Current as of 7 September 2026. On 1 July 2026 the Federal Bureau of Prisons announced it would close six institutions — FCI Beaumont Low, FCI Big Spring and its camp, FCI La Tuna with its Federal Satellite Low and camp, the FMC Lexington satellite camp, FCI Petersburg Low, and FCI Taft — and convert FPC Morgantown and FPC Duluth from minimum-security camps into Federal Satellite Lows. Separately, four facilities have come off BOP’s roster entirely: FCI Dublin, MCC New York, FPC Pensacola and FCI Terminal Island.
Here is the fact that matters most and that no other page states: as of 5 September 2026, five of the six announced closures had not yet posted on BOP’s own systems. Beaumont Low, Big Spring, La Tuna, the Lexington FMC and Petersburg Low were all still listed as active at their original security levels, Morgantown and Duluth were still shown as camps, and only Taft had actually dropped off the roster. Announced is not closed. If someone you love is at one of these places, they are almost certainly still there today.
What has actually happened, at a glance
| Announcement date | 1 July 2026 (BOP press release) |
| Institutions announced for closure | 6 |
| Camps converting to Federal Satellite Lows | 2 — Morgantown, Duluth |
| Already off BOP’s roster | 4 — Dublin, MCC New York, Pensacola, Terminal Island |
| Already off the roster from the July list | 1 — Taft (non-operational since 2020) |
| Still listed active on BOP’s systems as of 5 Sept 2026 | Beaumont Low, Big Spring, La Tuna, Lexington FMC, Petersburg Low |
| Stated reason | “Decades of deferred maintenance and extreme staffing challenges” |
| Deferred-maintenance backlog | Exceeding $4 billion, per BOP |
| Facilities where staff transfer on-site or nearby | Beaumont FCI Low, Lexington FMC Camp, Petersburg FCI Low |
| Facilities where a reduction-in-force applies | Big Spring FCI and Camp; La Tuna FCI, FSL and Camp |
| Facilities renamed, not closed | 7 — Atlanta, Leavenworth, Lewisburg, Marion, Thomson, Lompoc I/II, and Yazoo City |
| Institutions on BOP’s roster | 118 (reconciled 5 September 2026) |
Sources: the Bureau’s own 1 July 2026 press release and its published facility records, captured 11 June 2026 and reconciled field-by-field against BOP’s live locations roster on 5 September 2026. This page carries a visible date because it goes stale. Check the date above before relying on it.
On this page
Every facility BOP has closed, converted or removed from its roster
This is the table to scan. “Status on BOP’s systems” is the crucial column — it is the difference between a plan and a fact.
| Facility | State | Action | Effective / announced | Status on BOP’s systems (5 Sept 2026) | Source | What it means for someone housed there |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| FCI Beaumont Low | Texas | Closure of the low FCI | Announced 1 July 2026 | Still listed active, low security | BOP press release | Transfer to another low-security institution at some point. Staff transfer on-site or nearby, so the Beaumont complex — FCI Beaumont Medium and USP Beaumont — continues operating |
| FCI Big Spring + camp | Texas | Closure of FCI and satellite camp | Announced 1 July 2026 | Still listed active, low security | Same | Whole site closes. A reduction-in-force applies to staff, which usually means a faster wind-down than a staff-transfer closure. See also the separate CI Big Spring contract facility |
| FCI La Tuna + FSL + camp | Texas | Closure of FCI, Federal Satellite Low and camp | Announced 1 July 2026 | Still listed active, low security | Same | Whole site closes. BOP states the FSL is already non-operational and will be permanently closed; a reduction-in-force applies |
| FMC Lexington satellite camp | Kentucky | Closure of the camp only | Announced 1 July 2026 | FMC still listed active; camp still shown | Same | The medical center itself was not announced for closure. Camp staff transfer on-site or nearby. Camp residents move; FMC patients do not |
| FCI Petersburg Low | Virginia | Closure of the low FCI | Announced 1 July 2026 | Still listed active, low security | Same | Transfer to another low-security institution. Staff transfer on-site or nearby; FCI Petersburg Medium continues |
| FCI Taft | California | Permanent closure | Announced 1 July 2026 | Off the roster — the only one of the six that has actually posted | Same | Nothing operational; BOP states it was already non-operational and minimal staff were affected |
