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Federal Prisons in Colorado

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

Federal prisons in Colorado at a glance

The Federal Bureau of Prisons operates 4 institutions in Colorado, one of them with a satellite camp, holding 3,601 people as of September 2026. All four are in the Bureau’s North Central Region, run from Kansas City, Kansas.

InstitutionType and securityHoldsPopulationCamp or satelliteCityJudicial district
USP Florence HighU.S. Penitentiary · HighMen839—FlorenceDistrict of Colorado
FCI FlorenceFederal Correctional Institution · MediumMen1,007Camp: 430FlorenceDistrict of Colorado
FCI EnglewoodFederal Correctional Institution · LowMen926—LittletonDistrict of Colorado
USP Florence ADMAXU.S. Penitentiary · AdministrativeMen399—FlorenceDistrict of Colorado
Total4 institutions3,171430
Federal Bureau of Prisons facility roster and population statistics, September 2026.

The roster prints a hyphen in “USP Florence – High” and a doubled space inside “USP Florence ADMAX”; this page uses the titles bop.gov’s own facility pages carry.

How many federal prisons are in Colorado?

Four, on the Bureau of Prisons roster: USP Florence High at high security and USP Florence ADMAX at administrative, both at Florence; FCI Florence at medium and FCI Englewood at low. Three of the four share one address as the Federal Correctional Complex, Florence, together with the complex’s camp, which FCI Florence runs. They have that address and the same map pin in common and almost nothing else: visiting rules, phone allowances, commissary and security level differ from one to the next, so “at Florence” is not enough information to act on. All four are men’s institutions, so Colorado has no federal prison for women. Ratings are explained under security levels. The Bureau of Prisons directory maps the country.

What is each federal prison in Colorado like?

All four, in the table’s order.

USP Florence High

The high-security penitentiary for men inside the Florence complex, with no camp. The Bureau’s August 2026 programs guide lists it and FCI Terre Haute as the only institutions running the residential STAGES program for borderline personality disorder, and one of only four penitentiaries in the system with a Residential Drug Abuse Program. See USP Florence High.

FCI Florence

Medium security for men at the same address, opened in 1993, and the institution that runs the complex’s minimum-security camp, counted on its own line. Turnover sets it apart from the penitentiaries beside it: the May 2026 audit of the complex put the average stay here at just under a year, against longer stays at the two prisons on the same road. It is a prison people pass through. See FCI Florence.

FCI Englewood

Low security for men on the southwestern edge of Denver, with a federal detention center on the same grounds and code. Despite the name it is not in the city of Englewood: the address is Littleton, in Jefferson County. It is a Sex Offender Management Program institution, and its detention center holds pretrial defendants, among them men sent from other states for court-ordered competency and sanity evaluations. See FCI Englewood.

USP Florence ADMAX

The Bureau’s only administrative-maximum penitentiary, used when it has decided a man cannot be held safely anywhere else; most people know it as ADX Florence. It was activated in November 1994, and its nine housing units hold single cells only. The auditor who inspected the complex in May 2026 put the average stay here at about four years and eight months, far longer than at the penitentiary next door. See USP Florence ADMAX.

Which Bureau of Prisons regional office oversees Colorado?

Colorado’s four report to the North Central Regional Office at Kansas City, Kansas, as its Offices page records. It is where a complaint first goes outside: 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.” It starts with filing a BP-9, under the Administrative Remedy Program.

Which RRM office handles halfway-house placement from Colorado?

No reentry office prints Colorado. The state is one federal judicial district under 28 U.S.C. § 85, and on the Bureau’s reentry pages, read on September 17, 2026, none of the twenty-two Residential Reentry Management offices listed it. That is a gap in the pages, not in the work, so this page assigns none. The same reading put Montana, Utah, Wyoming and the Southern District of Indiana in the same position, so it is a gap in what the Bureau publishes rather than something peculiar to Colorado. Its September 2026 contract list does show a reentry center under contract in the district, at Denver.

