Federal prisons in New Jersey at a glance
The Federal Bureau of Prisons operates 2 institutions in New Jersey, each with a satellite camp, holding 4,960 people as of September 2026. One of them is the largest prison the Bureau runs anywhere. Both are recorded in the Bureau’s Northeast Region, whose office is across the Delaware in Philadelphia.
| Institution | Type and security | Holds | Population | Camp or satellite | City | Judicial district |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| FCI Fairton | Federal Correctional Institution · Medium | Men | 675 | Camp: 71 | Fairton | District of New Jersey |
| FCI Fort Dix | Federal Correctional Institution · Low | Men | 3,935 | Camp: 279 | Joint Base MDL | District of New Jersey |
| Total | 2 institutions | 4,610 | 350 |
On this page
How many federal prisons are in New Jersey?
Two on the Bureau of Prisons roster, which is the count this page uses. FCI Fort Dix is low security and FCI Fairton is medium, both for men, and each carries a minimum-security satellite camp counted inside its own row rather than as a prison apart. New Jersey has no United States Penitentiary, no federal correctional complex and no institution for women; Fairton is the one of the two whose Bureau facility page names a detention center. Levels are explained under security levels and the system in the Bureau of Prisons directory.
What is each federal prison in New Jersey like?
FCI Fairton
Medium security for men in Cumberland County, about forty miles southeast of Philadelphia by its own handbook’s reckoning, with a minimum-security satellite camp beside it and a detention center the Bureau names on the institution’s facility page. All three share the single locator entry “Fairton FCI,” so the screen cannot say which of them a man is in. See FCI Fairton.
FCI Fort Dix
Low security for men on Joint Base McGuire-Dix-Lakehurst in Burlington County — the roster abbreviates that to Joint Base MDL, which is why the table’s city cell does not read Fort Dix — and the largest prison the Bureau of Prisons operates. Counting its camp it holds 4,214 people, in buildings the Army put up in 1950, and it is split into an East Compound and a West Compound, each with its own visiting room, food service and law library. See FCI Fort Dix.
Which Bureau of Prisons regional office oversees New Jersey?
The Northeast Regional Office, over the state line in Philadelphia. Both New Jersey institutions are recorded in the Bureau’s Northeast Region. A family meets the region on a BP-10, the appeal above the Warden: 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.” The step below it is filing a BP-9, and the ladder is the administrative remedy program.
Which RRM office handles halfway-house placement from New Jersey?
One office, and there is only one district for it to cover: 28 U.S.C. § 110 provides that “New Jersey constitutes one judicial district.” The Bureau’s page for RRM Philadelphia prints the bare state name, which reaches the whole of it, and no second reentry office claims any part of New Jersey.
A release address rather than a prison address decides the office, so a man at Fort Dix going home to Newark and a man going home to Delaware are handled differently from the same compound. Camp placement can be part of the route: Program Statement 7310.04 provides at p. 9 that “The parent institution shall complete the CCC referral packet and the camp should be closer to the inmate’s release residence.” Timing is under federal halfway houses.
How do I find, write to, visit or send money to someone in a New Jersey federal prison?
The inmate locator searches the whole federal system rather than one state, by register number or by a first and last name together. At Fort Dix, where more than four thousand men are held, the register number is the reliable key, and neither institution’s entry says which compound, camp or unit a man is in.
Both institutions take prisoner mail at a post office box rather than at a street address. Fort Dix’s own handbook asks for a building and floor number that the Bureau’s published block leaves out, which at a prison of a dozen housing units is what moves a letter along. See writing to someone inside.
Both visit on Saturdays, Sundays and federal holidays only, but not at the same hours, and the documents do not agree with each other. Fairton runs a morning room, admitting nobody after noon and clearing by early afternoon. Fort Dix’s visiting supplement of July 13, 2026 rules out Mondays while its handbook of the week before allows them; the supplement controls. Telephone first, and see visitation.
Money moves through the Bureau’s national channels, not to the prison, and what arrives is not always available at once: Program Statement 4500.13 provides at p. 73 that “Foreign negotiable instruments payable in U.S. dollars are held for 45 days.” See sending money.
Which federal prisons in New Jersey are closing or have closed?
None, on the record as it stands. The Bureau’s announcement of July 1, 2026 named six institutions to close and two camps to convert to Federal Satellite Lows, and no New Jersey facility is on either list; both Fairton and Fort Dix carry populations on the roster snapshot behind this page.