| FPC Morgantown | West Virginia | Conversion, camp → Federal Satellite Low | Announced 1 July 2026 | Still shown as an FPC with no FSL flag | Same | Not a closure. A camp becoming an FSL means a secure perimeter and a change in security level and programming |
| FPC Duluth | Minnesota | Conversion, camp → Federal Satellite Low | Announced 1 July 2026 | Still shown as an FPC with no FSL flag | Same | Same as Morgantown — a status change, not a closure |
| FCI Dublin | California | Off the roster — deactivated 2024 | Confirmed 5 Sept 2026 | Removed; page no longer resolves; population 0 | BOP locations roster | A women’s low-security FCI. Anyone with a live register number is housed elsewhere. See women’s federal prisons |
| MCC New York | New York | Off the roster — closed | Confirmed 5 Sept 2026 | Removed; population 0 | BOP locations roster | The Manhattan detention center. Federal pre-trial detention in the Southern District of New York now runs through other facilities |
| FPC Pensacola | Florida | Off the roster | Confirmed 5 Sept 2026 | Removed; population 0 | BOP locations roster | A minimum-security camp. Removed without a dedicated press release |
| FCI Terminal Island | California | Off the roster | Confirmed 5 Sept 2026 | Removed; population 0 | BOP locations roster | A low-security FCI in San Pedro. Removed without a dedicated press release |
Two of those rows deserve emphasis. FCI Dublin, MCC New York, FPC Pensacola and FCI Terminal Island were not part of the July announcement. They came off BOP’s roster separately — their facility pages no longer resolve and their published populations are zero. They are, in the most literal sense, the federal prisons that have actually closed. And BOP did not issue a press release for the last three; the fact is visible only in the roster itself.
Announced is not closed
This is the single most important operational point on the page, and almost every published account gets it wrong.
A BOP closure announcement is a statement of intent. It sets no effective date, it creates no deadline, and it does not by itself move anyone. On 5 September 2026 — more than two months after the announcement — a field-by-field reconciliation against BOP’s live locations roster found that Beaumont Low, Big Spring, La Tuna, the Lexington FMC and Petersburg Low were all still listed as active at their original security levels, and that Morgantown and Duluth were still classified as FPCs with no Federal Satellite Low flag set. Only Taft had dropped off — and Taft, by BOP’s own account, had been non-operational since 2020.
What follows practically:
- Do not stop writing to the current address. Mail sent to a facility a person has left is not forwarded reliably. Keep using the address on the BOP Inmate Locator until the Locator changes.
- Do not assume a transfer date. BOP has published none, and staffing arrangements differ by site: Beaumont Low, the Lexington camp and Petersburg Low are staff-transfer closures; Big Spring and La Tuna are reduction-in-force closures, which historically move faster.
- Do not read “closing” as “releasing.” A closure changes where a sentence is served. It does not shorten it, and it does not create an early-release mechanism. Anyone telling you otherwise is guessing.
- The Locator is the authority on where someone is. Not this page, not a news report, not a facility website. Check it before every letter, every deposit and every visit.
Why these prisons are closing
The Bureau gave its reasons on the record. The press release attributes the closures to “decades of deferred maintenance and extreme staffing challenges,” and quantifies the first: “BOP is currently confronting a deferred maintenance backlog exceeding $4 billion. While funding provided through the One Big Beautiful Bill Act will help address some of these needs, it is not sufficient to fully resolve the operational and infrastructure challenges that have accumulated over decades” (BOP press release, 1 July 2026).
Director William K. Marshall III is quoted: “These actions are necessary to address longstanding infrastructure and staffing challenges while ensuring the Bureau remains focused on its core mission of operating safe, secure, and efficient correctional facilities.”
