North Central Regional Office at a glance
The North Central Regional Office is the Bureau of Prisons’ regional headquarters for nine states that hold federal prisons, from Colorado east to Michigan. From 400 State Avenue in Kansas City, Kansas, it supervises 20 institutions that held 21,437 people in the Bureau’s September 10, 2026 population report, and it answers to the Central Office in Washington, D.C. BP-10 appeals from all twenty are decided here.
| Official name | North Central Regional Office |
|---|---|
| BOP code | NCR |
| Street address | 400 STATE AVENUE, SUITE 800, KANSAS CITY, KS 66101 |
| Staff mail | STAFF NAME, NORTH CENTRAL REGIONAL OFFICE, 400 STATE AVENUE, SUITE 800, KANSAS CITY, KS 66101 |
| Shipping | 400 STATE AVENUE, SUITE 900, KANSAS CITY, KS 66101 — Suite 900, where the other two records print Suite 800 |
| Phone | 913-621-3939 |
| Fax | 913-551-1175 |
| FOIA requests | 913-551-1004 · NCRO-FOIA-S@BOP.GOV (the Bureau’s FOIA page, September 2026) |
| States (as the Bureau prints them) | Colorado · Illinois · Indiana · Iowa · Kansas · Michigan · Minnesota · Missouri · Nebraska · North Dakota · South Dakota · Wisconsin |
| Institutions | 20 |
| Population | 21,437 (September 10, 2026) |
| Reentry offices | Five — RRM Chicago · RRM Detroit · RRM Kansas City · RRM Minneapolis · RRM St Louis |
| Reports to | Central Office, Washington, D.C. |
On this page
What does the North Central Regional Office do?
Nobody serves a sentence at 400 State Avenue. The Bureau’s Offices page describes the regional job: “Six regional offices provide oversight and technical assistance to the facilities located in their respective region of the country. In addition to providing operational oversight, regional office staff conduct workshops, conferences, and specialized training programs for their region; assist state and local criminal justice agencies; and contract to provide offender placement in residential reentry centers.”
Regulation fixes the shape of the agency. Under 28 C.F.R. § 503.1, “The Bureau of Prisons consists of a Central Office, located at 320 First Street, NW., Washington, DC 20534, a Staff Training Center, and six Regional Offices (Northeast, Mid-Atlantic, Southeast, North Central, South Central, and Western).” Kansas City is one of those six, and the other five appear on our regional offices page; the tier above all of them is the Central Office.
Two kinds of appeal come here straight from a prison. One is the BP-10, the challenge to a warden’s answer. The other follows a disciplinary hearing: PS 1330.18 at p. 6 provides that “DHO appeals shall be submitted initially to the Regional Director for the region where the inmate is currently located.”
Which federal prisons does the North Central Regional Office oversee?
Twenty, spread over nine states, with 21,437 people counted in the population report of September 10, 2026. Every state has a hub page on this site: Colorado, Illinois, Indiana, Kansas, Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri, South Dakota and Wisconsin.
| Institution | Type and security | Population | Camp or satellite |
|---|---|---|---|
| Colorado | |||
| USP Florence – High | U.S. Penitentiary · High | 839 | — |
| FCI Florence | Federal Correctional Institution · Medium | 1,007 | Camp: 430 |
| FCI Englewood | Federal Correctional Institution · Low | 926 | — |
| USP Florence ADMAX | U.S. Penitentiary · Administrative | 399 | — |
| Illinois | |||
| FCI Greenville | Federal Correctional Institution · Medium | 1,135 | Camp: 113 |
| FCI Marion | Federal Correctional Institution · Medium | 1,007 | Camp: 202 |
| FCI Pekin | Federal Correctional Institution · Medium | 1,058 | Camp: 230 |
| FCI Thomson | Federal Correctional Institution · Low | 1,927 | Camp: 147 |
| MCC Chicago | Metropolitan Correctional Center · Administrative | 507 | — |
| Indiana | |||
| USP Terre Haute | U.S. Penitentiary · High | 1,151 | — |
| FCI Terre Haute | Federal Correctional Institution · Medium | 1,102 | Camp: 285 |
| Kansas | |||
| FCI Leavenworth | Federal Correctional Institution · Medium | 1,366 | Camp: 184 |
| Michigan | |||
| FCI Milan | Federal Correctional Institution · Low | 1,546 | — |
| Minnesota | |||
| FCI Sandstone | Federal Correctional Institution · Low | 1,207 | — |
| FCI Waseca | Federal Correctional Institution · Low | 810 | — |
| FPC Duluth | Federal Prison Camp · Minimum | 249 | — |
| FMC Rochester | Federal Medical Center · Administrative | 827 | — |
| Missouri | |||
| MCFP Springfield | Federal Medical Center · Administrative | 1,099 | — |
| South Dakota | |||
| FPC Yankton | Federal Prison Camp · Minimum | 524 | — |
| Wisconsin | |||
| FCI Oxford | Federal Correctional Institution · Low | 1,160 | — |
| Total | 20 institutions in 9 states | 19,846 | 1,591 |
It runs from the administrative-maximum penitentiary at Florence, medical centers at Rochester and Springfield, the metropolitan correctional center in Chicago, and minimum-security camps at Duluth and Yankton. Two sites hold more than one institution. FCC Florence groups USP Florence – High, FCI Florence and USP Florence ADMAX, and FCC Terre Haute groups the penitentiary with the FCI. FCI Waseca is the only institution here that the roster records as holding women.
