The Federal Bureau of Prisons (BOP) operates or contracts with a variety of facilities in California, including United States Penitentiaries (USPs), Federal Correctional Institutions (FCIs), and Private Correctional Institutions (PCIs). Informally, these would all often be described as federal prisons.
As of April 2020, 13,315 people were under custody in BOP facilities in California. An additional 422 people were under BOP custody in privately-run facilities in California, and an unspecified number of people were under BOP custody in community-based facilities in California. Roughly 8% of the people in BOP custody are in California. [1]
For comparison, the March 2020 California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation (CDCR) population report described 182,579 people under CDCR control. [2]
BOP facilities are separate from immigration detention facilities operated by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE).
USPs are high-security institutions.
FCIs are low- or medium-security institutions.
Private CIs are contracted by BOP to be operated by a private corporation.
A correctional complex consists of multiple facilities that share some resources.
Per the BOP, RRMs "administer contracts for community-based programs and serve as the Federal Bureau of Prisons local liaison with the federal courts, the U.S. Marshals Service, state and local corrections, and a variety of community groups within their specific judicial districts. RRM Staff also monitor local Residential Reentry Centers which are responsible for providing federal offenders with community-based services that will assist with their reentry needs." [3] Residential Reentry Centers, informally called halfway houses, are facilities run by private companies contracted by BOP. [4]
The Federal Bureau of Prisons (BOP) is a United States federal law enforcement agency under the Department of Justice that is responsible for the care, custody, and control of incarcerated individuals who have committed federal crimes; that is, violations of the United States Code.
The United States Penitentiary, Lewisburg is a medium-security United States federal prison in Pennsylvania for male inmates. It is operated by the Federal Bureau of Prisons, a division of the United States Department of Justice. An adjacent satellite prison camp houses minimum-security male offenders.
The United States Penitentiary, Terre Haute is a maximum-security United States federal prison for male inmates in Terre Haute, Indiana. It is part of the Federal Correctional Complex, Terre Haute and is operated by the Federal Bureau of Prisons, a division of the United States Department of Justice. USP Terre Haute houses a Special Confinement Unit for male federal inmates who have been sentenced to death as well as the federal execution chamber. Most inmates sentenced to death by the U.S. federal government are housed in USP Terre Haute prior to execution, with few exceptions. FCC Terre Haute is located in the city of Terre Haute, 70 miles (110 km) west of Indianapolis.
Special Operations Response Teams are a group under the US Federal Bureau of Prisons, or BOP for short, a component of the US Department of Justice (DOJ). The BOP is responsible for maintaining the custody of anyone convicted of committing a federal crime. To achieve this goal, the BOP maintains a number of correctional facilities, which are divided into six regions, throughout the US. These facilities house approximately 211,195 inmates of varying security levels. Facilities are designated as either minimum, medium, maximum, or the most recent addition, super max.
The California State Prison System is a system of prisons, fire camps, contract beds, reentry programs, and other special programs administered by the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation (CDCR) Division of Adult Institutions to incarcerate approximately 117,000 people as of April 2020. CDCR owns and operates 34 prisons throughout the state and operates 1 prison leased from a private company.
The Federal Correctional Institution, Lompoc is a low-security United States federal prison for male inmates in Lompoc, California. It is part of the Lompoc Federal Correctional Complex and is operated by the Federal Bureau of Prisons, a division of the United States Department of Justice.
The United States Penitentiary, Lompoc is a medium-security United States federal prison for male inmates in Lompoc, California. It is part of the Lompoc Federal Correctional Complex and is operated by the Federal Bureau of Prisons, a division of the United States Department of Justice. The facility also has a satellite prison camp for minimum-security male inmates. It was formerly a military disciplinary barracks on Camp Cooke.
Federal Correctional Institution, El Reno is a medium-security United States federal prison for male inmates in Oklahoma. It is operated by the Federal Bureau of Prisons (BOP), a division of the United States Department of Justice. The facility has an adjacent satellite camp for minimum-security male offenders.
Erin J. Sharma is a former corrections officer for the United States Federal Bureau of Prisons. She was sentenced to life in federal prison in 2009 for causing the beating death of an inmate at the maximum security unit of the Coleman Federal Correctional Complex near Coleman, Florida. Prosecutors said that after inmate Richard Delano grabbed her arm through a food slot and bruised it, she and another guard arranged for him to be assigned to share a cell with a notoriously violent inmate, knowing Delano would be harmed.
The Federal Correctional Complex, Allenwood is a United States federal prison complex for male inmates in Pennsylvania. It is operated by the Federal Bureau of Prisons, a division of the United States Department of Justice.
The Federal Correctional Institution, Victorville are two medium-security United States federal prisons for male inmates in Victorville, California. Part of the Victorville Federal Prison Complex, it is operated by the Federal Bureau of Prisons, a division of the United States Department of Justice.
The Federal Correctional Complex, Coleman is a United States federal prison complex for male inmates in unincorporated Sumter County, Florida, near Wildwood. It is operated by the Federal Bureau of Prisons (BOP), a division of the United States Department of Justice.
The Federal Correctional Complex, Beaumont is a United States federal prison complex for male inmates in unincorporated Jefferson County, Texas. It is operated by the Federal Bureau of Prisons, a division of the United States Department of Justice.
The Federal Correctional Complex, Victorville is a United States federal prison complex located in the Victor Valley of the Mojave Desert, in San Bernardino County, southern California. It is on part of the former George Air Force Base (1941−1992) near Victorville, approximately 85 miles (137 km) northeast of Downtown Los Angeles. Abby Lee Miller served eight months of a 366-day sentence there.
The Federal Correctional Complex, Lompoc is a United States federal prison complex for male inmates in California. It is run by the Federal Bureau of Prisons, a division of the United States Department of Justice, and consists of two facilities:
The Federal Correctional Complex, Florence is a United States federal prison complex for male inmates in Colorado. It is operated by the Federal Bureau of Prisons, a division of the United States Department of Justice, and consists of four facilities:
Charles E. Samuels Jr. is the 8th and former director of the United States Federal Bureau of Prisons, and the first African-American to be appointed to that post. He is a graduate of the University of Alabama at Birmingham, where he received his B.S. in Criminal Justice in 1987 and in 2012 received the school's Distinguished Alumni Achievement Award. As director, he was responsible for the oversight and management of the Bureau of Prisons, which employs more than 39,000 staff and confines over 200,000 inmates under jurisdiction of the agency. As a career public administrator, he was appointed director of the federal agency on December 21, 2011 by Attorney General Eric Holder, and is the eighth director since the BOP's establishment in 1930.
Incarceration in California spans federal, state, county, and city governance, with approximately 200,000 people in confinement at any given time. An additional 55,000 people are on parole.