FCI Safford: Visiting Hours, Directions, Mail and RDAP

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

FCI Safford at a glance

FCI Safford is a low-security federal prison for men on Highway 366 in Graham County, Arizona, about seven miles south of downtown Safford, with no satellite camp. It is the only institution in the state that the Bureau’s roster classifies as low security, and its own visiting rules say no public or commercial transportation runs from the town to the prison, so every visit starts with a car.

Official name	Federal Correctional Institution, Safford
BOP code	SAF
Security level	Low; men only
Population	660 (as of September 2026)
Visiting	Saturday, Sunday, and federal holidays, 8:00 a.m.–3:00 p.m.; arrive by 2:00 p.m.
Inmate mail	Committed name · Register number · Federal Correctional Institution · P.O. Box 9000 · Safford, AZ 85548
Send money	Lockbox · Western Union (code city FBOP, DC) · MoneyGram (receive code 7932)
Phone	928-428-6600 · Fax 928-348-1331
Street address	1529 West Highway 366, Safford, AZ 85546 · Graham County
Judicial district	District of Arizona
BOP region	Western
Designated capacity	623
Housing	Three open-bay dormitory units and one multiple-occupancy cell unit
Special Housing Unit	Yes (16 segregation cells)
Medical care level	1
Mental health care level	1
RDAP	Yes
UNICOR	Yes (clothing and textiles)
Camp	None

The population was 660 men as of September 2026. FCI Safford is in the Bureau’s Western Region and the federal District of Arizona.

FCI Safford is not the Arizona state prison in Safford

Two prisons use the Safford name, and only one is federal. Arizona State Prison Complex–Safford, at 896 South Cook Road, is run by the Arizona Department of Corrections, Rehabilitation and Reentry through its own units, Fort Grant, Globe, Graham, and Tonto. Its visiting rules, mail, and inmate search are the state’s, and the Bureau’s Inmate Locator searches federal prisoners only.

Arizona’s other federal prisons, on the Bureau’s roster, are FCI Phoenix (medium, with a camp) and the Federal Correctional Complex at Tucson, made up of FCI Tucson (medium) and USP Tucson (high); Safford is the only low. Our guide to federal prisons in Arizona covers them all.

The Bureau’s 1992 facilities directory says Safford opened in 1964 as a minimum-security federal prison camp and “opened as an FCI in 1984,” with a rated capacity of 269 and 551 men held on July 1, 1992. Listings that give 1974 and 1985 for those two openings do not match it.

What is the security level at FCI Safford?

FCI Safford is a low-security institution for men with no minimum-security camp on the grounds: the Bureau’s roster lists it as Low with no satellite camp, and its location record has no camp mailing address. See our explainer on low-security federal prisons.

The June 2026 PREA audit form records security levels of “Low, Minimum” and custody levels of “In, Out.” The roster, the Bureau’s designation record, lists Low alone, and a minimum score does not by itself put a man in a camp.

Two national rules explain why. Under the Bureau’s security designation rules, Program Statement 5100.08, the Deportable Alien Public Safety Factor applies to a man who is not a U.S. citizen, who then “shall be housed in at least a Low security level institution” unless immigration authorities find deportation unwarranted or he is naturalized; the Sentence Length factor does the same for a man with more than ten years left to serve. Either factor can be waived, and an error in the facts behind one can be challenged; see how designation works.

Most men sleep in dormitories. The PREA auditor who visited on June 2–4, 2026, counted 60 buildings and four housing units, three open-bay dormitories and one unit of multiple-occupancy cells, with no single-cell housing unit, plus 16 segregation cells. Listings that describe three units of six- to eight-man cubicles are out of date.

FCI Safford is Care Level 1 for both medical and mental health care. The handbook says so, and so do the Bureau’s 2024 care-level charts for medical and mental health assignments. A federal judge described the designation in 2021 as meaning “mostly healthy inmates with limited medical needs are incarcerated there,” and the handbook adds that the institution “does not have in-patient services.” See federal prison care levels.

The count has moved a long way over the years.

When	Count	Context	Source
July 1, 1992	551	Rated capacity 269	Bureau facilities directory, 1992
November 29, 2007	804	Care level 1	Inspector General Report 08-08 (February 2008)
January 2022	809	Bureau figure	Gila Herald, January 20, 2022
September 2022	760	Cited after an overdose	Gila Herald, September 27, 2022
December 2022	792	Reported after a fight	Gila Herald, December 9, 2022
June 2, 2026	647	Designated capacity 623	PREA audit, final report July 9, 2026
September 2026	660	Latest Bureau count	Bureau population report

The trend is down, from 809 in January 2022 to 660 as of September 2026, yet the 2026 audit still answered “Yes” when asked whether the facility had exceeded its capacity during the previous twelve months.

Who are the notable inmates at FCI Safford?

None of the well-known men linked to FCI Safford is there now.

• Jacob Anthony Chansley (24866-509), the January 6 rioter known as the “QAnon Shaman.” PBS NewsHour reported on November 17, 2021, that he was sentenced to 41 months after pleading guilty to a felony charge of obstructing an official proceeding, and the Gila Herald reported in January 2022 that he had been transferred to FCI Safford. The locator’s record shows him released on May 25, 2023, under CPH, the Bureau’s Phoenix reentry office.
• Hamza Bendelladj (64661-019), the Algerian hacker sentenced to 15 years for his role in developing and distributing the SpyEye banking malware, which the Justice Department said was used to infect over 50 million computers and caused close to $1 billion in financial harm (U.S. Attorney, Northern District of Georgia, April 20, 2016). A federal court in Arizona recorded that he was at Safford when he filed a habeas petition on June 5, 2023, and at Terminal Island by June 27, 2024; the locator’s record lists him as released on August 16, 2024, “In Transit.”
• Karl F. Thompson Jr. (12755-085), the former Spokane police officer sentenced in 2012 to 51 months for civil rights and obstruction violations arising from the 2006 beating of Otto Zehm, who died two days later (Justice Department). The Spokesman-Review reported on February 25, 2016, that he had spent most of his sentence “at a detention center in Safford, Arizona,” the town’s only Bureau institution, and was released from there that day; KREM reported he would serve six months on house arrest. The locator’s record dates his final release to July 22, 2016, under the Seattle reentry office (CSE).

