Federal Correctional Institution | Low-Security Prisons

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

A low-security federal prison is a Federal Correctional Institution with a double-fenced perimeter and electronic detection, dormitory or cubicle housing, and a higher staff-to-inmate ratio than a camp. It sits second from the bottom of the five federal security levels, taking men who score 12–15 security points and women who score 16–30 (PS 5100.08 at p. 14).

But most people at a Low are not there because of their points. They are there because a Public Safety Factor set a floor of Low — and a Public Safety Factor overrides the arithmetic entirely. Under Table 5-2, a man with a Security Total of zero carrying the Sex Offender, Deportable Alien, Greatest Severity Offense, Threat to Government Officials or Serious Telephone Abuse factor, or with more than ten years left to serve, is designated to a Low (PS 5100.08 at p. 61). That is the single most important thing to understand about this security level: it is the floor the system uses when someone’s conduct score says camp but a categorical rule says no.

Staff score the caseOn the Inmate Load and Security Designation Form, BP‑337.

SENTRY totals the pointsSeverity of offense, criminal history, detainers, escapes, violence, age, education, drug use.

A Public Safety Factor is appliedIf one fits, it sets a floor and the point total no longer controls.

A Management Variable may shift itStaff judgment can move the placement one level up or down.

DSCC designates the institutionThe Designation and Sentence Computation Center in Grand Prairie, Texas, makes the call.

The score is the starting point, not the answer. Most people are surprised by step three: a Public Safety Factor keeps someone out of a lower‑security institution no matter how few points they scored, and no more than three may be applied at once. Steps three and four are also where a lawyer’s work actually lands — the point total is arithmetic, but the PSF and the Management Variable turn on judgment and on the record the Bureau is given.

Source: BOP Program Statement 5100.08, Inmate Security Designation and Custody Classification (Change Notice CN‑3, May 6, 2026), chs. 1, 2 and 5. Verified against the program statement text; confirm current policy before relying on it in a specific case.

Low security at a glance
What BOP calls it	Federal Correctional Institution (FCI); Federal Satellite Low (FSL) where attached to a larger institution
Point range	Men 12–15; women 16–30 (PS 5100.08 at p. 14)
Custody levels housed	OUT and IN (PS 5100.08 at p. 14)
Initial custody on arrival	IN (PS 5100.08 at Table 4-1, p. 47)
Public Safety Factors permitted	Yes — eight of the eleven set their floor at exactly Low (PS 5100.08 at Tables 5-2 and 5-3, pp. 61–62)
Institutions on BOP’s roster	35 described as low security (roster reconciled September 5, 2026) — one of which, FCI Yazoo City Low II, BOP’s roster now carries as Medium
Federal Satellite Lows	Elkton, Jesup and La Tuna; Morgantown and Duluth converting from camps to FSLs (BOP press release, July 1, 2026)
Announced closures	Beaumont Low, Big Spring, La Tuna and Petersburg Low (same release)
Governing policy	Program Statement 5100.08, as amended by CN-3 (May 6, 2026) — agency policy, not law; the binding regulation is 28 C.F.R. part 524

What a low-security federal prison physically is

The defining feature is the fence — usually two of them, with electronic detection between, and without the razor-wire spools and armed mobile patrol that mark a Medium. There is a secure perimeter, and that changes everything about how the compound runs compared with a camp.

Housing is predominantly dormitory or cubicle: open bays with half-height partitions, or two- and four-person cubicles, rather than cells with doors. A limited number of low-security institutions have cells. That layout is the source of most complaints about the level — noise that never stops, communal bathrooms and showers, no door to close, and a person’s entire property in one locker. It is also, in the judgment of most people who have lived in both, safer than a cell: a dormitory is visible, and visibility is protective.