Nor is there the other kind of entry a reader may be looking for: no off-roster federal institution in New Jersey, and no former contract prison in the state, keeps a page on this site. The Bureau announced on December 1, 2022 that it “has ended all contracts with privately-managed prisons.” What closed where is set out in our explainer on major federal prison closures.
How many federal prisons does the Bureau of Prisons run in New Jersey?
Two institutions, on the roster snapshot behind this page: FCI Fort Dix at low security and FCI Fairton at medium, both holding men, and each with a minimum-security satellite camp. The camps are counted inside their own institutions rather than as prisons in their own right, which is how the Bureau counts them.
What is the largest federal prison in New Jersey by population?
FCI Fort Dix, holding 3,935 people as of September 2026, with a further 279 at its satellite camp. It is the largest either way — as an institution counted on its own and as a site counted with its camp — and it is also the largest prison the Bureau of Prisons runs anywhere.
Does New Jersey have a high-security federal penitentiary?
No. The Bureau runs no United States Penitentiary in New Jersey, and the highest security level in the state is medium, at FCI Fairton. Fort Dix is low security and both satellite camps are minimum. There is also no federal correctional complex in the state.
Are women held in federal custody in New Jersey?
No. The Bureau’s roster records both New Jersey institutions as holding men, and both satellite camps with them. A woman sentenced in the District of New Jersey is designated to an institution in another state, and which one is a decision for the Bureau rather than the sentencing court.
Which reentry office handles halfway-house placement for someone releasing to New Jersey?
RRM Philadelphia. Its Bureau page prints New Jersey by name rather than district by district, which reaches the whole state because the state is a single judicial district. No second office claims part of it, and the office is chosen by the release address rather than by where the sentence was served.
Can someone ask to be designated to a federal prison in New Jersey?
A request can be made and a sentencing court can recommend a facility, but the Bureau decides, and 18 U.S.C. § 3621(b) adds that “Notwithstanding any other provision of law, a designation of a place of imprisonment under this subsection is not reviewable by any court.” Bed space at Fort Dix is part of that calculation.
How can a federal defense firm help a family with someone in a New Jersey federal prison?
Three problems recur at the two New Jersey institutions, on their own records. Scale: Fort Dix is the Bureau’s largest prison, and programs that exist on paper are not always delivered — inspectors counted far fewer First Step Act classes running than the Bureau reported — so a written request and then the remedy process is how a waitlist position becomes a record, and how First Step Act time credit disputes are built. Drug treatment: qualifying for the residential program from the Fort Dix camp means a transfer to another prison’s camp, which is better argued before the decision than after. Medical care: both institutions run large chronic-care caseloads with few physicians, and delay there is one of the problems we work on inside and a route into early release work.
Elizabeth Franklin-Best, P.C. is a federal criminal defense and post-conviction firm based in Columbia, South Carolina, practicing nationwide. Mentions of New Jersey 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
- Our Locations, Federal Bureau of Prisons, 2026.
- Population Statistics, Federal Bureau of Prisons, 2026.
- Offices, Federal Bureau of Prisons, 2026.
- Northeast Regional Office, Federal Bureau of Prisons, 2026.
- FCI Fairton, Federal Bureau of Prisons, 2026.
- FCI Fort Dix, Federal Bureau of Prisons, 2026.
- RRM Philadelphia, Federal Bureau of Prisons, 2026.
- Find an Inmate, Federal Bureau of Prisons, 2026.
- Administrative Remedy Program, Program Statement 1330.18, 2014. The BP-10 appeal, pp. 6–7.
- Community Corrections Center (CCC) Utilization and Transfer Procedure, Program Statement 7310.04, 1998. Camp placement, p. 9.
- Trust Fund/Deposit Fund Manual, Program Statement 4500.13, 2026. Held instruments, p. 73.
Court records and statutes
- 28 U.S.C. § 110, Office of the Law Revision Counsel.
- 18 U.S.C. § 3621, Office of the Law Revision Counsel. Designation, § 3621(b).
News and other sources
- Federal Bureau of Prisons Announces Facility Closures and Operational Changes, Federal Bureau of Prisons, July 1, 2026.
- BOP Ends Use of Privately Owned Prisons, Federal Bureau of Prisons, December 1, 2022.
Sources reviewed September 2026.
Reviewed for legal accuracy by Elizabeth Franklin-Best, Esq., Principal Attorney·September 2026