The staffing treatment tells you something the reasons do not. Where BOP says staff will be transferred to other units on-site or nearby — Beaumont Low, the Lexington camp, Petersburg Low — the closing unit sits inside a larger complex that keeps operating. Where BOP says a reduction-in-force will take effect — Big Spring, La Tuna — the whole site is going. That distinction is the closest thing the announcement gives to a timeline, and it is worth reading closely if the facility matters to you.
We are not going to speculate beyond what the Bureau said. There is no published closure schedule, no published receiving-facility plan, and no published count of how many people will move.
Seven prisons were renamed, not closed — and the difference matters
A large share of what circulates as “prison closure” news is actually redesignation: BOP changing an institution’s security classification and, with it, its name. A USP that becomes an FCI is not closing. It is still open, still holding people, and still has the same address — but it now carries a different security level, which changes who can be designated there.
BOP’s current facility roster shows seven institutions that competitor pages still list under superseded “USP” names:
| Now on BOP’s roster as | Formerly listed as | State | Current security level | Published population |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| FCI Atlanta | USP Atlanta | Georgia | Low, with a detention center | 1,822 |
| FCI Leavenworth | USP Leavenworth | Kansas | Medium, with camp | 1,614 |
| FCI Lewisburg | USP Lewisburg | Pennsylvania | Medium, with camp | 1,146 |
| FCI Marion | USP Marion | Illinois | Medium, with camp | 1,203 |
| FCI Thomson | USP Thomson | Illinois | Low, with camp | 2,100 |
| FCI Lompoc I and II | FCI Lompoc / USP Lompoc | California | Both low; Lompoc II has a camp | 875 (I) + 2,195 (II) |
| Yazoo City — no USP at all | Yazoo City USP | Mississippi | Roster shows Yazoo City Low, Low II and Medium only | — |
A redesignation is not a closure. The institution stays open, the address stays the same, the mail keeps going to the same place. What changes is the security level — and therefore who can be sent there, what programming exists, and how a transfer request is scored. Someone designated to “USP Leavenworth” is going to a medium-security FCI; the name on an older judgment, an older BOP letter or an older website is simply out of date. Our security levels pages explain what each classification means in practice.
One roster oddity is worth flagging because it can affect a designation. FCI Yazoo City “Low II” is now classified MEDIUM on BOP’s live roster while keeping the “Low II” name. It is the only security-level discrepancy across all 118 mirrored institution records. Treat a Yazoo City Low II designation as potentially medium security — it changes custody-scoring expectations, programming and transfer analysis — and confirm with the unit team or the Designation and Sentence Computation Center before relying on it.
What a closure actually means for the person inside
A closure is, for the person serving the sentence, a transfer. Everything that follows flows from that.
Where they go is a designation decision, not an automatic reassignment. Redesignations are made using the same framework as an initial designation — security level, programming needs, medical and mental health needs, proximity to the release residence, judicial recommendations and bed availability — plus institutional adjustment and program performance. See inmate security designation and custody classification and how the DSCC works. Because bed space is a stated factor and a closure removes beds from the system, closures compress choices system-wide, not just at the closing facility.
Property does not always survive the move. What can be kept is governed by the Bureau’s personal property policy, and receiving institutions apply their own institution supplements — an item authorized at one prison can be contraband at the next. If property goes missing in transit, the route is the inmate property claims process, and the claim is far easier to make if there is an inventory from before the move. Practical step: ask now for a copy of the current property inventory. See prison clothes and bedding.
Communication breaks and has to be rebuilt. Visiting lists, telephone lists and TRULINCS contacts do not always transfer cleanly, and a new institution means new visiting procedures and hours set by local institution supplement. Expect a gap in phone calls and email around a transfer, and expect to re-submit visitor paperwork. See inmate visitation and how to contact a federal inmate.
Programming can be interrupted. A partially completed course, apprenticeship or drug program does not necessarily continue at the receiving institution, and waiting lists start over. That has real consequences for First Step Act time credits and for halfway house placement and home confinement timing, since both are informed by program participation.
Medical care travels with a hold, or it does not travel. Someone mid-treatment may be placed on a Medical Hold that delays transfer until treatment is complete; someone who should be on one and is not may be moved away from an established provider. See medical care in federal prison.
