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FCI Terminal Island: Operations Suspended (2025)

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

FCI Terminal Island at a glance

FCI Terminal Island’s operations are suspended. The Bureau of Prisons said on November 25, 2025 that it would suspend operations at the low-security men’s prison in Los Angeles Harbor, after concrete began falling from the ceilings of the underground tunnels that carry its steam heating lines. Its own page for the prison showed a population of 0 on June 11, 2026, and the prison was absent from the Bureau’s institution roster on September 5 and again when we queried it on September 18, 2026. No decision on the buildings has been published, and this page gives no mailing address, deposit channel, visiting schedule or telephone number: nobody is held there.

The Bureau spoke about the suspension through the press, quoted here with dates. The table draws on the records named beneath it.

Official nameFederal Correctional Institution, Terminal Island (FCI Terminal Island)
BOP facility codeTRM
StatusOperations suspended, on the Bureau’s announcement of November 25, 2025. Population 0 on the Bureau’s facility page, captured June 11, 2026; absent from the institution roster on September 5 and September 18, 2026. We found no Bureau document calling the closure permanent.
LocationTerminal Island, San Pedro, Los Angeles County, California
Security levelLow, on the Bureau’s facility page (captured June 11, 2026). The Bureau listed it as medium security in 1991, 1999 and 2005.
HeldMen (the facility page read “Male offenders”)
Bureau regionWestern Region
Judicial districtCentral District of California
Built1938 (Inspector General Report 23-064, May 2023; the Bureau’s Facilities 1991)
Bureau relationshipBureau-operated institution. A Navy disciplinary barracks from 1942 to 1950; reacquired by the Bureau in 1955, on the Bureau’s 1991 account
NowNo Bureau decision on the site has been published. A federal award record lists environmental assessment services at FCI Terminal Island from June 12 to December 9, 2026.
Finding someoneUse the Bureau’s Inmate Locator
Sources: the Bureau’s FCI Terminal Island facility page, captured June 11, 2026; its institution roster, queried September 18, 2026; Facilities 1991, Federal Bureau of Prisons; DOJ Office of the Inspector General Report 23-064 (May 2023); and award 15BBNF26F70000001 on USAspending.gov.

What happened to FCI Terminal Island?

The buildings wore out, and the record of it is years old.

  • April 2022. Inspector General auditors toured the prison for a Bureau-wide maintenance audit. Their Report 23-064 (May 2023) found it had the largest unfunded need of any operating institution on the Bureau’s August 2021 list, $104 million (at p. 11), and recorded that “The concrete floor in the powerhouse, where the boilers are located is in critical condition” (at p. 34).
  • April 2024. A firm hired by the Bureau found more than $110 million in critical repairs needed over 20 years, the Associated Press later reported.
  • November 25, 2025. The Bureau’s Director told employees by email that operations would be suspended. “There is a very real risk that falling concrete could strike the steam lines,” he wrote, and a loss of heat “could require the evacuation of nearly 1,000 inmates in a matter of hours” (Government Executive). His memo put the move-out at several weeks (Associated Press).
  • November 26, 2025. A spokesperson gave the reason in the Bureau’s own words: “A recent discovery of a critical life-safety issue, involving the support of the steam system used for heating the institution, has prompted immediate action” (Long Beach Post).
  • March 16 to August 17, 2026. A federal contract for emergency shoring of a tunnel at the prison.
  • May 2026. A purchase recorded as dental equipment removal due to the closure at FCI Terminal Island.
  • June 12 to December 9, 2026. A contract for environmental assessment services at FCI Terminal Island.
  • September 5 and 18, 2026. Absent from the institution roster; the prison’s old bop.gov page now redirects to the Bureau’s locations page.

The Bureau has issued no release on the suspension: its July 1, 2026 closures announcement names six other institutions, and the 500 latest items in its news feed, searched September 18, 2026, include none. We found no Bureau document calling the closure permanent, and when we checked again on September 18, 2026 no environmental assessment, finding of no significant impact or Federal Register notice on the site had been published. The last public word on its future is a spokesperson’s, to the Long Beach Post on November 26, 2025: “Once we have assessed the situation further and ensured the safety of all those involved, we will determine the next steps for FCI Terminal Island.”

Where are the people who were held at FCI Terminal Island?

Elsewhere in the federal system, or released; the Bureau’s Inmate Locator is the dependable way to find one person. A spokesperson said that “Several placement options are being evaluated, with a priority on keeping individuals as close as possible to their anticipated release locations” (Government Executive, November 25, 2025). No receiving prison was named, and this page guesses at none for anybody; see prison transfers and the federal inmate transfer process.

Search by register number where you have one. A name search needs first and last names together, since a surname alone returns an error, and two-part surnames are often missed, so try each part. Once a release date is entered the record shows a label and a date, such as “Not in BOP Custody as of:”, instead of a place.

A record that reads Long Beach usually means RRM Long Beach, the Bureau’s reentry office for the Central and Southern Districts of California, not a prison; see our inmate locator guide.

What was FCI Terminal Island?

The Bureau’s Facilities 1991 gives the early history: “Opened in 1938, FCI Terminal Island served as a Naval disciplinary barracks from 1942 to 1950 and as a medical facility of the California Department of Corrections for a short time after 1950. In 1955, the institution was reacquired by the Bureau of Prisons.” In 1991 it held men and served “as a medical referral facility for the Western Region, providing short-term medical care” (at p. 70). See medical care in federal prison for that system now.