Staffing sits between a camp and a Medium. Movement is more controlled than at a camp — there are controlled-movement periods, and work outside the secure perimeter is limited rather than routine, because the population includes people who are not cleared for community access at all. Under Table 4-1, someone designated to a Low starts at IN custody (PS 5100.08 at p. 47), and IN custody people “are not eligible for work details or programs outside the institution’s secure perimeter” (PS 5100.08 at p. 17). Moving to OUT custody — which permits outside details with a minimum of two-hour intermittent staff supervision (PS 5100.08 at p. 21) — takes a custody review and a negative variance.

A Federal Satellite Low (FSL) is a low-security satellite attached to a larger institution, the low-security analogue of a satellite camp. Three are on BOP’s roster: at FCI Elkton, at FCI Jesup — where the parent institution is a Medium — and at FCI La Tuna, which is closing. Two more are coming: under the July 1, 2026 announcement, FPC Morgantown and FPC Duluth convert from minimum-security camps to FSLs, which moves both facilities up a level.

Who goes to a low-security federal prison

Two populations arrive at a Low by completely different routes, and they do not have the same experience of the place.

People whose points put them there

Men scoring 12–15 and women scoring 16–30. On the BP-337 that is a moderate combination — a moderate-severity offense, some criminal history, a younger defendant, no voluntary-surrender credit, or a detainer. On the BP-338 after arrival it can also be a score that came down from Medium: the Custody Variance table subtracts up to 5 points for men and 16 for women when the custody score is high, which is how clean conduct and program participation move somebody from a Medium into a Low (PS 5100.08 at p. 77).

People whose Public Safety Factor put them there regardless of points

This is the larger group, and it is what makes a low-security population unlike any other level’s.

Public Safety Factor setting a floor of Low	Applies to
Sex Offender — enumerated conduct in the current term or prior history. A conviction is not required if the PSR or other official documentation clearly indicates the conduct; if the case was dismissed or nolle prosequi the factor cannot be entered, but where a plea bargain avoided the conviction and the PSR documents the behavior, it is entered	Men and women
Deportable Alien — not a U.S. citizen. Removed when ICE or the immigration court determines removal proceedings are unwarranted, on a finding not to deport, or on naturalization	Men and women
Greatest Severity Offense — current term in the “Greatest Severity” range of the Offense Severity Scale	Men
Threat to Government Officials — carries the CIM assignment of that name	Men and women
Serious Telephone Abuse — using the telephone to further criminal activity or promote illicit organizations; no conviction required	Men and women
Sentence Length — more than 10 years remaining to serve	Men
Violent Behavior — two convictions or DHO findings for serious incidents of violence within the last five years	Women
Juvenile Violence — documented violent behavior while of juvenile age resulting in conviction, adjudication or finding of guilt	Men and women

PS 5100.08 at pp. 56–62. A maximum of three factors may be applied; where more than three fit, the Bureau applies the three producing the greatest security (PS 5100.08 at p. 56).

Eight factors, all landing at Low. That is why a low-security compound holds people with almost nothing in common — a first-time fraud defendant with more than ten years to serve, a non-citizen with a two-year sentence and an ICE detainer, someone with a sex-offense factor and no conviction for one, and someone who simply scored 13 points. Our pages on surviving prison as a person convicted of a sex offense and sex offender treatment programs cover the F factor in depth, and the Bureau’s Sex Offender Programs policy is the governing instruction.

The route nobody expects: missing offense information

PS 5100.08 provides that where offense or background information is not available before designation, “an inmate must be designated to at least a Low security level institution,” with the institution free to request redesignation once the information arrives (PS 5100.08 at p. 24). A person can land in a Low purely because the PSR had not reached the Designation and Sentence Computation Center in time. If that describes your case, the remedy is a cop-out asking the Unit Team to refer the case for rescoring once the documents are in the file — see the Inmate Request to Staff policy and form BP-A0148.