Distance from home usually gets worse, not better. Closures reduce the number of institutions at a given security level in a given region. That mechanically increases average distance from home, and distance drives visiting frequency, which drives almost everything else.
A closure does not shorten a sentence. There is no early-release mechanism attached to a facility closure, and no closure-based reduction exists in law. If a sentence computation looks wrong after a move, that is a separate issue with its own route — see challenging a BOP sentence computation.
What families should do now
A short list, in order, none of which requires a lawyer.
- Check the Inmate Locator before every letter, deposit or visit. It is the only authoritative statement of where someone is. Register numbers do not change with a transfer; addresses do.
- Get the property inventory now. Ask, in writing, for a current copy. It is the difference between a provable and an unprovable property claim later.
- Write down the visiting and phone lists. Keep your own copy of every approved visitor and every approved number, so re-approval at a new institution is a form-filling exercise rather than a reconstruction.
- Get medical records access sorted before the move, not after. A signed authorisation is what lets anyone outside the fence get a straight answer about care.
- Ask the unit team, in writing, about redesignation preferences. Proximity to the release residence and to family is a stated factor in designation. A documented request that names the receiving district and the reason is worth more than a phone conversation.
- Do not send money or mail to a facility you have not verified today. Funds sent to the wrong place take weeks to unwind.
- Keep the dates. When you learn of a move, write down the date you learned it, from whom, and what you were told. Records made contemporaneously carry weight later; recollections do not.
Is a specific prison closing? The ones people actually ask about
FCI Petersburg Low — why is it shutting down? It is on the 1 July 2026 closure list. BOP’s stated reasons are the general ones given for all six: deferred maintenance and staffing. Staff at Petersburg Low are to be transferred to other units on-site or nearby, which means FCI Petersburg Medium continues to operate. As of 5 September 2026 Petersburg Low was still listed active on BOP’s systems. No transfer schedule has been published.
FPC Morgantown — is it closing? No. Morgantown is converting from a minimum-security federal prison camp to a Federal Satellite Low. That is a security-level change, not a closure: it ordinarily means a secure perimeter where a camp had none, and a change in the programming and custody profile. As of 5 September 2026 BOP’s roster still showed it as an FPC, with the FSL conversion not yet posted. The same applies to FPC Duluth in Minnesota.
FCI Englewood — is it closing? No. FCI Englewood in Colorado is not on the 1 July 2026 closure list and is not among the four facilities removed from BOP’s roster. BOP’s record shows it as an operating low-security FCI with an adjacent minimum-security satellite camp, a published population of 962, in the District of Colorado, North Central Region. We flag it because it is one of the most-searched “closing” queries this page receives and the answer is simply no.
FMC Lexington — is the medical center closing? No. The satellite camp is on the closure list; the Federal Medical Center is not. FMC Lexington has a published population of 1,332, of which 1,101 are at the FMC and 231 at the camp. Camp staff are to be transferred on-site or nearby. Medical patients at the FMC are not affected by the camp closure. See Federal Medical Centers.
Taft — did it close? Yes, and it is the only one of the six that had actually come off BOP’s roster as of 5 September 2026. BOP states Taft was already non-operational and that minimal staff were affected; the July announcement made the closure permanent.
Transfers that are not closures
Not every mass movement out of a federal prison is a closure, and conflating the two causes real confusion.
FCI Bennettsville, South Carolina — 40 people transferred out after the August 2026 operation. BOP conducted a multi-agency contraband operation at FCI Bennettsville from 3 to 6 August 2026, led by the Southeast Regional Office and the DOJ Office of the Inspector General with the BOP National Gang Unit, the FBI, the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of South Carolina and state and county K-9 units. Teams “recovered electronic devices, drugs, homemade weapons, and gang-related intelligence,” and “forty inmates were transferred to other facilities in the Southeast Region as part of follow-up actions” (BOP news story, 2 September 2026).
Bennettsville is not closing. It remains on BOP’s roster as a medium-security FCI with an adjacent camp and a published population of 1,379. This was an enforcement operation, and it is the public record explaining an August 2026 wave of involuntary transfers out of that institution — the kind of action that typically precedes investigations, restrictive-housing placements and disciplinary proceedings. If someone was moved out of Bennettsville in August 2026, this is why. See searches, shakedowns and contraband, inmate discipline proceedings and solitary confinement and Special Housing Units.
