camp. The roster records no camp here; the auditor who walked the grounds in March 2025 recorded a camp population of zero, and the same across the twelve months before; and the October 2, 2025 visiting supplement lists the removal of the camp procedures among its changes. The Bureau announced in December 2024 that it would suspend operations at three satellite camps, Oxford’s among them. Its facility page still carries a camp address and commissary list, neither of which should be relied on. See major federal prison closures.

How many federal prisons does the Bureau of Prisons run in Wisconsin?

One. FCI Oxford, in Adams County, is the only institution the Bureau of Prisons operates in the state. Its satellite camp no longer holds anyone and the roster flags none, so Wisconsin has a single federal prison; everything else a search returns is a state institution.

What is the largest federal prison in Wisconsin by population?

FCI Oxford, since it is the only one. The Bureau reports 1,160 people there as of September 2026, and with the camp emptied that figure covers everyone on the site. Wisconsin has one federal prison, so there is no second institution to rank it against.

Is there still a federal prison camp at FCI Oxford?

No. The Bureau’s roster flags no camp, the auditor who inspected the site in March 2025 recorded a camp population of zero, and the October 2025 visiting supplement dropped the camp procedures. The facility page still shows a camp mailing address, which is stale data rather than an open camp.

Was FCI Oxford a medium-security prison?

It was. On June 21, 2023 the Bureau announced that Oxford would move from medium to low security, without setting an effective date, and the Inspector General reported in September 2025 that the change had been made. The roster now prints Low, so directory entries calling it a medium are out of date.

Where are women held in federal custody from Wisconsin?

Outside the state. The roster records Wisconsin’s one institution as holding men, so a woman sentenced in a Wisconsin federal court is designated elsewhere in the system, and her visiting, mail and telephone rules follow that institution’s own supplement rather than anything published here.

How do I look up someone held in a Wisconsin federal prison?

Search the Bureau’s inmate locator, which covers the whole federal system by register number or by a full first and last name. It does not reach state prisons or county jails, and the name it matches is the committed name on the judgment, not the one a family uses.

Which reentry office handles halfway-house placement for someone releasing to Wisconsin?

RRM Chicago, for both Wisconsin districts. Its bop.gov page prints Eastern Wisconsin and Western Wisconsin, so no part of the state is shared with another office or left out, although the office itself sits over the state line in Illinois. What fixes it is the district a person goes home to.

Can someone ask to be designated to the federal prison in Wisconsin?

Asking is allowed and a sentencing court can recommend it, but the decision is the Bureau’s. Under 18 U.S.C. § 3621(b) it must place a person “in a facility as close as practicable to the prisoner’s primary residence,” subject to bed availability and the statute’s other factors.

How can a federal defense firm help a family with someone in a Wisconsin federal prison?

The problems that recur at Oxford have a local shape, and most run on deadlines the Bureau does not advertise. Immigration detainers come first: whether an old removal order is final can decide whether earned time credits are ever applied, and a court will not reach the question until the administrative remedy chain is finished. Programs come second — a sentence imposed with drug-treatment relief in mind can collide with program lists that do not name this institution, an early release problem with a timetable attached. Third is distance: Oxford became a low to hold people nearer home, and the designation, transfer and discipline decisions that keep a Wisconsin family apart are made on paper that can be challenged — among the problems we work on inside.

Elizabeth Franklin-Best, P.C. is a federal criminal defense and post-conviction firm based in Columbia, South Carolina, practicing nationwide. Mentions of Wisconsin places on this page do not imply an office or a lawyer there.

Call 843-620-1100 or contact us to arrange a paid one-hour consultation about a specific situation. Calls are answered 24 hours a day.

Sources and currency

Bureau of Prisons documents

Audits and inspections

Court records and statutes

  • 28 U.S.C. § 130, Office of the Law Revision Counsel. The Wisconsin districts by county.
  • 18 U.S.C. § 3621, Office of the Law Revision Counsel. Designation at § 3621(b).

News and other sources

Sources reviewed September 2026.

Reviewed for legal accuracy by Elizabeth Franklin-Best, Esq., Principal Attorney·September 2026

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