What life at a low-security FCI is actually like

Crowding is the defining condition

Low-security institutions run large — FCI Fort Dix held 4,117 people on its published record, FCI Lompoc II 2,195, FCI Elkton 2,071, FCI Coleman Low 2,098 and FCI Thomson 2,100. When SENTRY shows the Designator a list of appropriate facilities, it shows both the Rated Capacity — what the facility was designed to hold — and the Designation Capacity, the equitable share of that security level a given institution should carry (PS 5100.08 at p. 25). Where a Low is over its designation capacity, the Bureau uses the Population Management Variable to place people off-level, and that variable runs up to 18 months (PS 5100.08 at p. 55). If you are waiting months for a transfer that was approved, this is usually why. The Bureau’s rated capacities policy sets the methodology.

Movement and work at a low-security FCI

Every physically and mentally able sentenced person is assigned to a work program at initial classification, and that assignment is mandatory under 28 C.F.R. § 524.11(d). At a Low the work is inside the fence unless and until custody moves to OUT: food service, facilities, education orderly, UNICOR where the institution has a factory. Pay scales and assignment rules come from the inmate work and performance pay policy; our pages on inmate work assignments and UNICOR cover what the jobs pay and what they involve.

Programs at a low-security FCI

Lows generally carry the deepest program catalog in the system, because they hold the largest populations. The literacy and GED program is mandatory for anyone without a verified diploma or GED; career and technical education and postsecondary education are widely available; and RDAP is offered at many low-security institutions under the Psychology Treatment Programs policy. Program participation is also a scoring item worth 0, 1 or 2 custody points, and refusing the Financial Responsibility Program, the Release Preparation Program or mandatory drug education zeroes both Program Participation and Living Skills — four points at once (PS 5100.08 at p. 72).

Daily life at a low-security FCI

Commissary, food service, recreation, clothing and bedding, showers and toilets, counts, visits, phone calls and CorrLinks email all follow national policy with local variation. Where the honest answer to a question is it depends on the institution, what it depends on is the institution supplement — the local written implementation of a national Program Statement, issued by the Warden. Visiting hours, dress codes, property limits, recreation schedules and commissary spending days are all supplement matters. Ask the Unit Team for the current supplement rather than assuming a national rule exists.

Medical care varies by the institution’s medical care level, which is a separate grading from security level and is assigned by a different office (PS 5100.08 at p. 23). See medical care levels in federal prison, medical care and the Bureau’s medical designations policy.

Culture and safety at a low-security FCI

The honest version, without the reassurance and without the drama.

Why a Low is safer than a Medium and less safe than a camp

The Bureau will not designate someone to a Low if they carry a Disruptive Group factor (floor: High), a Prison Disturbance factor (floor: High for men), or a Serious Escape factor (floor: Medium for men) (PS 5100.08 at pp. 56–61). Validated gang members, riot participants and people who have escaped from secure custody are excluded by rule. What the level does contain is people with History of Violence points that did not rise to a Public Safety Factor, which is a real distinction: history-of-violence points come from documented findings of guilt and can be as few as one or two for an old, minor incident (PS 5100.08 at p. 42).

Who a Low actually holds, and why the mix is unusual

That produces an unusual social mix, and it is why the level is where cooperators and people with sex-offense factors are most often housed — not because a Low is designated for them, but because the PSF floor is Low and the Bureau has nowhere lower to send them.

What moves a person out of a Low, upward

A Greatest-severity incident report scores 0 on the custody form for ten years (PS 5100.08 at p. 73), and documented misconduct supports a Disciplinary or Close Supervision transfer under codes 309 and 323, “normally of greater security” (PS 5100.08 at p. 88). An increase in the scored security level requires referral to the DSCC for a Greater Security transfer (code 307) or a Management Variable (PS 5100.08 at p. 86). And where an inmate presents a greater security risk than the scheme captures, the Greater Security variable applies with an overriding Management Security Level at least one level up and an expiration of up to 24 months (PS 5100.08 at p. 54). Our page on inmate discipline proceedings covers the hearing that starts that chain, and special housing units covers where a person waits during it.