BOP’s August 2026 systems migration — an IT change, not a policy change. Over a single weekend in August 2026, BOP moved its core inmate-records systems onto a cloud platform, replacing a technology foundation the Bureau says had “served the Bureau since 1978.” BOP states the systems that moved “directly support custody classification, medical information, and access to rehabilitative programs” (BOP news story, 27 August 2026).
This creates, alters and abolishes nothing — no right, no entitlement, no deadline, no procedure. We mention it for one reason: it is a dated, on-the-record agency statement that the systems behind sentence computation, release-date calculation, custody classification and First Step Act eligibility were replaced in August 2026. If a computation, a credit posting or an eligibility determination went wrong in or around that month, this is the Bureau’s own account of what was happening to its records at the time. It is background, not authority. For the substance, see challenging a BOP sentence computation and First Step Act time credits.
Are federal prisons on lockdown right now?
This page cannot tell you, and neither can any other page. BOP does not publish a live, facility-by-facility lockdown status. What exists is policy, not a status feed: Program Statement 5525.01, Lockdowns and Modified Operations, dated 7 May 2026 and carrying no rescission line — the Bureau’s first dedicated lockdown policy. It sets minimums that must continue during a lockdown, and they are checkable: showers at least three times per calendar week (at p. 6); housing-unit officers observing each secured person once per hour, not to exceed 60 minutes between rounds, documented electronically; and at least three meals within a 24-hour period, one of them hot daily absent exigent circumstances (at p. 7). Our explainer is at lockdowns and modified operations.
Practically: a facility-wide lockdown usually shows up first as suspended visiting and reduced telephone access, and the institution’s own main line or its visiting information is the fastest check. A lockdown is not a closure and carries no implication that a facility is closing — the two get conflated constantly in search results. If a lockdown is affecting care, mail or visits, the routes are the same as for anything else: an Inmate Request to Staff, then the Administrative Remedy Program and prison grievances.
Working with our team when a facility closes
Elizabeth Franklin-Best, P.C. is a nationwide federal practice with more than 20 years of federal and appellate criminal defense experience, run on an intentionally small caseload from offices in Columbia and Mount Pleasant, South Carolina. When a facility closes, the useful work is narrow and concrete: getting a redesignation preference documented before the move rather than contested after it; making the proximity case on the record the Bureau actually reads; checking whether a Medical Hold should be in place; preserving a property inventory so a later claim is provable; and making sure interrupted programming and First Step Act credits are accounted for at the receiving institution rather than quietly lost. Where the destination is a court — a compassionate release motion, a habeas petition, or litigation about conditions — the legal work is handled by Elizabeth Franklin-Best and the firm’s attorneys.
We do not promise a particular designation, a transfer to a particular facility, or any change in release timing; all of those are discretionary decisions of the Bureau. What we can do is make sure the request in front of the decision-maker is the one the policy contemplates, supported by a record. To talk it through, contact our office at (843) 620-1100.
For the rest of the system, see the full Bureau of Prisons facility directory, federal prison security levels, low security and minimum security prisons, and how to prepare for prison.
Frequently Asked Questions About Federal Prison Closures
What federal prisons are closing?
Six institutions were announced for closure by the Bureau of Prisons on 1 July 2026: FCI Beaumont Low, FCI Big Spring and its satellite camp, FCI La Tuna together with its Federal Satellite Low and camp, the FMC Lexington satellite camp, FCI Petersburg Low, and FCI Taft. FPC Morgantown and FPC Duluth are separately converting from minimum-security camps to Federal Satellite Lows, which is a status change rather than a closure. As of 5 September 2026 only Taft had actually come off BOP’s roster; the other five were still listed as active.
Why is the Bureau of Prisons closing facilities?
