Federal prisons in Massachusetts at a glance
The Federal Bureau of Prisons operates one institution in Massachusetts, FMC Devens, a medical center with a satellite camp beside it; the two held 1,186 men as of September 2026. Devens belongs to the Bureau’s Northeast Region, whose office is in Philadelphia.
| Institution | Type and security | Holds | Population | Camp or satellite | City | Judicial district |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| FMC Devens | Federal Medical Center · Administrative | Men | 1,072 | Camp: 114 | Ayer | District of Massachusetts |
| Total | 1 institution | 1,072 | 114 |
On this page
How many federal prisons are in Massachusetts?
One. FMC Devens is the state’s single institution on the Bureau of Prisons roster, and roster institutions are what this page counts. It is an administrative-security federal medical center at Ayer, on the former Fort Devens Army post, with a minimum-security satellite camp half a mile further down Patton Road, counted inside the institution’s row. Both hold men, so there is no women’s federal facility in the state. Devens is one of the seven medical referral centers the Bureau’s locations list names, the only one holding men alone with a camp attached, and the site of the Bureau’s only Memory Disorder Unit, the single federal prison unit built for people with dementia. People do not usually arrive the ordinary way: a place is settled by a medical designation made by the Central Office Medical Designator in the Office of Medical Designations and Transportation, not by the Designation and Sentence Computation Center. See our guide to designation, the explainer on security levels, and the Bureau of Prisons directory for the rest of the system.
Which Bureau of Prisons regional office oversees Massachusetts?
The Northeast Regional Office, at the U.S. Custom House in Philadelphia. Devens answers to the Northeast Region, and the region is where a warden’s answer is appealed: 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.” At a medical center that rung carries weight: a complaint about care going nowhere locally has somewhere else to go, and a deadline for going there. The rung before it is our guide to filing a BP-9.
Which RRM office handles halfway-house placement from Massachusetts?
One office covers the whole state, from another one. Massachusetts constitutes one judicial district under 28 U.S.C. § 101, and the Bureau’s page for RRM New York prints the District of Massachusetts among the districts it lists. No other reentry office prints any part of it: no overlap, no gap.
Which office takes a case follows the district a person is releasing to, not the one nearest the prison. Program Statement 7310.04 tells the Warden at p. 12, where there is significant doubt about a referral, to consider “contacting the Chief USPO in the release district.” Devens draws men from across the country, so for many of them release is planned in another region entirely.
The timetable is policy, not custom. 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,” and at p. 8 that the meeting exists to ensure “release preparation needs are identified and appropriate release preparation programs are recommended.” Medical needs on release belong in that sentence. See federal halfway houses.
How do I find, write to, visit or send money to someone in a Massachusetts federal prison?
One site carries two names, and the inmate locator uses one. It searches the whole federal system by register number, or by a first and a last name together; a surname on its own fails outright. The medical center and the camp share a facility record, so the screen will not separate a hospital unit from an open camp half a mile up the road.
Mail is where the two part company. Both take prisoner mail at one post office box in Ayer, and what distinguishes them is a satellite-camp line inside the address block that the medical center’s version does not carry. Get it wrong and the mail comes back. The blocks are on our FMC Devens page and the rules under writing to someone inside.
Visiting is governed by the institution’s own supplement. Devens opens on Sundays, Mondays and federal holidays, the camp taking visitors later in the afternoon than the medical center, which rations visits through a points system the camp does not use. Check the current supplement first, and see visitation.
Money never goes to the institution itself; it travels by lockbox, Western Union Quick Collect or MoneyGram. Program Statement 4500.13 states at p. 79 that “Ordinarily, funds sent to an inmate via the Western Union Quick Collect/MoneyGram Program are posted to the inmate’s account within two hours of the transfer, if it was initiated between 7:00 a.m. and 9:00 p.m. EST.” See sending money.
Which federal prisons in Massachusetts are closing or have closed?
Nothing here is closing and nothing has closed. The Bureau’s announcement of July 1, 2026 listed six institutions for closure and two camps for conversion to Federal Satellite Lows; neither Devens nor its camp appears on it, and both carry populations on the roster snapshot behind this page.
What misleads in this state is a name rather than a closure. Fort Devens is a former Army post, and the Bureau’s medical center occupies part of its ground; only one of them is a prison. Our explainer on major federal prison closures covers what the Bureau has actually shut.