Wikipedia’s list of Safford prisoners has fallen behind. It still names Dennis Alexio, sentenced in Hawaii in 2017 to 15 years for tax fraud, money laundering, and commercial fraud, while noting a move to FCI Beaumont; the locator now shows him under the Sacramento reentry office, with a projected release date of August 23, 2027. It lists Stephen Walter (27661-112) as serving his sentence, but the locator places him at FCI Mendota in California, with a projected release date of February 17, 2034. Allen Pace (16023-112), also named there, was released on October 1, 2020, under the Phoenix reentry office. Kevin Tubbs, who appears on some lists, is not included here: the locator holds two records under that name, and no source ties either one to Safford.

How do I find someone at FCI Safford?

To find someone at FCI Safford, search the Bureau’s Inmate Locator by register number, or by first and last name. The result for a man held here reads “Located at: Safford FCI.” A reentry office in that line instead, such as Phoenix RRM for the Bureau’s Phoenix office, means he is under that office’s supervision in a halfway house or on home confinement; after an ordinary release the screen shows only the date he left Bureau custody.

For a new arrival, the paperwork comes from him: under the supplement he completes his visiting list during initial orientation and mails each proposed visitor a Visitor Information Form, and staff give him directions to pass on during admission and orientation, which the handbook schedules within his first 28 days. The institution’s main number is 928-428-6600.

How do I write to someone at FCI Safford?

To write to someone at FCI Safford, address the letter exactly as Safford’s handbook prints the block, spelling out the institution’s name, because “the use of ‘FCI’ is not sufficient”:

Committed name
Register number
Federal Correctional Institution
P.O. Box 9000
Safford, AZ 85548

The box and its ZIP code, 85548, are for mail. The street address, 1529 West Highway 366, ZIP 85546, is where visitors drive, and the Bureau’s facility page lists P.O. Box 9000 for prisoner mail. The handbook asks writers to use his committed name, never a nickname or alias, with his register number and housing unit. His own envelopes must carry a TRULINCS label with the recipient’s address, printed in the education department, so make sure he has yours.

There is no mail service on weekends or holidays, and unit staff deliver legal and special mail within 24 hours. Softcover books and magazines may come from anyone, but hardcover books and newspapers only from a publisher, bookstore, or book club; a publication mailed with a CD or DVD is returned whole, and blank paper, envelopes, and cards may not be mailed in. The handbook also bars publications about computer code, software development, and hardware maintenance. Anything weighing 16 ounces or more is a package and needs prior approval, ordinarily given only for release clothing and medical devices. Under the Bureau’s correspondence rules, a lawyer’s letter should identify the sender and be marked “Special Mail – Open Only in the Presence of the Inmate”; see attorney-client communications and writing to a federal prisoner.

How do I send money to someone at FCI Safford?

Money for someone at FCI Safford goes through the Bureau’s national system, never through the prison: the supplement says visitors’ currency, checks, and money orders are not accepted for deposit, and the handbook points families to the national lockbox. The Bureau’s communications page gives three routes:

• Western Union: code city FBOP, DC, with his register number and committed name. Transfers sent between 7:00 a.m. and 9:00 p.m. Eastern time usually reach his account within two to four hours, and anything sent later is posted by 7:00 the next morning, Eastern time.
• MoneyGram: company name Federal Bureau of Prisons, city Washington, DC, receive code 7932, and an account number made of the register number followed by the last name. Online, a single transfer tops out at $300, paid with a Visa or MasterCard credit card, and posting follows Western Union’s schedule.
• Mail: a money order, government check, certified or cashier’s check, or bank draft payable to his committed name and register number, sent to Federal Bureau of Prisons, [committed name], [register number], Post Office Box 474701, Des Moines, Iowa 50947-0001. Non-postal money orders and non-government checks are held 15 days, and foreign instruments 45. The Bureau’s page says to wait until he “has physically arrived at a FBOP-managed facility.”

Watch the clock. Arizona does not observe daylight saving time (Ariz. Rev. Stat. § 1-242), and the Bureau writes its cutoff as “9:00 p.m. EST”: 7:00 p.m. in Safford if read literally, but 6:00 p.m. while the East is on daylight time if it means Eastern clock time. Sending before 6:00 p.m. local time avoids the question.

Program Statement 4500.13 (2026), the Bureau’s trust fund manual, raised the monthly commissary limit from $360 to $460, so the $360 in Safford’s 2022 handbook is out of date. A man here may not hold cash, and payments he sends out go on a BP-199 form that Trust Fund processes weekly; see sending money to a federal prisoner.

What are the visiting hours at FCI Safford?

Visiting at FCI Safford runs from 8:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m. on Saturdays, Sundays, and federal holidays, with no general visiting on weekdays, under institution supplement SAF 5267.09A, dated January 18, 2022, the institution’s supplement to the Bureau’s visiting regulations. Visitors must reach the lobby between 8:00 a.m. and 2:00 p.m., and the attached visitor’s handbook says no one may be on the property before 7:30 a.m.

Plan around the mid-morning count: no visitor is processed from 9:30 a.m. until the Control Center has a good count for the 10:00 a.m. count, and no prisoner is called to the room until it clears. Arrive in time to be processed before 9:30, or expect to wait.

Because the room opens only on weekends and holidays, the supplement sets no cap on how often a man may have visits; frequency “is not limited but based on availability of space.” The trade-off is the overcrowding rule. When the room fills, visits end first for prisoners approved for extra visitors, then for the earliest-processed visitors once they have had three hours, with “additional consideration” for rare visitors and people who have traveled a significant distance. The visitor’s handbook puts it more bluntly: those who arrived first and traveled shorter distances leave first. If you have driven from Phoenix or farther, say so at the lobby.

