Federal prisons in Texas are run by the Federal Bureau of Prisons (BOP), and the state holds more of them than almost any other, with facilities in all four federal judicial districts covering every security level from minimum-security camps to a high-security penitentiary. If you need to find, contact, or visit someone held in one, the BOP’s online Inmate Locator is the place to start, and the rules that follow apply system-wide.
Finding a Federal Inmate in Texas
The BOP’s Inmate Locator covers anyone incarcerated in the federal system from 1982 to the present. You can search by first and last name, or by BOP register number, FBI number, or INS number. Results show the facility housing the person and, for current inmates, a projected release date.1Federal Bureau of Prisons. Inmate Locator
One caveat worth knowing: release dates in the locator can lag reality. The First Step Act triggered recalculations of many federal sentences to reflect earned time credits, and the BOP’s system doesn’t always update immediately. If a release date matters to you, check back periodically instead of relying on a single result.1Federal Bureau of Prisons. Inmate Locator
Note that people held by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) won’t appear in the BOP locator. ICE detention is a separate system with its own facilities and records.
Federal Facilities Across Texas
Facilities cluster around the state’s judicial districts. Here’s what’s in each region.
East Texas
The Beaumont Federal Correctional Complex is the largest concentration of federal inmates in the state. Four institutions share one campus: a U.S. Penitentiary (high security), a medium-security FCI, a low-security FCI, and a minimum-security camp. Grouping them lets the BOP share administrative staff, medical resources, and transport across security levels.2Federal Bureau of Prisons. FCI Beaumont Medium
FCI Texarkana, near the Arkansas border, is a low-security institution with an adjacent minimum-security camp. FPC Bryan, near College Station, is a minimum-security camp and one of only two Texas facilities designated for women.3Federal Bureau of Prisons. FPC Bryan
North Texas
FCI Seagoville, southeast of Dallas, is a low-security institution with a satellite camp and houses over 1,400 inmates.4Federal Bureau of Prisons. FCI Seagoville
The Fort Worth area hosts two very different facilities. Federal Medical Center (FMC) Carswell is the only federal medical center in the BOP system exclusively for women, providing specialized medical and mental health care to female inmates transferred from across the country.5Health Resources and Services Administration. Health Workforce Connector – Site Profile Page FMC Fort Worth is an administrative-security medical facility for male inmates needing advanced or long-term treatment. Both are referral institutions: inmates are sent there specifically for care.
South Texas
FCI Three Rivers is a medium-security institution with an adjacent minimum-security camp.6Federal Bureau of Prisons. FCI Three Rivers FDC Houston, a federal detention center in downtown Houston, holds pretrial defendants and people awaiting transfer or sentencing rather than serving long sentences.7Federal Bureau of Prisons. FDC Houston
West Texas
FCI Big Spring is a low-security institution with a satellite camp.8Federal Bureau of Prisons. FCI Big Spring FCI La Tuna, near Anthony on the New Mexico border, is another low-security facility with a camp, housing roughly 690 inmates.9Federal Bureau of Prisons. FCI La Tuna
Security Levels and What They Mean
Every BOP facility falls into one of five security categories, and the differences are visible from the fence line inward.10Federal Bureau of Prisons. About Our Facilities
- Minimum security (Federal Prison Camps) use dormitory housing, little or no perimeter fencing, and the lowest staff-to-inmate ratio. Inmates often perform work assignments for the facility or the surrounding community. FPC Bryan is one.
- Low security facilities have double-fenced perimeters, dormitory or cubicle housing, and heavier work and programming. FCI Seagoville, Big Spring, La Tuna, and Texarkana fall here.
- Medium security facilities carry strengthened perimeters, cell-type housing, and tighter movement controls. FCI Three Rivers and FCI Beaumont Medium are examples.
- High security (U.S. Penitentiaries) use reinforced walls or fences, single or double cells, and the highest staff presence. USP Beaumont is the only one in Texas.
- Administrative security is a flexible designation for facilities whose specialized mission — pretrial holding or medical care — requires housing inmates across risk levels. FDC Houston, FMC Carswell, and FMC Fort Worth all carry this designation.
Where an individual inmate lands depends on a BOP point-based scoring system that weighs offense severity, criminal history, any documented violence or escape history, age, education, and substance abuse background. The score maps to a minimum security level, though wardens can override it in either direction based on management or public safety concerns.
