How Many Federal Prisons Are in Texas: BOP List and Security Levels

The Federal Bureau of Prisons operates institutions at roughly ten locations in Texas, and once the satellite camps attached to several of those sites are counted, the number of individual federal prison units in Texas comes close to twenty. That gives Texas more BOP facilities than any other state. The concentration reflects the state’s size, its long border with Mexico, and the caseload moving through its five federal judicial districts. Every one of these facilities answers to the BOP’s South Central Regional Office in Grand Prairie.1Federal Bureau of Prisons. South Central Regional Office

Every BOP Facility in Texas

Several Texas locations host more than one institution on the same grounds, each with its own security level and population. The list below groups them by location.

Beaumont Federal Correctional Complex

Beaumont is the largest federal prison complex in Texas, stacking three security tiers on one campus with shared administrative infrastructure and separate perimeter boundaries.

  • USP Beaumont, a high-security United States Penitentiary for men, with reinforced perimeters and the most intensive supervision of any BOP facility type.
  • FCI Beaumont Medium, a medium-security institution with cell-based housing and strengthened fencing.
  • FCI Beaumont Low, a low-security institution with an adjacent minimum-security satellite camp.2Federal Bureau of Prisons. FCI Beaumont Low

Fort Worth

Fort Worth is unusual in holding two separate federal medical centers in the same city.

  • FMC Carswell, an administrative-security federal medical center for women, with an adjacent minimum-security camp. Carswell is widely recognized as the only BOP medical center in the country designated specifically for women.3Federal Bureau of Prisons. FMC Carswell
  • FMC Fort Worth, a separate administrative-security federal medical center with its own camp.4Federal Bureau of Prisons. FMC Fort Worth

Big Spring

  • FCI Big Spring, a low-security institution with an adjacent minimum-security camp. Recent BOP data shows roughly 500 inmates at the FCI and 110 at the camp.5Federal Bureau of Prisons. FCI Big Spring

Bastrop

  • FCI Bastrop, a low-security institution for men with an adjacent minimum-security camp.6Federal Bureau of Prisons. FCI Bastrop

Seagoville

  • FCI Seagoville, a low-security institution for men, with an adjacent minimum-security camp and a separate detention center for pretrial detainees.7Federal Bureau of Prisons. FCI Seagoville

Texarkana

  • FCI Texarkana, a low-security institution near the Texas-Arkansas border.

Three Rivers

  • FCI Three Rivers, a medium-security institution with an adjacent minimum-security camp.8Federal Bureau of Prisons. FCI Three Rivers

La Tuna

  • FCI La Tuna, a medium-security institution for men in El Paso County, near the New Mexico border.

Houston

  • Federal Transfer Center (FTC) Houston, an administrative facility that serves as a processing hub for inmates being moved between institutions nationwide. Stays here are typically brief and tied to transit, not sentence service.

What the Security Levels Mean

Each BOP facility carries a security designation that sets its housing style, perimeter, and staffing. When someone is sentenced to federal prison, the BOP weighs the severity of the offense, criminal history, medical needs, and distance to the release residence before assigning a facility.9Federal Bureau of Prisons. Legal Resource Guide to the Federal Bureau of Prisons

  • Minimum security facilities, called Federal Prison Camps, use dormitory housing with little or no perimeter fencing. Camps are often attached to a higher-security parent institution and hold inmates with short sentences or low-risk profiles.
  • Low security institutions have double-fenced perimeters and higher staff ratios than camps. Bastrop, Seagoville, Texarkana, Big Spring, and FCI Beaumont Low fall here.
  • Medium security institutions use cell-based housing with reinforced perimeters and electronic detection. Three Rivers, La Tuna, and FCI Beaumont Medium operate at this level.
  • High security United States Penitentiaries have reinforced walls, multiple barrier systems, and close supervision. USP Beaumont is the only high-security penitentiary in Texas.
  • Administrative facilities have special missions and can house inmates of any security level. The two medical centers and FTC Houston carry this designation.10Federal Bureau of Prisons. Our Locations

The Three Administrative Facilities

Texas hosts three administrative-level BOP facilities, more than most states. FMC Carswell handles chronic illness, mental health treatment, and intensive medical care for women transferred in from institutions across the country.3Federal Bureau of Prisons. FMC Carswell FMC Fort Worth performs a similar medical function for a broader inmate population. The constitutional basis for this medical mission runs through the Eighth Amendment, which courts have read to require that prison officials provide adequate food, clothing, shelter, and healthcare to people in custody.11Constitution Annotated. Amdt8.4.7 Conditions of Confinement

FTC Houston is different in kind. It isn’t a place where anyone serves a sentence. Federal inmates being moved between facilities, whether for a court appearance, a security reclassification, or a medical transfer, often pass through it on short stays.

Federal Detainees Who Aren’t in a BOP Prison

Not everyone facing federal charges in Texas is housed in one of these facilities. The U.S. Marshals Service is responsible for a person from federal arrest until either acquittal or delivery to a BOP institution to serve a sentence. The Marshals Service doesn’t own or operate detention facilities. It contracts with roughly 1,200 state and local governments across the country for jail space, and about 75 percent of Marshals prisoners are held in those state or local jails.12U.S. Marshals Service. Custody and Detention

If you’re looking for someone arrested on federal charges but not yet sentenced, they’re almost certainly not in any of the BOP facilities above. They’re likely in a county jail or a private detention facility operating under a Marshals contract.

Finding Someone Inside a Texas Federal Prison

The BOP runs a free online inmate locator covering every federal facility, Texas included. You can search by BOP register number (formatted #####-###), FBI number, or first and last name, and filter by race, age, and sex.13Federal Bureau of Prisons. Federal Inmates By Number The tool covers inmates incarcerated from 1982 to the present.14USAGov. How to Look Up Prisoners and Prison Records

A result returns the current facility, register number, age, and projected release date. One limit worth knowing: the locator only shows inmates who have physically arrived at a BOP facility. Someone recently sentenced but still in transit, or still held in a county jail awaiting transfer, won’t appear yet.