The Bureau listed it as medium security in Facilities 1991 and in its State of the Bureau reports for 1999 (at p. 46) and 2005 (at p. 47), and as low security in its Directory of National Programs of May 17, 2017; by April 2020 the Inspector General described 1,091 low security male inmates there (Report 21-025 at iii). An earlier version of this page dated the change to 1995, which the Bureau’s own 1999 and 2005 reports contradict. The change came between 2005 and 2017; we have not found the year. In March 2022 it held 865 men against a capacity of 771, in housing units all but two of which lacked air conditioning (Report 23-064 at p. 34).

This page once listed five well-known men said to have served time here, with no record behind any of them. The list is gone; a name returns only with a court or Bureau record and a dated Inmate Locator check.

What did the Inspector General find at Terminal Island?

Two reports. The first, Remote Inspection of Federal Correctional Institution Terminal Island (Pandemic Response Report 21-025, January 2021), was done at a distance over May 6 to June 25, 2020, by telephone interviews, documents and data; the Inspector General could not meet staff or inmates. On March 28, 2020 nearly 15 percent of the men were 60 or older, against a Bureau-wide average of nearly 7 percent, and the first staff member tested positive on April 5 and the first inmate on April 10 (at iii). When the prison then tested every inmate, “nearly half of the inmate population was already infected” by the time testing was complete, and 107 men who had tested negative stayed housed with 129 who had tested positive for four to five days after the results came in (at ii).

Five of the ten men who died after contracting the virus were not tested until staff had sent them to a hospital, and in one case staff did not notify, as Bureau policy required, the family of a man who spent six days on a ventilator before he died (at ii). By January 4, 2021 the report counted 557 inmates and 35 staff who had tested positive, and 10 inmates who had died (at i).

The second, the maintenance audit, followed a site visit in April 2022. Its verdict was measured: “While none of the unfunded needs currently compromise operations, they are extensive and could lead to future operation disruptions. In particular, the absence of air conditioning in inmate housing is notable” (at p. 34). The same audit examined the two Bureau institutions already closed for their condition, MCC New York and California’s Taft Correctional Institution.

What did the Bureau report about deaths at Terminal Island?

Thirteen Bureau news releases titled “Inmate Death at FCI Terminal Island,” each reporting the death of a person held there, were still posted when we opened them on September 18, 2026; the Bureau lists them on its press release page. By month of posting:

  • April 2020 — five releases.
  • May 2020 — four releases.
  • June 2020 — one release.
  • December 2021 — one release.
  • August 2022 — one release.
  • January 2023 — one release.

Releases are not a full count. The Bureau’s FOIA list Inmate Deaths between 2019 and 2022, covering January 1, 2019 to June 29, 2022, files 26 deaths under Terminal Island’s code, TRM, a code that records the person’s institution rather than the place of death.

Federal prisons still operating in California

Ten, on the roster we queried September 18, 2026, holding 11,196 people on the Bureau’s September 10, 2026 population report: USP Atwater, FCI Herlong, FCI Lompoc I, FCI Lompoc II, MDC Los Angeles, FCI Mendota, MCC San Diego, FCI Victorville Medium I, FCI Victorville Medium II and USP Victorville. Our California hub describes each.

Where anyone serves a sentence is the Bureau’s designation decision, and we point no family toward any of these prisons. Our explainer on major federal prison closures and deactivations follows the Bureau’s other closures, including the former FCI Dublin.

Frequently Asked Questions

Is FCI Terminal Island closed?

Its operations are suspended. The Bureau announced the suspension on November 25, 2025, its page for the prison showed a population of 0 on June 11, 2026, and the prison was off the roster on September 18, 2026. We found no Bureau document calling the closure permanent.

Why did the Bureau of Prisons suspend operations at Terminal Island?

Concrete was falling from the ceilings of the tunnels that carry the prison’s steam heating lines, and the Director told staff that a strike on those lines could cut the heat and force an evacuation. The Inspector General had put its unfunded repair needs at $104.4 million as of May 2022.

Can I send mail or money to someone at FCI Terminal Island?

No. Nobody is held there; the Bureau’s page for the prison showed a population of 0 on June 11, 2026. Look the person up on the Bureau’s Inmate Locator first, then follow the mail and deposit rules of whichever institution or office the record names.

How do I find someone who was held at FCI Terminal Island?

Use the Bureau’s Inmate Locator, with a register number or a first and last name together. The Bureau said placements would favor nearness to each man’s expected release location, and it named no single destination. A record reading Long Beach is usually a reentry office, not a prison.

When did FCI Terminal Island open?

In 1938, on the Bureau’s own 1991 account and the Inspector General’s in 2023. The Navy used it as a disciplinary barracks from 1942 to 1950, California’s Department of Corrections used it briefly as a medical facility after 1950, and the Bureau reacquired it in 1955.

Did people die in custody at FCI Terminal Island?

Yes. Thirteen Bureau news releases posted between April 2020 and January 2023 each report the death of a person held there. The Bureau’s FOIA list for January 2019 through June 2022 files 26 deaths under the prison’s code, which records the person’s institution, not the place of death.

Where we can help

A move at short notice reopens questions about programs, medical care and release planning, which we work on for people in federal custody; see problems inside a federal prison, the BP-9 grievance and compassionate release.

Talk Through a Custody Problem. You leave knowing whether this is grievable, and how long there is to act. Conditions inside are sometimes evidence, and the administrative clock runs whether or not anyone files.

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.

Elizabeth Franklin-Best, P.C. is a federal criminal defense and post-conviction firm based in Columbia, South Carolina, practicing nationwide. Mentions of California places on this page do not imply an office or a lawyer there.

Sources and currency

Bureau of Prisons records

DOJ Office of the Inspector General reports

Federal award records

News reports

Sources reviewed September 2026. A Bureau decision on the site will be added here when one is published.

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

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