Detention Centers Are Not Prisons
FDC Houston is the primary federal detention center in the state, and it functions as the federal equivalent of a local jail. It holds pretrial defendants and people awaiting sentencing or short-term transfer, and the population turns over constantly. Because it must hold people of all risk levels at once, security protocols run tighter than the average inmate’s classification would otherwise call for. Its core job is keeping defendants available for court and for their attorneys.7Federal Bureau of Prisons. FDC Houston
Facilities for Women
Only two BOP-operated Texas facilities are designated for women, and they serve very different populations. FMC Carswell in Fort Worth is the sole federal medical center for female offenders in the country, taking transfers from anywhere in the system for long-term clinical care or complex mental health treatment. It also has a minimum-security satellite camp for lower-risk women who don’t need intensive medical oversight.11Federal Bureau of Prisons. FMC Carswell
FPC Bryan is a minimum-security camp built around rehabilitative programming and work assignments for low-risk women who don’t need Carswell’s medical resources.3Federal Bureau of Prisons. FPC Bryan
Texas also hosts the Mothers and Infants Nurturing Together (MINT) program, run by Volunteers of America in Fort Worth. It’s a community-based option for pregnant federal inmates who are nonviolent offenders and were pregnant before sentencing. Both the sentencing judge and the facility warden must approve the referral. Women typically enter around seven months of pregnancy, stay for three months after giving birth, then return to a federal facility to finish their sentence. Capacity is capped at 15 women at a time.12Volunteers of America Texas. Mothers and Infants Together
Halfway Houses and Reentry
Federal inmates nearing release may be transferred to a Residential Reentry Center (RRC), commonly called a halfway house. These are community-based facilities, usually run by private nonprofits under BOP contract, where residents can work, reconnect with family, and access support services while remaining under federal supervision.
Texas has roughly 15 RRC locations across the state, including Fort Worth, Houston, San Antonio, El Paso, Corpus Christi, Lubbock, Midland, Laredo, Brownsville, and Tyler. The BOP determines placement based on an inmate’s release plan and expected community ties.13Federal Bureau of Prisons. RRC Contact Directory
Visiting a Federal Inmate
You can’t simply show up. Every visitor has to be on the inmate’s approved visiting list before the first visit. The inmate sends you a Visitor Information Form (BP-A0629); you fill it out and mail it back to the facility; the BOP runs a background check that may involve law enforcement contacts or the National Crime Information Center database.14Federal Bureau of Prisons. How to Visit a Federal Inmate
If the inmate has just arrived or been transferred and has no approved list yet, immediate family may be allowed to visit when staff can verify the relationship through the inmate’s presentence report. Without background information on a prospective visitor, the visit is likely to be denied until screening is finished.
Dress Code
The dress code is strict and enforced at the door. Clothing must suit a mixed group of men, women, and children. The BOP prohibits revealing shorts, halter tops, see-through garments, crop tops, low-cut tops, sleeveless shirts, spandex, miniskirts, skirts more than two inches above the knee, hats or caps, and anything resembling inmate clothing such as khaki or green military-style garments. If your outfit doesn’t pass inspection, you’ll be turned away.
Phone Calls, Messages, and Money
Phone Calls
Federal inmates can call out, but costs accumulate. As of April 6, 2026, the FCC caps audio call rates at $0.11 per minute for federal prisons. The caps apply to local, in-state, interstate, and international calls, though providers can add extra fees on international calls to cover foreign termination costs.15Federal Communications Commission. Incarcerated People’s Communications Services
Electronic Messages
The BOP’s TRULINCS system lets inmates exchange text messages with approved contacts. Messages are capped at 13,000 characters, roughly two pages. The service runs on a per-minute fee deducted from the inmate’s trust fund account rather than tax dollars.16Federal Bureau of Prisons. Community Ties
Sending Money
Inmates use their trust fund accounts to pay for calls, messages, and commissary. You can deposit through MoneyGram’s ExpressPayment program, which processes funds seven days a week. Transfers sent between 7:00 a.m. and 9:00 p.m. Eastern typically post in two to four hours; those sent later post the next morning. Individual MoneyGram transactions are capped at $300. You’ll need the inmate’s eight-digit register number (no dashes or spaces) followed immediately by their last name, the company name “Federal Bureau of Prisons,” and receive code 7932.17Federal Bureau of Prisons. Sending Funds Using MoneyGram
Federal inmates have a monthly commissary spending limit of $360 for regular items like snacks, hygiene products, and clothing. Stamps, phone credits, and certain medical items generally don’t count against the cap. The limit resets on the first of each month.
A Note on Private Prisons
Starting in the mid-1980s, the BOP contracted with private companies to house certain federal inmates, primarily low-security noncitizens.18Federal Bureau of Prisons. BOP Ends Use of Privately Owned Prisons In 2021, the Biden administration ordered the DOJ to end contracts with privately operated criminal detention facilities, and the BOP wound them down. In January 2025, the Trump administration reversed that order, reopening the door for private prison contracts. Whether the BOP re-expands private capacity in Texas remains to be seen, but the legal authority is back in place. These contracts are separate from ICE’s privately operated immigration detention facilities, which run on their own funding and legal framework.