How many federal prisons does the Bureau of Prisons run in Massachusetts?
One. FMC Devens, at Ayer, is the state’s only Bureau of Prisons institution: an administrative-security federal medical center with a minimum-security satellite camp attached, both holding men. The camp is counted inside the medical center’s row rather than as a prison of its own.
What is the largest federal prison in Massachusetts by population?
Massachusetts has one federal prison rather than several, so the question is about a single address. FMC Devens and its satellite camp held 1,186 men between them as of September 2026, printed by the Bureau as two rows: 1,072 at the medical center and 114 at the camp.
Does Massachusetts have a high-security penitentiary or a federal prison camp?
There is no United States Penitentiary in the state. There is a camp, but not a free-standing one: the minimum-security satellite camp at FMC Devens, which shares the institution’s roster row. The medical center itself is administrative security, which describes a mission rather than a level.
Are any women held in federal custody in Massachusetts?
Not in a Bureau of Prisons institution here. The roster records FMC Devens and its camp as holding men, and there is no other federal prison in the state, so a woman serving a federal sentence is held elsewhere. Our guide to women’s federal prisons explains where.
What does it mean that FMC Devens is a medical referral center?
It is one of the seven institutions the Bureau’s locations list identifies as medical referral centers, and the only one holding men alone that also has a satellite camp. It is the site of the Bureau’s only Memory Disorder Unit, built for people with dementia.
How do I look up someone held in a Massachusetts federal prison?
Search the Bureau’s inmate locator, which covers the whole system rather than one state, by register number or by a first and a last name together; a last name alone returns an error. The medical center and its camp share one facility record, so the screen cannot tell them apart.
Which regional office covers the federal prison in Massachusetts?
The Northeast Regional Office, in Philadelphia. It is the second stage of the administrative remedy program: an appeal from the warden’s answer goes to the Regional Director on form BP-10, within twenty calendar days of the day the warden signed it.
Which reentry office handles halfway-house placement for someone releasing to Massachusetts?
RRM New York, which prints the District of Massachusetts on its Bureau page; no other reentry office prints any part of the state. Because Devens takes men from across the country, the office that plans a particular release is fixed by the district that person is going home to.
Can someone ask to be designated to a federal prison in Massachusetts?
A request can be made and a sentencing judge can recommend a facility, but the Bureau decides. Under 18 U.S.C. § 3621(b) it “shall designate the place of the prisoner’s imprisonment” and, subject to the statutory factors, place the prisoner “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 a Massachusetts federal prison?
Three problems recur at the state’s one institution, and at a medical center they arrive in a particular order. Care ordered and not delivered: an outside consultation never scheduled, a specialist’s records that never arrive, a sick-call visit turned away. The route is a written request to staff and then the administrative remedy process, every rung of it on a clock — one of the problems we work on inside. Release: where a man is at Devens because he is seriously ill, the Inspector General’s December 2024 inspection of this institution is a document a compassionate release motion can be built around. Credit: whether First Step Act time credits and good conduct time are earned and applied correctly is 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 Massachusetts 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.
- FMC Devens, Federal Bureau of Prisons, 2026.
- RRM New York, Federal Bureau of Prisons, 2026.
- Administrative Remedy Program, Program Statement 1330.18, 2014. BP-10 appeal at pp. 6–7.
- Community Corrections Center (CCC) Utilization and Transfer Procedure, Program Statement 7310.04, 1998. Release preparation at p. 8; release district at p. 12; referral timing at p. 13.
- Trust Fund/Deposit Fund Manual, Program Statement 4500.13, 2026. Posting times at p. 79.
Audits and inspections
- Inspection of the Federal Bureau of Prisons’ Federal Medical Center Devens, U.S. Department of Justice, Office of the Inspector General, December 2024.
Court records and statutes
- 28 U.S.C. § 101, Office of the Law Revision Counsel.
- 18 U.S.C. § 3621, Office of the Law Revision Counsel. Designation at § 3621(b).
News and other sources
- Federal Bureau of Prisons Announces Facility Closures and Operational Changes, Federal Bureau of Prisons, July 1, 2026.
Sources reviewed September 2026.
Reviewed for legal accuracy by Elizabeth Franklin-Best, Esq., Principal Attorney·September 2026