Iowa, Nebraska and North Dakota are on the Bureau’s list for this region but hold no Bureau institution; their districts are printed under RRM Kansas City and RRM Minneapolis.
Which RRM offices are in the North Central Region?
Five Residential Reentry Management offices report into this region, and the district lists the Bureau prints for them are uneven in size. As read on September 18, 2026:
- RRM Chicago — Central and Northern Illinois, Eastern and Western Wisconsin, Northern Indiana and Western Michigan.
- RRM Detroit — Eastern Michigan only.
- RRM Kansas City — Iowa, Kansas, Missouri and Nebraska, each printed as a bare state name.
- RRM Minneapolis — Minnesota, North Dakota and South Dakota.
- RRM St Louis — Eastern Missouri and Southern Illinois.
Missouri is printed twice. Kansas City lists the whole state with no division, while St Louis lists Eastern Missouri, so an eastern Missouri release address sits under both offices on the Bureau’s pages and neither page says which one controls.
Two stretches of the region are printed under no office. None of the Bureau’s reentry office pages names the District of Colorado, where the Florence complex and FCI Englewood sit, or the Southern District of Indiana, home to both Terre Haute institutions. That is a gap in what the Bureau publishes rather than proof that nobody handles those districts; the unit team at the institution can say which office holds the contract for a Colorado or southern Indiana release.
The office that matters is the one for the district where the person will live after release. Every office is described in our RRM directory.
How do I appeal to the North Central Regional Director (BP-10)?
A warden’s denial is appealed on Form BP-10, and for every prison in the table above that appeal is decided in Kansas City. The deadline appears in PS 1330.18 at pp. 6–7: an appeal goes “on the appropriate form (BP-10) to the appropriate Regional Director within 20 calendar days of the date the Warden signed the response.” Our guide to the BP-9 covers the step before, and the remedy policy page the whole program.
Where the person is on the day of mailing decides the office. PS 1330.18 at p. 7: “The appropriate regional office to process the Appeal is the regional office for the institution where the inmate is confined at the time of mailing the Appeal, regardless of the institution that responded to the institution filing.” Someone moved out of FCI Oxford to a prison in another region before mailing sends the BP-10 to that region instead.
Receipt, not postmark, is what the clock measures: the deadlines “specify the date of the Appeal’s receipt in the regional office or the Central Office” (PS 1330.18 at p. 7). The same page asks for one complete copy of the institution request and response and “two additional copies of any continuation page and exhibits with the regional Appeal.” A valid reason for delay can extend the time, as 28 C.F.R. § 542.14(b) describes.
For the answer, read the response set on PS 1330.18 at p. 9, not the extension set: a reply is due “by the Regional Director within 30 calendar days” of filing. The extension sentence that follows allows 30 more days at the regional level; the 20-day figures in that sentence and the 40-day General Counsel response belong to other levels. Silence past the deadline, extension included, may be treated as “a denial at that level” under the same page.
Some complaints would put the person at risk if staff at the prison learned of them, and those can skip the warden. PS 1330.18 at p. 6 lets the inmate “submit the Request directly to the appropriate Regional Director”, marked “Sensitive” with a written reason.
PS 1330.18 at p. 7 adds only that “In many cases, courts require a proper Appeal to the General Counsel before an inmate may pursue the complaint in court.” That next appeal, the BP-11, goes to the Central Office, and our page on the § 2241 petition covers one filing that can follow it.
How do I contact the North Central Regional Office?
Telephone 913-621-3939; fax 913-551-1175. The mailbox the Bureau publishes for the office is NCR-ExecAssistant-S@bop.gov. Letters to staff go to a named person at 400 State Avenue, Suite 800, Kansas City, Kansas 66101.
Parcels are where the records part ways: the shipping record reads Suite 900, the street and staff-mail records Suite 800. We print both as the Bureau does and have not confirmed which suite takes deliveries.
Nothing meant for a prisoner belongs at this address. The office houses nobody. Letters and money go to the institution under its own rules, set out in our guides to writing to someone in federal prison and sending money.
Which North Central prisons have changed names or missions?
FPC Duluth is the region’s entry in the Bureau’s July 1, 2026 announcement, which says “Morgantown FPC and Duluth FPC will transition from minimum-security camps to FSL facilities.” No other North Central institution is named in it. The change has not reached the Bureau’s records: the roster still lists Duluth as a Federal Prison Camp at minimum security, the September 10, 2026 report counts 249 people there, and the release gives no date. Checked September 18, 2026.