Three groups visit on other terms. Men in the Special Housing Unit have non-contact visits on Fridays only, brought over in handcuffs and wearing the orange jumpsuit; the handbook adds appointment slots between 8:00 a.m. and 3:00 p.m., at most two visitors, and a written request to the unit’s lieutenant. Non-contact visits are capped at two hours a day and four hours a month. Holdovers visit on Thursday evenings from 5:00 to 8:30 p.m., by advance arrangement and with at most two immediate family members, and a hospitalized man may be visited only with the Associate Warden’s approval, under the hospital’s rules.

Who may visit, and how many at once

Every visitor must be on the man’s approved list, and the process starts with him. He lists visitors at orientation and mails each one a Visitor Information Form, which must come back fully completed before his correctional counselor checks it. Immediate family, which the supplement defines as parents, step-parents, foster parents, brothers, sisters, wife, common-law wife, and children, is the core of the list, and the handbook allows six other relatives, friends, and associates. A prior relationship is ordinarily required, though the Warden may make exceptions, especially for men with no other visitors.

If the Warden rejects someone after a criminal-history review, the man is told only that the visitor “was disapproved for security reasons,” and the supplement cites the Privacy Act for saying no more. List changes may be requested every 30 days and are normally answered within four working days, and new arrivals are asked not to schedule social visits during their first four days.

Four visitors may sit at once, children included. An infant who is held and takes no seat does not count, while the handbook counts any child two or older who needs a seat, and more than four requires the unit team’s approval first. Children under 16 must come with a parent or legal guardian who is on the list; 16- and 17-year-olds must be on the list themselves and also come with a listed parent or guardian. Attorneys arrange visits through the unit team and show a current state bar card, and each visit by a minister of record needs advance approval. See federal prison visiting.

What visitors can wear and bring

Leave anything tan at home. The supplement bars khaki-colored clothing, which prisoners wear, and the handbook adds solid tan, orange, and green clothing, solid gray sweats, medical scrubs, and camouflage. Nothing may end more than three inches above the knee, at any age. Sleeveless or backless tops, crop tops, low necklines, sheer or lace fabric, spandex, athletic wear, bib overalls, anything hooded, gloves, and open-toed shoes or sandals are refused. Headwear is allowed only for religious reasons, and if the Warden authorizes a search of it, a staff member of the same sex conducts it in private; a visitor who declines is turned away.

Jewelry is limited to one wedding band, one pair of stud earrings, and one religious necklace; watches, electronic wristbands, hair pins, and bobby pins are refused, and only an elastic hair band is allowed. A visitor sent away for clothing may still visit once suitably dressed.

The supplement’s list of what a visitor may carry is short, and nothing else is authorized: a wallet or clear change purse no larger than 8 by 8 by 2 inches; up to $25 in quarters, dimes, and nickels per family for the vending machines, and no paper money; for a baby, four diapers, two unopened plastic jars of baby food, three packaged formulas, one clear empty bottle or sippy cup, and one blanket; two sanitary napkins or tampons; and, as medication, only nitroglycerin pills, insulin, and prescribed inhalers, which wait at the officer’s desk. Diaper bags, large purses, outside food and drinks, photos, reading material, toys, cameras, and iPads stay out. Keys hang on a lobby board in exchange for a numbered chit, and everything else goes back to the car, because “No items will be left with the Front Lobby Officer.”

Contact is limited to a brief embrace and kiss at the start and the end, and an infant may sit on the man’s lap. Seating is assigned, facing across. A mother may breastfeed under a cover, with Legal Room 1 set aside for privacy. Men convicted of a sex offense involving a minor are flagged in the visiting system and seated in high-visibility areas, and their visits involving children are closely watched.

Identification, metal detectors, and drug testing

Visitors 16 and older need valid government-issued photo identification, such as a driver’s license or passport, and the handbook adds that birth certificates are not accepted. Visitors sign the lobby log, receive a hand stamp that is checked under black light on the way out, and leave their ID with the visiting room officer. A visitor who fails both the walk-through metal detector and the hand-held wand is refused, but may try again that day if back in the lobby by 2:00 p.m.

If a pacemaker, surgical pins or plates will set off the detector, bring a signed letter on a licensed physician’s letterhead; the handbook also asks for the unit team’s approval in advance. Searches may be electronic, pat-down, or visual, the last only with the Warden’s approval. Register your vehicle with the lobby officer and leave pets at home; a certified service animal needs proof of training and the Warden’s prior authorization.

Visitors are also tested at random for drug residue. The supplement cites local rule SAF 5522.02E, which carries the number of the Bureau’s 2015 ion spectrometry statement; Program Statement 5524.01 rescinded that statement in May 2026. Under the current statement a visitor may refuse the test and leave, and refusal alone is not grounds for detention. A confirmed positive can bring a search, a controlled or non-contact visit, or denial; where positives lead to denial, a second occurrence suspends visiting for 30 days, a third for 90, and a fourth for 180. The visitor is then tested at every visit for a year, and one denied entry may appeal in writing to the Warden and may include a physician’s verification of any prescribed substance. See ion spectrometry visitor screening.

Getting there

Plan to drive. The supplement says that because of the prison’s remote location “there is no public or commercial transportation available from the City of Safford to the institution.” The 2021 visitor’s handbook puts the prison about seven miles south of downtown Safford, 120 miles east of Tucson and 180 miles southeast of Phoenix; its street address is on Highway 366, a mile off U.S. 191 by the supplement’s directions.

The supplement gives two routes:

• From Tucson: east on Interstate 10 to U.S. 191, north on 191 to Highway 366, turn left, and continue one mile to the institution.
• From Phoenix: east on U.S. 60 to Globe, east on U.S. 70 to Safford, south on U.S. 191 to Highway 366, turn right, and continue one mile.

On the Bureau’s own mileage, Tucson is the nearer city. The Bureau’s 1992 directory named the Tucson and Phoenix airports as the ones serving Safford, and the 2026 PREA audit records that forensic medical examinations, when needed, are done in Tucson, at Tucson Medical Center or Banner – University Medical Center Tucson. The directory also listed bus service to those airports, but the current supplement says no public or commercial service reaches the prison, so a visitor who flies in will need a car.