What moves a person out of a Low, downward

The score comes down at the annual custody review — Percentage of Time Served rises as the sentence runs, age drops the Base Score at 25, 36 and 55, and clean conduct maxes both incident-report items (PS 5100.08 at pp. 45, 71, 73–74). Or a Sentence Length factor lapses: a man with more than ten years remaining carries a Low floor, and when the remaining term drops below ten years, that factor stops applying. Either way, when the scored level changes, PS 5100.08 requires referral to the DSCC for a Lesser Security transfer (code 308) or a Management Variable (PS 5100.08 at p. 86). Where the institution has its own satellite camp, the Warden may make the move without going to the DSCC, provided the security and custody levels fit (PS 5100.08 at p. 91) — which is a meaningful advantage of the many Lows that have a camp attached. See the minimum-security page for what happens next.

If protection is the actual problem

If safety is the actual problem rather than the abstract question, the relevant machinery is protective custody, the Central Inmate Monitoring separation assignment (CIM policy), and the PREA framework under the Bureau’s sexual abuse prevention policy. Our page on violence and sexual assault in prison covers reporting.

Applied Insight — Christopher Zoukis, JD, MBA, Managing Director: The most common misconception about a Low is that the point total explains who is there. It usually does not. Eight of the eleven Public Safety Factors set their floor at exactly this level, so a low-security compound is largely populated by people whose conduct score says camp and whose category says no. That matters practically: when a family asks why a first offender with no violence is at a fenced institution, the answer is almost always sitting in the Public Safety Factor box on the classification form, not in the arithmetic — and two of those factors, Deportable Alien and Sentence Length, come off on their own terms.

How a Low differs from every other level

	Minimum (camp)	Low (FCI)	Medium (FCI)	High (USP)
Perimeter	Limited or no fencing	Double fence, electronic detection	Reinforced fence, razor wire, armed patrol	Reinforced fence or wall; most have towers
Housing	Dormitory	Dormitory or cubicle; some cells	Predominantly cells	Cells
Custody levels housed	COMMUNITY, OUT	OUT, IN	OUT, IN	IN, MAXIMUM
Initial custody on arrival	OUT	IN	IN	IN (MAXIMUM at USP Marion and ADX Florence)
Male point range	0–11	12–15	16–23	24+
Female point range	0–15	16–30	none	31+
Public Safety Factors permitted	No	Yes — eight set their floor here	Yes	Yes
Work outside the perimeter	Routine	Limited; requires OUT custody	No	No
Institutions on BOP’s roster	6 standalone + 68 satellite camps	35	43	15

PS 5100.08 at pp. 14, 16–21, 47, 61–62; institution counts from BOP’s published locations roster, reconciled September 5, 2026.

The comparison people actually want is with a Medium, because that is the boundary a bad year can cross. A Medium houses predominantly in cells rather than dormitories, adds razor wire and armed mobile patrol, and holds a population that includes people with Serious Escape factors and higher History of Violence scores. The gap between a 15 and a 16 on the male scale is one point, and one incident report can cover it. See our page on medium-security federal prisons for what is on the other side of that line, and high-security penitentiaries for the level above that.

What changed — the closures and one roster warning you should not miss

Four low-security institutions are closing

The Bureau’s July 1, 2026 announcement — driven by a deferred-maintenance backlog it put at more than $4 billion, and by staffing — closes FCI Beaumont Low, FCI Big Spring and its satellite camp, FCI La Tuna together with its Federal Satellite Low and satellite camp, and FCI Petersburg Low; FCI Taft closes permanently (BOP press release, July 1, 2026). Staff at Beaumont Low and Petersburg Low transfer to other units onsite or nearby; a reduction in force takes effect at Big Spring and La Tuna. Three of the four are in Texas. Meanwhile FPC Morgantown and FPC Duluth convert from camps to Federal Satellite Lows, which adds low-security capacity while removing camp capacity.