BOP attributed the closures to “decades of deferred maintenance and extreme staffing challenges,” and stated that it “is currently confronting a deferred maintenance backlog exceeding $4 billion,” which funding from the One Big Beautiful Bill Act would help but not fully resolve. The Bureau said staff at Beaumont FCI Low, the Lexington FMC satellite camp and Petersburg FCI Low would transfer to other units on-site or nearby, while a reduction-in-force would take effect at Big Spring and La Tuna. Minimal staff were affected at La Tuna’s FSL and at Taft, both already non-operational.
Why is FCI Petersburg Low shutting down?
FCI Petersburg Low appears on the Bureau’s 1 July 2026 closure list, and the reasons given are the same ones given for all six institutions: deferred maintenance and staffing. BOP stated that staff assigned to Petersburg FCI Low will be transferred to other units on-site or nearby, so FCI Petersburg Medium continues to operate. No transfer schedule or closing date has been published, and as of 5 September 2026 Petersburg Low was still listed as an active low-security institution on BOP’s own roster.
Is FPC Morgantown closing?
No. FPC Morgantown is converting from a minimum-security federal prison camp to a Federal Satellite Low, which is a change in security classification rather than a closure. It ordinarily means a secure perimeter where a camp had none, along with changes to programming and custody profile. FPC Duluth in Minnesota is undergoing the same conversion. As of 5 September 2026 BOP’s roster still listed both as FPCs, with the conversion not yet reflected.
Is FCI Englewood closing?
No. FCI Englewood in Colorado does not appear on the Bureau’s 1 July 2026 closure list and is not among the facilities removed from BOP’s roster. BOP’s record shows it operating as a low-security federal correctional institution with an adjacent minimum-security satellite camp, a published population of 962, in the District of Colorado. This is a frequently searched question with a straightforward answer.
Which federal prisons have actually closed?
Four facilities are off BOP’s live roster with published populations of zero and facility pages that no longer resolve: FCI Dublin in California, MCC New York, FPC Pensacola in Florida, and FCI Terminal Island in California. FCI Taft in California also came off the roster following the July 2026 announcement, having been non-operational since 2020. The other five institutions on the July closure list were still listed as active as of 5 September 2026.
Does a prison closure mean an inmate gets released early?
No. A facility closure changes where a sentence is served, not how long it is. There is no early-release mechanism attached to a closure and none exists in law. A closure results in a redesignation and transfer, decided on the same factors as any other designation — security level, programming and medical needs, proximity to the release residence, judicial recommendations and bed availability. Early release runs on entirely separate tracks such as First Step Act time credits, compassionate release and halfway house or home-confinement placement.
What happens to inmates when a federal prison closes?
They are redesignated and transferred to another institution, usually at the same security level. In practice this means a period without reliable telephone or email access, a new visiting list and new visiting procedures set by the receiving institution’s own supplement, possible loss or non-transfer of personal property, and interruption of any programming in progress — which can affect First Step Act credit accrual and halfway house timing. Someone mid-treatment may be placed on a Medical Hold that delays the move until treatment is complete. Register numbers do not change; mailing addresses do.
Is USP Atlanta closed? What about USP Leavenworth, Lewisburg, Marion or Thomson?
None of them is closed. All were redesignated and now appear on BOP’s roster as FCIs: FCI Atlanta (low, with a detention center), FCI Leavenworth (medium), FCI Lewisburg (medium), FCI Marion (medium) and FCI Thomson (low). Lompoc likewise appears as FCI Lompoc I and FCI Lompoc II, and BOP’s roster shows no USP at Yazoo City at all. A redesignation changes the security level and the name, not the address — the institution is open and the mail goes to the same place.
Are federal prisons on lockdown today?
BOP does not publish a live lockdown status for individual facilities, so no page can answer this reliably. What exists is Program Statement 5525.01, Lockdowns and Modified Operations, the Bureau’s first dedicated lockdown policy, which sets minimum standards that continue during a lockdown. A lockdown typically shows up first as suspended visiting and reduced telephone access, and the institution’s own main line is the fastest check. A lockdown is not a closure and does not indicate that a facility is closing.
Reviewed for legal accuracy by Elizabeth Franklin-Best, Esq., Principal Attorney·September 2026