Visiting hours are Safford time, and Arizona’s clocks do not change during the year. Check the roads before leaving: on the Phoenix route, the Gila Herald reported on September 15, 2026, that the Arizona Department of Transportation’s bridge work on U.S. 60 between Superior and Miami keeps lane restrictions, reduced speeds, and a 12-foot vehicle width limit in place, with no full closures then scheduled. On September 16 the paper reported U.S. 70 closed eastbound at the New Mexico line after flood damage near Redrock, New Mexico, with Highway 191 to Interstate 10 as the suggested alternate.

How do phone calls and email work at FCI Safford?

A man at FCI Safford calls numbers on his account through the Bureau’s inmate telephone system and sends email through TRULINCS. Under the Bureau’s telephone regulations, Program Statement 5264.09, issued September 3, 2026, he may use 510 minutes a month: 300 are free to men eligible for First Step Act telephone incentives, and anyone who uses up those 300, eligible or not, may buy the other 210. Safford’s 2022 handbook still describes 300 minutes plus 100 more in November and December; that holiday supplement did not survive the new statement, and the handbook’s figures no longer control. See federal prison phone calls.

The handbook covers the mechanics: up to thirty active numbers, money moved to the phone account by dialing 118 and his access code, voice registration for the V-PIN system before the first call, and $5 for a replacement access code. Under Program Statement 5264.09, a single call should generally not exceed 15 minutes, and phones may operate from 6:00 a.m. until no later than 11:30 p.m.

Unmonitored legal calls do not count against the 510 minutes. At Safford a man asks his unit team for one in writing at least a week ahead, showing why letters, visits, and ordinary calls are not enough, and the collect call is placed from the unit team office. Attorney visits are watched but not listened to, the handbook says.

Email runs through TRULINCS, with 100 contacts allowed in all; see CorrLinks and TRULINCS email. In a family emergency, the handbook tells a parent, guardian, sibling, spouse, or child to call 928-428-6600 and ask for the chaplain, who notifies the man once the information is verified.

What can people buy at the FCI Safford commissary?

A man at FCI Safford can spend up to $460 a month at the commissary, the national ceiling set by the Bureau’s trust fund rules, Program Statement 4500.13, issued May 7, 2026. The limit rises by $50 during the November and December holiday period, for no more than one validation period, and the $360 in Safford’s 2022 handbook is obsolete. The statement exempts only a short list from the ceiling, among them postage stamps, nicotine replacement products, over-the-counter medicines and vitamins, copy cards and paper, footwear, mattresses, and secured media devices. See federal prison commissary items.

Safford’s own 2025 commissary list marks stamps, photo tickets, copy cards and paper, and over-the-counter medicines as outside the monthly limit. Photo tickets are not among Program Statement 4500.13’s exclusions, which the statement calls the only ones, so a man whose photo purchase would push him past $460 should ask Trust Fund in writing which rule it applies.

Men shop Monday through Thursday, confirm their identity on a fingerprint reader, and should check the receipt before leaving the window, since all sales are final (handbook). The 2025 list sets windows of 6:15 to 9:00 a.m., 10:30 a.m. to noon, and 2:00 to 3:30 p.m., and caps soups at 20, sodas at six bottles, chips at five, ice cream at one pint, greeting cards at five, and stamps at $14.60.

The list says a good deal about life here. It stocks SPF sunblock at $4.95, useful on a desert yard where the handbook forbids sunbathing. Swintec typewriter and correction ribbons ($12.95 and $10.85) are still sold, and the library keeps typewriters alongside the Electronic Law Library. The food columns lean southwestern, with menudo, carnitas, chilorio, barbacoa, horchata, and Sazón Goya, and the religious column carries an Al-Kahir miswak ($1.90) and a Big Apple Rasta crown ($54.55).

What programs are available at FCI Safford?

FCI Safford’s main programs, on the Bureau’s own record, are the Residential Drug Abuse Program, Federal Prison Industries work in a textile factory, and RESOLVE, an 80-hour cognitive-behavioral program for trauma; the August 2026 First Step Act Approved Programs Guide names Safford in its location listings for all three. The guide’s by-institution grid also marks Safford for 48 programs, but a grid mark does not show that a class is enrolling. Ask the unit team in writing what is running and how long the wait is.

RDAP and drug treatment

Safford runs the Residential Drug Abuse Program. The guide’s RDAP list, updated in June 2026, with 57 programs at 50 locations, names FCI Safford as one of five Western Region sites, with FCI Herlong, FCI Lompoc, FCI Phoenix, and FCI Sheridan. Safford’s handbook describes a nine-month, 500-hour program run as a modified therapeutic community, with interviews about 36 months before a man’s projected release date and new groups every 12 to 14 weeks. It says completers “shall normally be recommended for 6 months of RRC placement,” a recommendation rather than a placement.

Under 28 C.F.R. § 550.55, men serving sentences for nonviolent offenses who complete the program may be eligible for up to twelve months’ early release, but the same rule excludes “Immigration and Customs Enforcement detainees,” and the Bureau’s offense-categorization statement, Program Statement 5162.07 (2026), governs which convictions are excluded. See the Residential Drug Abuse Program and RDAP early release.

The handbook also makes a Drug Education course mandatory for men whose presentence report ties drugs or alcohol to the offense, whose drug use caused the violation they are serving time for, or whose judge recommended treatment, and it offers the course in English and Spanish.

Education, vocational training, and UNICOR

New arrivals without a verified GED or high school diploma take a standardized achievement test within 90 days, in Spanish for Spanish speakers. A man without a verified GED or high school diploma attends literacy classes 90 minutes a day for at least 240 hours or until he earns the GED, and any promotion above an entry-level job depends on it; English learners attend two hours a day until they reach the required scores, and completing either program earns $25 (handbook). See education in federal prison.

The handbook lists certificate programs in building trades, general business administration, retail management, and HVAC, taught through a regionally accredited college and open to men with a verified diploma or GED and twelve months of clear conduct. Labor Department-registered apprenticeships run from barber (2,000 hours) to carpenter, electrician, HVAC, and plumber (8,000 hours each), and each requires a job in the trade.

