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Federal Prisons in Ohio

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

Federal prisons in Ohio at a glance

The Federal Bureau of Prisons runs one institution in Ohio, FCI Elkton, a low-security prison for men outside Lisbon with a Federal Satellite Low beside it, holding 2,099 people as of September 2026. It belongs to the Bureau’s Northeast Region.

InstitutionType and securityHoldsPopulationCamp or satelliteCityJudicial district
FCI ElktonFederal Correctional Institution · LowMen1,626FSL: 473LisbonNorthern District of Ohio
Total1 institution1,626473
Federal Bureau of Prisons facility roster and population statistics, September 2026.

How many federal prisons are in Ohio?

One on the Bureau of Prisons roster, which is the list this page counts. FCI Elkton stands on Scroggs Road in Elkrun Township, Columbiana County, takes its mail at Lisbon, and is named after a village that is neither. It is rated low security and holds men. Every other prison an Ohio search turns up is a state institution beyond the federal locator’s reach. The rating scale is explained in our guide to security levels, and the system as a whole in the Bureau of Prisons directory.

There is no prison camp in Ohio, whatever a directory listing says. The roster flags a Federal Satellite Low here and no camp, and the population report gives the satellite a row of its own. That distinction is not cosmetic: a Federal Satellite Low is a low-security institution in its own right, with a perimeter, a compound and its own visiting room, while a camp is minimum security with no fence at all. Deciding this prison’s best-known case, the Sixth Circuit described the petitioners as men “housed in the low-security Elkton Federal Correctional Institution and its satellite facility FSL Elkton.” Anyone told to expect an Ohio camp should plan for a low, and our FCI Elkton page explains what lands a person on either side.

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

Which Bureau of Prisons regional office oversees Ohio?

The Northeast Regional Office, which occupies a floor of the U.S. Custom House on Chestnut Street in Philadelphia. Elkton’s roster record places it in the Northeast Region, so a BP-10 appeal from Ohio travels to Pennsylvania rather than anywhere nearer. Mail time is the practical risk, and the policy allows for it: Program Statement 1330.18 provides at p. 7 that “When the inmate demonstrates a valid reason for delay, these time limits may be extended.” The step before is our guide to filing a BP-9.

Which RRM office handles halfway-house placement from Ohio?

One office covers the whole state. 28 U.S.C. § 115 provides that “Ohio is divided into two judicial districts to be known as the Northern and Southern Districts of Ohio,” and the Bureau’s page for RRM Cincinnati prints both of them. Nothing in Ohio is shared with a neighboring office and nothing is left unassigned, which makes this one of the simpler states to plan a release in. Elkton itself sits in the Northern District.

The office is fixed by the district a person is going home to, not the one the prison stands in, so a Cleveland family whose relative is held out of state is still dealing with RRM Cincinnati. Refusing a placement has consequences: Program Statement 7310.04 records at p. 13 that “Suitable reasons to decline placement might include previous CCC failure, potential conflict with other residents, and location or remoteness from release residence.” Our page on federal halfway houses explains the timetable.

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

The inmate locator searches the whole federal system, by register number or by a full first and last name, and a register number is quicker because the locator matches the committed name on the judgment. Read the answer carefully: a result ending in “RRM” is a reentry office rather than a prison, so someone shown at Cincinnati RRM is on halfway-house or home confinement status and not inside Elkton.

Both Ohio facilities take mail at one post office box in Lisbon, which is where letters go wrong. The envelope has to name FCI Elkton or FSL Elkton, with the unit and register number, because the box serves both and the wrong line delays delivery. The two blocks are set out on the institution page; the national rules are in our guide to writing to someone inside.

Visiting is the same at the institution and the satellite, and the Bureau’s two documents disagree about when it happens. The visiting supplement lists Friday evenings as well as weekends and federal holidays; the newer handbook gives only the weekend and holiday hours. Telephone the institution before planning a Friday, and see our page on visitation.

Money arrives by three national routes: the lockbox by mail, Western Union Quick Collect and MoneyGram. A deposit shows up on the inmate’s own screen rather than in a letter home — Program Statement 4500.13 states at p. 79 that “Funds received may be viewed by the inmate on TRULINCS immediately after the posting.” See sending money.

Which federal prisons in Ohio are closing or have closed?

Nothing in Ohio is closing, and nothing here has closed. The Bureau’s July 1, 2026 announcement of closures and operational changes names no Ohio facility, and no former Bureau institution in Ohio keeps a page on this site. Our explainer on major federal prison closures sets out what has happened elsewhere.

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

One. FCI Elkton, near Lisbon in Columbiana County, is the only institution the Bureau of Prisons operates in the state. The Federal Satellite Low next to it is counted inside the same institution record rather than as a second prison, which is why the roster returns a single Ohio entry and the population report shows two rows.

What is the largest federal prison in Ohio by population?

FCI Elkton, because it is the only one. The institution itself held 1,626 people as of September 2026 and its Federal Satellite Low a further 473, so 2,099 people are held on the site in all. Ohio has one federal prison, so no ranking against another institution is possible.

Is there a federal prison camp in Ohio?

No. The Bureau’s roster record for Elkton flags a Federal Satellite Low and no camp, and the two are different places. A satellite low is a fenced low-security institution with its own compound; a camp is minimum security and open. Someone expecting camp conditions in Ohio should prepare instead for a low.

What happened at FCI Elkton during the COVID-19 pandemic?

It had one of the earliest and worst federal outbreaks, and a class petition brought under the habeas statute reached the Sixth Circuit in June 2020. The court held that a claim that no conditions could be constitutionally sufficient may be brought in habeas, but vacated the district court’s injunction, finding the Bureau had responded reasonably on the record before it.

Where are women held in federal custody from Ohio?

Outside the state. The roster records Ohio’s one institution as holding men, so a woman sentenced in an Ohio federal court is designated to a women’s facility elsewhere in the system. Her visiting, mail and telephone rules then follow that institution’s own supplement, and distance becomes the family’s practical problem.

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

Use the Bureau’s inmate locator, which covers the whole federal system by register number or by a full first and last name. An empty result usually means state custody, pretrial detention held for the Marshals Service, or a judgment that spells the name differently from the way the family does.

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

RRM Cincinnati, for both Ohio districts. Its bop.gov page prints Northern Ohio and Southern Ohio, so no part of the state is shared with another office or left out. Placement follows the district a person is releasing to, which means the office is the same wherever the sentence has been served.

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

The court may recommend it and the person may ask, but the choice belongs to the Bureau. Under 18 U.S.C. § 3621(b) it “shall designate the place of the prisoner’s imprisonment” and, subject to bed availability and security designation, place the 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 Ohio federal prison?

Three things recur at Ohio’s one institution, and each is visible in its own record. Which side of the site a person lands on comes first: the institution and the satellite low are separate places with separate housing, and a point score, a Public Safety Factor or a Management Variable decides between them, all of them written down and all of them arguable. Programs come second — Elkton runs a Sex Offender Management Program whose designation follows a man through classification, housing and visiting, and its named First Step Act activities are narrow enough that it is worth checking whether a particular assignment earns time credits at all before an early release date is relied on. Third is medical care that is not happening, where the route runs from a written request to the administrative remedy chain and then, where injury has followed, to a tort claim; that and segregation that outlasts its reason are 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 Ohio 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

Court records and statutes

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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