Caveat, stated plainly. As of a facility-by-facility reconciliation of BOP’s published locations roster on September 5, 2026, the Bureau’s own systems still listed Beaumont Low, Big Spring, La Tuna and Petersburg Low as active at their original security levels, and still listed Morgantown and Duluth as Federal Prison Camps. Only Taft had dropped off. These are announced changes that had not yet posted; confirm current status before relying on any of it. Our page on major federal prison closures and deactivations tracks the list.

FCI Yazoo City Low II is classified Medium on BOP’s roster

This is the one facility-level discrepancy in the entire federal system as of the September 5, 2026 reconciliation, and it matters to anyone analyzing a Yazoo City designation. BOP’s live locations roster carries FCI Yazoo City Low II at a security level of Medium, while the facility’s own published page continues to describe it as “a low security federal correctional institution.” The two are inconsistent on the Bureau’s own systems, and the roster field is the more recently updated of the two.

Why that is not a technicality: security level drives custody-scoring expectations, program availability, movement, and every transfer analysis that follows. A person designated to “Yazoo City Low II” on the assumption it is a Low may be at a Medium. Confirm the level with the DSCC or the Unit Team before relying on it. For comparison, FCI Yazoo City Low is carried as Low on the roster and FCI Yazoo City Medium as Medium; only the “Low II” record disagrees with its own name.

Separately, four records are off BOP’s roster and should not be treated as operating low-security institutions: FCI Dublin, FCI Terminal Island, MCC New York and FPC Pensacola.

List of low-security federal prisons by state

Every institution on BOP’s published locations roster described as low security — 35 records, reconciled facility-by-facility on September 5, 2026. Population figures are the institution total as published, not a camp or FSL sub-total.

State	Institution	Houses	Population	Adjacent camp or FSL	Note
Alabama	FCI Aliceville	Women	973	Satellite camp
Arizona	FCI Safford	Men	639	—
Arkansas	FCI Forrest City Low	Men	1,910	Satellite camp
California	FCI Lompoc I	Men	875	—
California	FCI Lompoc II	Men	2,195	Satellite camp
Colorado	FCI Englewood	Men	962	Satellite camp
Connecticut	FCI Danbury	Men and women	1,230	Satellite camp
Florida	FCI Coleman Low	Men	2,098 (1,609 FCI, 489 camp)	Satellite camp
Florida	FCI Miami	Men	999	Satellite camp
Florida	FCI Tallahassee	Men and women	1,209	Detention center
Georgia	FCI Atlanta	Men	1,822	Detention center
Illinois	FCI Thomson	Men	2,100	Satellite camp
Kentucky	FCI Ashland	Men	1,488	Satellite camp
Louisiana	FCI Oakdale I	Men	1,128	—
Louisiana	FCI Oakdale II	Men	1,041	Satellite camp
Michigan	FCI Milan	Men	1,529	Detention center
Minnesota	FCI Sandstone	Men	1,227	—
Minnesota	FCI Waseca	Women	838	—
Mississippi	FCI Yazoo City Low	Men	1,682	Satellite camp
Mississippi	FCI Yazoo City Low II	Men	1,493	—	Caution: BOP’s roster classifies this facility MEDIUM despite the “Low II” name — confirm before relying on it
New Jersey	FCI Fort Dix	Men	4,117 (3,895 FCI, 222 camp)	Satellite camp	Largest low-security institution on the roster
North Carolina	FCI Butner Low	Men	949	Satellite camp
Ohio	FCI Elkton	Men	2,071	FSL
Pennsylvania	FCI Allenwood Low	Men	1,009	—
Pennsylvania	FCI Loretto	Men	768	Satellite camp
South Carolina	FCI Estill	Women	145	Satellite camp
Tennessee	FCI Memphis	Men	1,020	Detention center
Texas	FCI Bastrop	Men	1,142	Satellite camp
Texas	FCI Beaumont Low	Men	1,964 (1,444 FCI, 520 camp)	Satellite camp	Closing (July 1, 2026 announcement)
Texas	FCI Big Spring	Men	601	Satellite camp	Closing (July 1, 2026 announcement)
Texas	FCI La Tuna	Men	700	Satellite camp + FSL	Closing (July 1, 2026 announcement)
Texas	FCI Seagoville	Men	1,407	Satellite camp + detention center
Texas	FCI Texarkana	Men	1,349	Satellite camp
Virginia	FCI Petersburg Low	Men	360	Satellite camp	Closing (July 1, 2026 announcement)
Wisconsin	FCI Oxford	Men	1,149	Satellite camp