The penitentiary names at Leavenworth and Marion are gone. A Bureau notice dated April 4, 2024 says “The facilities being renamed include six current USPs: Atlanta, Leavenworth, Lewisburg, Lompoc, Marion, and Yazoo City.” It adds that “The six USPs will be renamed as FCIs as each of them are either low or medium security facilities now.” Both appear on today’s roster as medium-security FCIs with camps.
Thomson is not in that notice, yet the roster now calls it FCI Thomson, a low-security institution with a camp. The Bureau’s page for this office still links an environmental assessment for “improvements made at the Administrative United States Penitentiary (AUSP) Thomson”, as read on September 18, 2026.
Frequently Asked Questions
How many federal prisons are in the North Central Region?
Twenty institutions in nine states, holding 21,437 people in the Bureau’s population report of September 10, 2026. Illinois has five of them, the most of any state here, Colorado and Minnesota four each, Indiana two, and Kansas, Michigan, Missouri, South Dakota and Wisconsin one apiece.
Where do I send a BP-10 from FCI Pekin?
To the North Central Regional Office, 400 State Avenue, Suite 800, Kansas City, Kansas 66101, addressed to the Regional Director. Every Illinois institution belongs to this region. The appeal must arrive within 20 calendar days of the date the warden signed the response, and the Bureau counts from the day the office receives it, not the postmark.
How long does the North Central Regional Director have to respond?
Thirty calendar days from the date the appeal is logged as received, under Program Statement 1330.18 at p. 9. The regional level may extend that once by another 30 days, with written notice. If no answer arrives by the end of that period, the person may treat the silence as a denial and take the next step to the Central Office.
Are Iowa and Nebraska in the North Central Region?
Yes, on the Bureau’s own list of the region’s states, although neither has a Bureau institution. RRM Kansas City prints both among its districts, together with Kansas and Missouri, and RRM Minneapolis prints North Dakota, the third state on the list with no federal prison of its own.
Which RRM office handles a release to Colorado?
The Bureau’s pages do not say. None of its Residential Reentry Management office pages lists the District of Colorado, and the same holds for the Southern District of Indiana. The unit team at the institution makes the referral and can tell a family which office holds the relevant contract.
Can I send mail or money to someone through the Kansas City office?
No. The regional office houses nobody. Letters go to the institution where the person is held, under that institution’s mail rules, and money goes through the deposit methods the Bureau publishes, never to an office address. Kansas City takes administrative paper only: BP-10 appeals, DHO appeals, sensitive requests and letters to staff.
Who is the North Central Regional Director?
The Bureau does not say on the office’s page, where the leadership field loads dynamically and was empty on September 18, 2026. We do not print names taken from secondary sites, which are often stale. A BP-10 needs no name: it goes to the Regional Director, by title, at the Kansas City address.
Where we can help
We work on BP-10 and DHO appeals that stalled here, transfers within the region, and compassionate release or early release requests a warden has declined.
Discuss a Discipline or Custody Issue. You leave with an assessment of whether the Bureau followed its own policy, and what to file if it did not. A BP-9 is due 20 calendar days after the event it complains of. 28 C.F.R. § 542.14(a).
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 North Central Region places on this page do not imply an office or a lawyer there.
Sources and currency
Bureau of Prisons documents
- RO North Central, Federal Bureau of Prisons, 2026. Contact records, leadership field and the Thomson link, read September 18, 2026.
- Offices, Federal Bureau of Prisons, 2026. Regional role and state list.
- Our Locations, Federal Bureau of Prisons, 2026. The roster.
- Population Statistics, Federal Bureau of Prisons. The September 10, 2026 report.
- Administrative Remedy Program, Program Statement 1330.18, Federal Bureau of Prisons, 2014. Sensitive requests and DHO appeals at p. 6; the appeal at pp. 6–7; processing, receipt and copies at p. 7; response times at p. 9.
- Federal Bureau of Prisons Announces Facility Closures and Operational Changes, Federal Bureau of Prisons, July 1, 2026. The Duluth conversion.
- Name Changes Approved for Seven FBOP Facilities, Federal Bureau of Prisons, April 4, 2024. Leavenworth and Marion; read September 18, 2026.
- RRM pages: RRM Chicago, RRM Detroit, RRM Kansas City, RRM Minneapolis and RRM St Louis, Federal Bureau of Prisons, 2026. Printed districts.
Regulations
- 28 C.F.R. § 503.1, Structure of the Bureau of Prisons.
- 28 C.F.R. § 542.14, Initial filing; valid reasons for delay at (b); sensitive requests at (d)(1).
- 28 C.F.R. § 542.15, Appeals.
- 28 C.F.R. § 542.18, Response time.
Sources reviewed September 2026. Confirm anything load-bearing with the institution or the regional office before relying on it.
Reviewed for legal accuracy by Elizabeth Franklin-Best, Esq., Principal Attorney·September 2026