Beyond those certificates, the Bureau’s guide says post-secondary education may be offered at all its locations, which is why its grid marks Safford, but Safford is not among the 16 institutions it names as having Pell-funded college programs. The 2022 handbook describes other college work only as correspondence study, approved in advance and paid for by the man, so ask the education department in writing what is offered now.

Safford’s factory belongs to Federal Prison Industries, known as UNICOR, and the guide names Safford among its locations. The Bureau’s UNICOR page lists Safford among its clothing and textiles factories, and the handbook says it makes textile products for government agencies on an assembly line. Jobs come from a waiting list that a man joins through his unit counselor, most pay is on an incentive plan, and the few hourly grades run from 23 cents to $1.15. A man who refuses to meet his court-ordered financial obligations cannot work there and is held to maintenance pay of $5.25 a month.

Faith, reentry, and rules for non-citizens

The chapel offers Threshold, and the handbook says so directly: “Threshold, which is a re-entry program, is offered here at FCI Safford.” Life Connections, the more advanced program, is not; the handbook says it runs at five other institutions for men with 24 to 36 months left. See Life Connections and Threshold.

Safford’s 2022 handbook starts release preparation 30 months before release and warns that refusing the core curriculum ordinarily brings a recommendation for minimum halfway-house time. National policy has changed both points: Program Statement 5325.09 (2026), which governs the Bureau’s Release Preparation Program, enrolls prisoners 18 to 24 months before they leave the institution, and says a man who refuses “will not ordinarily participate” in a halfway house but “should not be automatically excluded from consideration” for a referral. The handbook sends that referral to the Residential Reentry Manager 11 to 13 months before release, once the release address is approved, the window Program Statement 7310.04, the Bureau’s halfway-house placement rules, also sets; see halfway houses.

An immigration thread runs through Safford’s record. The Inspector General chose Safford for a 2010–2011 site visit because of how many transfer applications to Mexico it produced, and the 2026 PREA audit calls Spanish “the second most commonly spoken language at the facility.” Safford’s handbook says treaty transfers are open to men “who have not been convicted of an immigration offense,” which overstates the rule: Program Statement 5140.42 applies that bar only to Mexican citizens or nationals and says it “should not be applied to transfer applicants from other countries.” See international prisoner transfer.

Credits are the other issue. By statute a prisoner “is ineligible to apply time credits” if he “is the subject of a final order of removal” (18 U.S.C. § 3632(d)(4)(E)(i)). In Camacho-Castillo v. Dulgov, after the Department of Homeland Security lodged a detainer with FCI Safford identifying a final order of removal, a magistrate judge recommended denying a Safford prisoner’s petition to have his credits applied, and the district judge adopted that recommendation in an order dated October 29, 2024 (No. 4:24-cv-00064, D. Ariz.). The Bureau’s public roster does not flag Safford as an Institutional Hearing Program site, and the 2026 audit counted no one held solely for civil immigration purposes. See First Step Act time credits and the Institutional Hearing Program.

What is daily life like at FCI Safford?

Daily life at FCI Safford runs on counts and controlled movement. Men may move between buildings only from the hour until ten minutes past, and must be in place for five official counts a day, six on weekends and holidays; two of the weekday counts, and three on weekends and holidays, are stand-up counts. The table draws on the 2022 handbook.

Time	What happens
12:00, 3:00, and 5:00 a.m.	Official counts
5:55 a.m. (weekdays)	Recreation opens
6:00–7:00 a.m. (weekdays); 6:30–7:30 a.m. (weekends and holidays)	Breakfast
6:30–7:00 a.m. (weekdays)	Morning pill line
By 7:30 a.m.	Beds made, weekends and holidays included
9:30–10:00 a.m. (weekends and holidays)	Morning pill line
10:00 a.m. (weekends and holidays)	Stand-up count
10:30–11:30 a.m.	Lunch on weekdays; brunch on weekends and holidays
11:00–11:30 a.m. (weekdays)	Midday pill line
3:00–3:30 p.m.	Afternoon pill line, every day
4:00 p.m.	Stand-up count
4:30–5:30 p.m.	Dinner, once the 4:00 count clears
9:30 p.m.	Recreation closes
10:00 p.m.	Stand-up count

Source: Inmate Information Handbook, FCI Safford (2022), sections on counts, food service, health services, housing, and recreation.

Khaki uniforms are required from 6:30 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. on weekdays, though a white T-shirt may replace the shirt from May through September, and an extra blanket and a jacket are allowed from October through April. Cell windows may not be covered, and showers are open daily except during counts.

Health care is on site but limited. A nurse or other practitioner holds sick call four workdays a week, with no routine sign-up on Wednesdays; emergency care is available at all hours; and visits a man asks for generally carry a $2 co-payment. Dental care runs from a 6:30 a.m. sign-up and a national waiting list, where a missed cleaning sends a man to the back, and eyeglasses come through Federal Prison Industries at FCI Butner. With no inpatient beds, serious illness means an outside hospital; see medical care in federal prison.

The desert is written into the rules. The handbook warns of rattlesnakes, venomous spiders, and scorpions on the compound, tells men to call staff rather than move a snake, and adds: “If you want to be a snake wrangler you will be written an incident report.” Work injuries must be reported at once, since a delay past 48 hours can cost lost-time wages or compensation. The dust carries a disease risk as well; see the Valley Fever findings below.

Recreation runs in three daily blocks until 9:30 p.m., from 5:55 a.m. on weekdays and 6:30 a.m. on weekends and holidays. Facilities include a yard, pavilion basketball, handball and racquetball courts, a track, playing fields, a weight area, a music room, and a hobby-craft program limited to six months at a time. Movies rated G, PG, or PG-13 play on the institution’s television system, and photos may be taken only on the walkway facing the large rock near the leisure library steps. See recreation in federal prison.

What do inspectors say about conditions at FCI Safford?