Plus one FSL at a medium-security parent: FCI Jesup, Georgia, which carries both a satellite camp and a Federal Satellite Low. Under the July 1, 2026 announcement, FPC Morgantown (West Virginia) and FPC Duluth (Minnesota) convert from camps to FSLs.

Privately operated contract facilities are not on this list. BOP’s institution roster contains 118 Bureau-operated institutions and no contract prisons; a facility run under contract is not a BOP institution and does not carry a BOP security level, even where it holds federal prisoners. If you are researching a facility whose name begins “CI,” confirm its current status directly rather than treating it as a low-security FCI.

Three of the 35 low-security institutions house women: FCI Aliceville, FCI Waseca and FCI Estill, with FCI Danbury and FCI Tallahassee housing both men and women. Women’s classification runs on wider cut points — Minimum is 0–15 and Low is 16–30, and there are no female Medium-security institutions at all (PS 5100.08 at pp. 14–15). See women’s federal prisons and the Bureau’s Female Offender Manual.

What this means for you before a low-security designation

If you are heading to designation

The Public Safety Factor field decides more low-security placements than the point total does. Before sentencing, look at whether the PSR describes conduct that would trigger the Sex Offender, Greatest Severity or Serious Telephone Abuse factor, and object where the description is broader than the record supports — the Bureau scores documented behavior, and the Statement of Reasons can narrow it (PS 5100.08 at p. 40). Our prison preparation service works this window.

If your loved one is already at a Low

Ask at the next program review for three things: the current Security Total, the current custody level, and every Public Safety Factor and Management Variable in force with its expiration date. Then ask whether the institution has a satellite camp — because if it does and the score drops, the Warden can make that move without going through the DSCC (PS 5100.08 at p. 91).

If you are counsel

The productive targets at this level are the two self-limiting factors. The Deportable Alien factor comes off on an ICE or immigration-court determination that removal is unwarranted, on a finding not to deport, or on naturalization (PS 5100.08 at p. 58). The Sentence Length factor lapses as the remaining term falls below ten years, and nothing happens automatically — somebody has to ask for the rescoring. Beyond that: a severity score built on conduct the Statement of Reasons narrowed, a detainer scored after withdrawal, and a Management Variable past its expiration date.

Elizabeth Franklin-Best, P.C. is a boutique federal criminal defense and appellate firm founded in 2019, with offices in Columbia and Mount Pleasant, South Carolina, serving clients nationwide. Christopher Zoukis, JD, MBA leads the firm’s federal prison consulting work — designation and classification, sentence computation, First Step Act time credits, RDAP and reentry planning — and legal representation is provided by Elizabeth Franklin-Best. Call (843) 620-1100 or book an initial consultation.

Frequently Asked Questions About Low-Security Prisons

Authorities Cited

Every source relied on above, cited in full and linked once. Page references in the text are to the editions listed here.

• BOP Program Statement 5100.08 — U.S. Dep’t of Justice, Federal Bureau of Prisons, Inmate Security Designation and Custody Classification (Sept. 12, 2006), as amended by Change Notice CN-3 (May 6, 2026)
• 18 U.S.C. § 3621 — Imprisonment of a convicted person
• 28 C.F.R. pt. 524 — Classification of Inmates
• 28 C.F.R. § 524.11 — Process for classification and program reviews
• BOP press release, July 1, 2026 — Federal Bureau of Prisons, Facility Closures and Conversions

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