Representing Clients NationwideCall Us Today(843) 620-1100

Federal Prisons in Alabama

Get a Consultation

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

Federal prisons in Alabama at a glance

The Federal Bureau of Prisons operates 3 institutions in Alabama, two of them with a satellite camp, holding 2,843 people as of September 2026. All three are in the Bureau’s Southeast Region, run from Atlanta, and one of them, FCI Aliceville, is the only prison in the state that holds women.

InstitutionType and securityHoldsPopulationCamp or satelliteCityJudicial district
FCI TalladegaFederal Correctional Institution · MediumMen946Camp: 289TalladegaNorthern District of Alabama
FCI AlicevilleFederal Correctional Institution · LowWomen709Camp: 75AlicevilleNorthern District of Alabama
FPC MontgomeryFederal Prison Camp · MinimumMen824—MontgomeryMiddle District of Alabama
Total3 institutions2,479364
Federal Bureau of Prisons facility roster and population statistics, September 2026.

One of the three has an announced change of mission the Bureau has not published. On March 8, 2026 Forbes printed an internal Bureau memorandum saying that “FCI Aliceville will transition from a low security female institution (Care Level 2) to a low security male institution (Care Level 1),” with FCI Estill in South Carolina taking the women. The roster snapshot behind this page, taken September 18, 2026, still records Aliceville as female, and the Bureau has announced nothing.

How many federal prisons are in Alabama?

Three, and they sit far apart: a prison in the east of the state, a prison in the west and a camp in the capital. FCI Talladega is medium security for men and FCI Aliceville low security for women, each with a satellite camp counted inside its own row above. FPC Montgomery is a minimum-security camp standing alone rather than outside a larger prison’s fence, which is why it takes a row of its own. Alabama has no penitentiary, no complex and no detention center; none of the three is closing or has closed, and no former federal prison here keeps a page. The levels are explained under security levels; the Bureau of Prisons directory lists every state.

What is each federal prison in Alabama like?

Each of the three, in the table’s order.

FCI Talladega

Medium security for men on East Renfroe Road in Talladega County, fifty miles east of Birmingham, with a minimum-security satellite camp. This is the prison of the 1991 hostage siege: the Bureau’s own twenty-fifth anniversary account records Cuban detainees taking ten federal staff hostage for ten days that August, before a rescue freed all of them unhurt. The commonest mix-up in the Southeast is with FCI Tallahassee, a different prison, in Florida. See FCI Talladega.

FCI Aliceville

Low security in Pickens County, fifty-five miles west of Tuscaloosa, with a minimum-security satellite camp, and the only Alabama institution the roster records as holding women. It opened in 2013 as the state’s first federal prison for women. Its independent June 2026 audit under the Prison Rape Elimination Act states that “FCI Aliceville houses adult female offenders” — but the March 2026 memorandum would make it an institution for men. See FCI Aliceville.

FPC Montgomery

A minimum-security camp for men on Maxwell Air Force Base, with no wall, no perimeter fence and no guard towers, and the oldest prison camp still operating in the Bureau of Prisons. The acting Secretary of War agreed to a prison on the airfield on July 31, 1930; of the eight camps built in that first wave, the camp’s spokeswoman told the Montgomery Advertiser in 2015, Maxwell’s was by then the only one left. See FPC Montgomery.

Which federal prisons in Alabama hold women?

One: FCI Aliceville, in Pickens County, which the roster records as a female institution and whose June 2026 audit describes it the same way. The other two hold men, and Talladega’s camp belongs to a prison for men, so Aliceville is where a woman serving a federal sentence in this state is held today. What a family should watch is the year ahead: the March 2026 memorandum would send the women to South Carolina, farther from the Gulf coast, and the Bureau has already restricted who may be designated here. Our guide to women’s federal prisons explains how such a placement is made.

Which Bureau of Prisons regional office oversees Alabama?

The Southeast Regional Office, on McDonough Boulevard in Atlanta; all three Alabama institutions are recorded in the Southeast Region. The region is the second rung of the administrative remedy ladder. Program Statement 1330.18 provides at pp. 6–7 that “An inmate who is not satisfied with the Warden’s response may submit an Appeal on the appropriate form (BP-10) to the appropriate Regional Director within 20 calendar days of the date the Warden signed the response.” Start with filing a BP-9 and the administrative remedy program.

Which RRM office handles halfway-house placement from Alabama?