Outside oversight of Safford is thin: a 2026 PREA audit, a federal court’s Valley Fever findings, an Inspector General program review that included a site visit, and some survey and allegation data. The DOJ Office of the Inspector General has not conducted an on-site inspection of this facility. Its staff did visit Safford during a 2010–2011 program review.

In its December 2011 review of the international prisoner transfer program (Report I-2012-002), the Inspector General’s team wrote that it “visited FCI Safford because of the number of applications for transfers to Mexico it produced from FY 2005 through FY 2010,” and interviewed the unit manager, the orientation coordinator, eight case managers, and twelve prisoners. It also reported that “at FCI Safford, we learned that case managers were provided a ‘quiz’ by institution management on the treaty transfer program to prepare for our visit,” and that the quiz led it to add a one-day visit to FCI Petersburg. Its table of translation resources shows Safford staff relying on Spanish, a telephone translation service, and “other inmates known to the inmate.” That was a review of one program, with fieldwork from July 2010 to April 2011, not an inspection of living conditions.

The Inspector General’s March 2016 review of the Bureau’s medical staffing (Report 16-02) shows how remote the government considers this posting: as of October 2015, FCI Safford was one of five Bureau institutions the Public Health Service had designated “isolated hardship locations,” where PHS officers serving at least 180 consecutive days qualify for an award; the Bureau sought the designations to encourage PHS officers to transfer. That review’s site visits, all by video teleconference, did not include Safford.

Staff described heavy strain during the pandemic. In the Inspector General’s February 2021 staff survey, published by institution on September 28, 2021 (Report 21-126), 76.9 percent of Safford respondents said they had been required to work outside their normal duties and 50.0 percent to work overtime, against 66 and 39 percent nationally, and 30.8 percent said they caught COVID-19 at work (24 percent nationally). The Inspector General presents these as staff perceptions rather than findings, and the dashboard does not show how many Safford employees responded.

The District of Columbia’s Corrections Information Council has not published an inspection of FCI Safford.

The 2026 PREA audit

Safford’s latest outside review is its Prison Rape Elimination Act audit. Matthew Taylor of Corrections Consulting Services audited the institution on June 2–4, 2026, and issued his final report on July 9, 2026: no standards exceeded, 45 met, and none failed. He interviewed at least 30 prisoners, corresponded beforehand with Just Detention International, which offered no specific concerns about Safford, and with the Mt. Graham Safe House, and tested the facility’s on-demand telephone interpretation. The figures below come from his report.

Measure	Figure
Designated capacity	623
Average daily population, prior 12 months	656
Exceeded capacity in the 12 months before the audit	Yes
Held on the first day of the audit (June 2, 2026)	647
Admitted in the prior 12 months	823, of whom 747 stayed 30 days or more
Average length of stay	575.0 days
Housing	3 open-bay dormitory units, 1 multiple-occupancy cell unit, 16 segregation cells
Staff who may have contact with prisoners	191
Men with limited English proficiency, day one	27
Men who disclosed prior sexual victimization at screening, day one	70
Men held solely for civil immigration purposes, day one	0
Sexual abuse allegations, prior 12 months	1, prisoner against prisoner; administrative investigation found it unsubstantiated
Sexual harassment allegations, prior 12 months	1, prisoner against prisoner; administrative investigation substantiated it
Allegations against staff, prior 12 months	0
Forensic sexual assault examinations, prior 12 months	0; when needed, done at Tucson Medical Center or Banner – University Medical Center Tucson

Two lines matter to families. In the audit’s own definition, “unsubstantiated” means an incident may have occurred but the evidence could not prove it, not that the report was false. And the auditor found many prisoners were not familiar with the name of the outside support service, the Mt. Graham Safe House, although its details are posted on and near the TRULINCS terminals; Safford’s 2022 handbook lists it at P.O. Box 1202, Safford, AZ 85548, telephone 928-348-9548. See the Bureau’s sexual abuse prevention policy.

What GAO counted

The Government Accountability Office’s May 2026 report on sexual abuse in federal prisons (GAO-26-107343) lists the allegations the Bureau recorded at each institution from 2020 through 2024. For Safford, Table 7 counts one allegation against a prisoner, in 2022, by year of incident, and Table 8 counts eight against Bureau employees, one a year from 2020 through 2023 and four in 2024, by year reported. The tables come from different Bureau systems with different cutoff dates, so they cannot be added together, and the audit’s zero covers a later twelve months. They are allegations, not findings: GAO reports that nationally from 2014 to 2022 about 9 percent of allegations against staff were substantiated and 77 percent unsubstantiated, which does not mean untrue. GAO does not adjust for population, so the counts cannot rank prisons.

Valley Fever: what a federal court found

The most detailed judicial findings about conditions at Safford concern Valley Fever, a fungal infection caught by breathing in spores from soil. In Sandoval v. United States, a Federal Tort Claims Act case tried in January 2020, Judge Dolly M. Gee of the Central District of California found Graham County “endemic for the naturally occurring soil fungus” behind the disease. She also found that the Bureau’s assistant director for health services had sent every warden an October 1, 2013, memo that “specifically listed FCI Safford as a facility where ‘[a]ll inmates must also be made aware of, and periodically reminded of, the signs and symptoms of Valley Fever as well as accessing health services for evaluation and treatment.'”

The plaintiff, held at Safford from July 2014 to October 2015 and working as an orderly who dusted and cleaned 8.5 hours a day on weekdays, was not warned of the risk before his diagnosis in March 2015. The court found he was “the only inmate at FCI Safford diagnosed with Valley Fever in 2015” and that “[a]t times, FCI Safford’s pharmacy did not have Fluconazole available.” His claim about protective masks was dismissed for lack of jurisdiction, because the Inmate Accident Compensation Act is the only remedy for work injuries, but on his failure-to-warn negligence claim the court ruled for him on July 23, 2021, awarding $78,624.01 in future medical expenses and $50,000 in noneconomic damages (No. 2:17-cv-03092-DMG, C.D. Cal.).