Placement still follows the district a person goes home to. Program Statement 7310.04 provides at p. 13 that “Normally 11 to 13 months before each inmate’s probable release date, the unit team shall decide whether to refer an inmate to a Community Corrections program.” Ask then which office holds Colorado’s contracts. Timing sits on our federal halfway houses page. The policy is in placement procedures.

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

Start with the national search. The inmate locator takes a register number or a name, and at Florence it is the quickest way to tell which prison holds someone.

Post carries the exact block the institution publishes. At Florence three prisons and a camp share one address, each with its own box. See writing to someone inside.

Visiting runs on each institution’s own supplement. USP Florence ADMAX visits Thursday to Sunday, non-contact only; the prisons beside it visit at weekends; FCI Englewood opens and closes earlier. See visitation.

The money channels are national rather than Colorado ones: the lockbox by mail, Western Union Quick Collect and MoneyGram. 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 Colorado are closing or have closed?

None is closing. No Colorado institution appears on the Bureau’s closure announcement of July 1, 2026. The camp beside FCI Englewood is the exception: the roster carries no camp there, and the Denver Post reported on December 5, 2024 that the Bureau was suspending operations at it and at camps in Wisconsin and Pennsylvania. Its facility page still prints a camp mailing block, so confirm first. See major federal prison closures.

How many federal prisons does the Bureau run in Colorado?

Four on the roster snapshot behind this page: two penitentiaries at Florence, one of them the Bureau’s only administrative-maximum prison, a medium-security institution on the same complex, and a low-security institution near Denver. One camp sits inside FCI Florence’s row.

What is the largest federal prison in Colorado?

FCI Florence, which held 1,007 men as of September 2026. It also runs the complex’s camp, a separate line of 430, so 1,437 are under its code altogether: the largest either way it is counted. FCI Englewood comes next, at 926.

What is ADX Florence?

ADX Florence is the common name for USP Florence ADMAX, the Bureau of Prisons’ only administrative-maximum penitentiary. It holds men the Bureau has decided cannot be held safely anywhere else in the system, and it held 399 on the same count.

Does Colorado have a high-security federal penitentiary?

Yes, and an administrative-security one beside it. USP Florence High is the high-security penitentiary for men at Florence, and USP Florence ADMAX next to it is administrative. The state’s only camp is the one FCI Florence runs at that complex.

How do I look up someone in a Colorado federal prison?

Use the Bureau’s inmate locator, which searches the whole federal system rather than one state, by register number or by name. At Florence it is the quickest way to tell which of the three prisons at one address holds a person.

Which regional office covers Colorado’s federal prisons?

The North Central Regional Office at Kansas City, Kansas, whose other institutions are in Illinois, Indiana, Kansas, Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri, South Dakota and Wisconsin. It is where a BP-10 appeal goes once the Warden has answered a BP-9, not an address for mail.

Which reentry office covers halfway-house placement from Colorado?

None that the Bureau prints. On its reentry pages, read on September 17, 2026, no Residential Reentry Management office listed the District of Colorado. That is a gap in the pages, not in the work; ask the unit team which office holds the contracts.

Is the camp at FCI Englewood still open?

No. The Bureau’s roster lists no camp at FCI Englewood and the population report gives it no line, so nobody is counted there. News reports dated December 5, 2024 put the suspension alongside camps in two other states. Anyone still holding an old camp address should check with the institution before sending mail.

Can someone ask to be sent to a federal prison in Colorado?

Anyone can ask, and a judge can recommend a prison, but the Bureau decides. Program Statement 5100.08 states at p. 4 that “The Bureau of Prisons attempts to place each inmate in an institution that is reasonably close to the anticipated release area.”

How can a federal defense firm help a Colorado family?

Two problems recur here. Colorado holds the Bureau’s only administrative-maximum penitentiary, so placement at USP Florence ADMAX and movement out of it arise here as nowhere else. FCI Englewood is a Sex Offender Management Program institution with a detention center on the same grounds. Both are ordinary problems we work on inside, reaching First Step Act time credit and 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 Colorado 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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