One office, and it is in the state. 28 U.S.C. § 81 divides Alabama into three judicial districts, “the Northern, Middle, and Southern Districts of Alabama,” and the Bureau’s page for RRM Montgomery prints all three, along with both Mississippi districts. No second office claims part of Alabama and no district is left out.

Which office takes a case turns on the district a person is going home to, not on where the sentence was served: a man leaving Talladega for Mobile is an RRM Montgomery matter all the same. Program Statement 7310.04 records at p. 13 what may properly be said against a placement — “Suitable reasons to decline placement might include previous CCC failure, potential conflict with other residents, and location or remoteness from release residence.” See halfway-house placement procedures and federal halfway houses.

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

The search is national rather than by state. The inmate locator takes a name or a register number, and a first and a last name are both needed. Read the facility type as well as the city: Montgomery has both a prison camp and a reentry office.

Each institution publishes its own address block and they are not interchangeable: Talladega’s camp takes a different post office box from the institution behind it, and Aliceville’s camp a different one again. See writing to someone inside.

Visiting runs on each institution’s own supplement, and FPC Montgomery adds a second gate: it sits inside an Air Force base, and no visitor is admitted on to the base after 2:00 p.m. The Bureau publishes no current supplement for that camp, so telephone first. See visitation.

Money moves through national channels rather than to the prison: the lockbox by mail, Western Union Quick Collect and MoneyGram. Program Statement 4500.13 records at p. 79 that “Funds received may be viewed by the inmate on TRULINCS immediately after the posting.” See sending money.

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

Three, on the roster snapshot behind this page: one medium-security prison for men, one low-security prison holding women, and one minimum-security camp that stands on its own. Two of the three also carry a satellite camp, which the Bureau counts inside that institution rather than separately.

What is the largest federal prison in Alabama by population?

FCI Talladega, at 946 people as of September 2026, with a further 289 at its satellite camp. It stays the largest once each camp is counted with its own institution, and the Bureau prints an institution and its camp as separate rows of one population report.

Does Alabama have a high-security federal penitentiary?

No. The Bureau runs no United States Penitentiary in Alabama and no federal correctional complex; medium, at FCI Talladega, is the highest security level in the state. A man scored high security is designated outside Alabama, usually to a penitentiary in a neighboring state.

Where are women held in federal custody in Alabama?

At FCI Aliceville, in Pickens County, the only institution the roster records as holding women. It opened in 2013 as Alabama’s first federal prison for women and has a satellite camp of its own. An internal memorandum of March 2026 would convert it to an institution for men.

How do I look up someone held in an Alabama federal prison?

Use the Bureau’s inmate locator, which searches the whole system rather than one state, by name or register number. Read the facility type as well as the city: Montgomery holds both a prison camp and a reentry office, and the screen separates them by those letters.

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

RRM Montgomery, which is itself in Alabama and prints all three of the state’s judicial districts on its Bureau page. No second office claims part of Alabama and none of the districts is left out. The office follows the district a person is going home to.

Can someone ask to be designated to a federal prison in Alabama?

A request can be made, and the sentencing court can recommend a place, but the Bureau decides. Under 18 U.S.C. § 3621(b) it “shall designate the place of the prisoner’s imprisonment” and is to place a person “in a facility as close as practicable to the prisoner’s primary residence.”

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

Three problems recur at Alabama’s institutions, each evidenced on a facility page here. Mission: the announced conversion at Aliceville turns every designation there into a transfer question, and an involuntary move across state lines is among the problems we work on inside. Programs: the residential drug abuse program runs at FPC Montgomery and at neither of the other two, so First Step Act time credit disputes here are usually transfer disputes. Distance: with one prison for women and no penitentiary, families here argue most about where a sentence is served, which is early release and designation work.

Elizabeth Franklin-Best, P.C. is a federal criminal defense and post-conviction firm based in Columbia, South Carolina, practicing nationwide. Mentions of Alabama 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

Contact Our Experienced Federal Criminal Defense Lawyer for Legal Help

Choosing the right federal defense team can make a difficult situation feel more manageable. At Elizabeth Franklin-Best P.C., we take the time to listen, answer questions, and provide the clarity people need to make informed choices about their future.

Schedule an Initial Consultation

This field is required.
This field is required.
This field is required.
This field is required.
This field is required.
The 8-digit BOP register number, if you have it.
This field is required.
Please include the full name of the person involved, the state and federal court (if known), the charge or stage of the case, and a brief description of the situation. If you are contacting us about a family member, tell us their name and where their case is located.
This field is required.
Scroll to Top