The judgment decided one man’s claim about 2014 and 2015, not the state of Safford’s health care today. The plaintiff’s symptoms, as the court recorded them, were a cough, shortness of breath, chest pain, rashes, and fatigue, and a man with symptoms like those should file a sick-call request and keep a record of it. Where negligence causes harm, see Federal Tort Claims Act claims.

Staff corruption and staffing

In August 2023 Heather A. Neff, a former Safford correctional officer, pleaded guilty to bribery of a public official. According to the factual statement supporting her plea, as the Inspector General summarized it, between early and mid-2019 she had sexual contact with a prisoner, accepted bribes to bring in contraband including protein powder, vitamin supplements, tobacco, and rum, gave cash to another officer to smuggle contraband in, and accessed a Bureau system to give a prisoner non-public information. On February 13, 2024, the U.S. Attorney’s Office for Arizona announced that Judge Scott H. Rash had sentenced her to 18 months in prison and three years of supervised release, adding that she worked at Safford from 2016 until June 2019 and that a prisoner she gave information about was later assaulted.

The Bureau is still recruiting here. The PREA audit counted 191 staff with prisoner contact, and in June 2026 the Bureau announced a two-day hiring event at the Graham County Chamber of Commerce in Safford for 30 correctional officer positions at FCI Safford, paying $51,632 to $61,257 plus a 15 percent hiring bonus, according to the announcement the chamber posted. In April 2024 the Bureau asked the Graham County Sheriff’s Office for help after a drone was seen over the prison at night and contraband was believed dropped (Gila Valley Central).

FCI Safford in the news

Recent news about FCI Safford centers on road conditions on the routes to the prison and a June 2026 hiring event; older items concern a 2024 drone sighting, a former officer’s bribery sentence, a 2022 fight and overdose, Jacob Chansley’s transfer, and the Bureau’s 2021 death release.

• September 15–16, 2026: The Arizona Department of Transportation called off planned U.S. 60 closures between Superior and Miami but kept work-zone limits, and U.S. 70 was closed eastbound at the New Mexico line after flood damage in New Mexico (Gila Herald).
• June 25, 2026: The Bureau announced a June 26–27 hiring event in Safford for 30 correctional officer positions (Graham County Chamber of Commerce).
• April 13, 2024: A drone was seen over the prison around 10:24 p.m. and contraband was believed dropped; prison officials said activity on Boulder Lane generally started around 9:30 p.m. (Gila Valley Central, April 17, 2024).
• February 13, 2024: Former officer Heather Neff’s 18-month bribery sentence was announced (U.S. Attorney’s Office, District of Arizona); she had pleaded guilty on August 31, 2023 (Inspector General).
• December 8, 2022: Several prisoners were hospitalized with minor injuries after a fight; deputies secured the perimeter after a “riot” call, visiting was halted, and the paper put the population at 792 (Gila Herald, December 9, 2022).
• September 25, 2022: A 25-year-old prisoner was taken to Mt. Graham Regional Medical Center after an overdose; the Bureau declined to comment (Gila Herald, September 27, 2022).
• January 20, 2022: The Gila Herald reported Jacob Chansley’s transfer to Safford, where the Bureau said 809 men were held.
• November 2021: The Bureau posted one news release reporting the death of a person held at FCI Safford; the Bureau’s releases are listed on its press release page.

Frequently asked questions about FCI Safford

Problems at FCI Safford: where we can help

Safford’s own records point to the problems families here bring to a lawyer: a remote designation, access to treatment and credits, health care far from a hospital, and immigration rules that change what a sentence means.

• Designation and transfer. A Deportable Alien or Sentence Length factor can hold a man at a low-security prison 120 miles from Tucson even when his score alone would allow a camp, and errors behind a factor can be raised. See federal prison transfers.
• RDAP, early release, and First Step Act credits, including whether a detainer or removal order actually applies and how Program Statement 5162.07 classifies the conviction.
• Medical care that is slow, interrupted, or missing. The Valley Fever judgment turned on warnings the Bureau itself required and a medicine that was at times unavailable; the tools are a written request, the administrative remedy program, and, where harm results, a tort claim.
• Visiting problems: a denial after a drug-residue test, a visitor rejected for “security reasons” without explanation, or a list change that takes longer than four working days.
• Incident reports and disciplinary proceedings that threaten good conduct time, and Special Housing Unit placements that limit visits to Fridays.
• Treaty transfer applications, where the local handbook states the immigration-offense bar more broadly than Bureau policy.
• Halfway house and home confinement timing, which turns on an approved release address and a referral 11 to 13 months out, and compassionate release under the Bureau’s reduction-in-sentence procedures when health or family circumstances change.
• Challenges to the conviction or sentence itself, through a direct appeal or a § 2255 motion.

Elizabeth Franklin-Best, P.C. handles federal criminal defense, appeals and post-conviction matters nationwide, and advises families on Bureau of Prisons issues at institutions across the system. Call (843) 620-1100 or contact us to talk through a specific situation.

Christopher Zoukis, JD, MBA, the firm’s Managing Director, writes and maintains the federal prison policy material on this site. He is not counsel of record; legal representation is provided by Elizabeth Franklin-Best.

Sources and currency

Bureau of Prisons documents

• FCI Safford, Federal Bureau of Prisons, 2026. The Bureau’s page for the institution, with its addresses, phone numbers, and posted documents.
• FCI Safford Commissary List, Federal Bureau of Prisons, FCI Safford, 2025.
• Inmate Information Handbook, FCI Safford, Federal Bureau of Prisons, FCI Safford, 2022.
• Visiting Regulations, Institution Supplement SAF 5267.09A, Federal Bureau of Prisons, FCI Safford, 2022. Includes Attachment B, the visitor’s handbook (2021).
• Trust Fund/Deposit Fund Manual, Program Statement 4500.13, Federal Bureau of Prisons, 2026. Sets the commissary spending limit.
• Inmate Security Designation and Custody Classification, Program Statement 5100.08, Federal Bureau of Prisons, 2026.
• Transfer of Offenders To or From Foreign Countries, Program Statement 5140.42, Federal Bureau of Prisons, 2019.
• Categorization of Offenses, Program Statement 5162.07, Federal Bureau of Prisons, 2026.
• Inmate Telephone Regulations, Program Statement 5264.09, Federal Bureau of Prisons, 2026.
• Visiting Regulations, Program Statement 5267.09, Federal Bureau of Prisons, 2023.
• Release Preparation Program, Program Statement 5325.09, Federal Bureau of Prisons, 2026.
• ION Spectrometry Device Program, Program Statement 5524.01, Federal Bureau of Prisons, 2026.
• Community Corrections Center (CCC) Utilization and Transfer Procedure, Program Statement 7310.04, Federal Bureau of Prisons, 1998.
• Press Releases, Federal Bureau of Prisons, 2021. The Bureau’s list of its news releases, including the FCI Safford death release.
• First Step Act Approved Programs Guide, Federal Bureau of Prisons, Reentry Services Division, 2026.
• Community Ties, Federal Bureau of Prisons, 2026. Includes the Bureau’s instructions for sending money.
• UNICOR, Federal Bureau of Prisons, 2026. Lists Federal Prison Industries factory locations by product line.
• Find an Inmate, Federal Bureau of Prisons, 2026. The Bureau’s search for people in federal custody, with register numbers and custody status.
• Institution Care Levels for Medical Assignment and Institutional Mental Health Care Levels, Federal Bureau of Prisons, 2024. Released under Freedom of Information Act request 2024-03455 and published by the Washington Lawyers’ Committee.
• Federal Bureau of Prisons Facilities 1992, Federal Bureau of Prisons, 1992. Digitized by the National Criminal Justice Reference Service.

Audits and inspections

• PREA Audit Report: Federal Correctional Institution (FCI) Safford, Corrections Consulting Services, LLC, 2026.
• Federal Prisons: Improvements Needed to Prevent, Detect, and Address Sexual Abuse (GAO-26-107343), U.S. Government Accountability Office, 2026.
• Staff Perceptions of the Federal Bureau of Prisons’ Management of the Coronavirus Disease 2019 Pandemic: A Follow-Up Survey of BOP Staff (Report 21-126), U.S. Department of Justice, Office of the Inspector General, 2021.
• Review of the Federal Bureau of Prisons’ Medical Staffing Challenges (Report 16-02), U.S. Department of Justice, Office of the Inspector General, 2016.
• Review of the Department of Justice’s International Prisoner Transfer Program (Report I-2012-002), U.S. Department of Justice, Office of the Inspector General, 2011.
• The Federal Bureau of Prisons’ Efforts to Manage Inmate Health Care (Report 08-08), U.S. Department of Justice, Office of the Inspector General, 2008.

Court records

• Camacho-Castillo v. Dulgov, No. 4:24-cv-00064-TUC-AMM (D. Ariz.), U.S. District Court for the District of Arizona, 2024. The order adopting the report and recommendation on the petition to apply time credits.
• Bendelladj v. Dulgov, No. 4:23-cv-00255-CKJ-LCK (D. Ariz.), U.S. District Court for the District of Arizona, 2024. The docket of Hamza Bendelladj’s habeas petition.
• Two Major International Hackers Who Developed the SpyEye Malware Get over 24 Years Combined in Federal Prison, U.S. Attorney’s Office, Northern District of Georgia, 2016. Hamza Bendelladj’s 15-year sentence.
• Former BOP Prison Guard Sentenced to 18 Months for Accepting a Bribe, U.S. Attorney’s Office, District of Arizona, 2024. Heather A. Neff’s sentence.
• Former BOP Correctional Officer Pleaded Guilty to Bribery of a Public Official, U.S. Department of Justice, Office of the Inspector General, 2023. Heather A. Neff’s plea.
• Sandoval v. United States, No. 2:17-cv-03092-DMG (C.D. Cal.), U.S. District Court for the Central District of California, 2021. The Valley Fever case; the docket was opened in 2017.
• Dennis Alexio Sentenced For Tax Fraud, Money Laundering, And Commercial Fraud, U.S. Attorney’s Office, District of Hawaii, 2017. Dennis Alexio’s sentence.
• Spokane Police Officer Sentenced for Civil Rights and Obstruction Violations in Connection with In-custody Death of Otto Zehm, U.S. Department of Justice, Office of Public Affairs, 2012. Karl F. Thompson Jr.’s sentence.

News and other sources

• Highway 70 Closed at Border Due to Sinkhole in New Mexico, The Gila Herald, 2026.
• CANCELED: Planned Full Closures on U.S. Highway 60 Between Superior and Miami Called Off Sept. 16-17, The Gila Herald, 2026.
• Federal Bureau of Prisons – FCI Safford Hiring Event Announced by Federal Bureau of Prisons for June 26–27, 2026, Graham County Chamber of Commerce, 2026.
• ASPC-Safford, Arizona Department of Corrections, Rehabilitation and Reentry, 2026.
• Federal Correctional Institution, Safford, Wikipedia, 2026.
• Drone Activity Detected at FCI-Safford, Gila Valley Central, 2024.
• Prison Incident at FCI-Safford Sends ‘Several’ Inmates to the Hospital, The Gila Herald, 2022.
• Inmate at Safford Federal Prison Hospitalized After Overdose, The Gila Herald, 2022.
• QAnon Shaman Jacob Chansley Held at FCI-Safford, The Gila Herald, 2022.
• Jan. 6 Rioter Known as ‘QAnon Shaman’ Sentenced to 41 Months, PBS NewsHour (Associated Press), 2021.
• Karl Thompson Released from Prison, The Spokesman-Review, 2016.
• Former SPD Officer Karl Thompson Leaves Prison, KREM, 2016.
• 18 U.S.C. § 3632(d)(4)(E)(i), Development of risk and needs assessment system, U.S. Code (Legal Information Institute).
• 28 C.F.R. § 550.55, Eligibility for early release, Code of Federal Regulations (Legal Information Institute).
• Ariz. Rev. Stat. § 1-242, Standard time, Arizona Revised Statutes (Arizona State Legislature).

Sources reviewed September 2026.

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