11 Biggest Federal Prisons in the US

These are 11 biggest federal prisons in the US that hold the large portion of America’s 2.2 million inmates distributed among federal and state prisons and local jails, more than any other country in the world. In fact, more than 23% of world’s inmates are serving their prison terms in the US. In 2009 1.4% of America’s adult male population was incarcerated, and the statistics were even worse for the African-American population, with 4.7% of all adult black  males being in prison.

Many experts blame this numbers on “tough on crime” laws that were adopted in the ‘80s and War on Drugs. Some 40% of all inmates are serving terms for nonviolent crimes. Despite studies that show that rehabilitation programs are both cheaper and more effective in preventing repeating offences, American legislature insists on reducing the judges’ discretion rights and forces them to issue mandatory prison sentences regardless of the circumstances of the crime. Combined with a social stigma that follows ex-convicts preventing them from starting a normal life once out of prison, this leads to high percentage of recidivism, setting up convicts on a vicious downward spiral and keeping them in penal system for life. Just like the states with high murder rates despite death sentence, harsh prison terms don’t seem to reduce crime rates.

With 707 inmates per 100,000 citizens, America is second in the world only to tiny Seychelles, who have a total of 786 inmates and a population of 90,000. Compared with other Western countries, the statistic is mind blowing. New Zeeland has 203 inmates per 100,000 citizens, France 103, Germany 78 and Netherlands 72. All these prisoners need to be housed somewhere and that is why America has built some of the biggest prisons in the world.

All prisons on our list are called Federal Correctional Complexes (FCC). These are huge institutions that combine several buildings close to each other, allowing for considerable savings by centralizing services and sharing of the resources. You will recognize most, if not all, names here, either from real life or from movies and TV series. Different facilities within the federal complex have different security levels, ranging from maximum to open work camps. 11 biggest federal prisons in the US together hold more than 42,000 inmates. Let’s see which is the biggest.

11. Forrest City

Number of inmates: 2400

Federal Correctional Complex Forrest City is located in Arkansas. It consists of two facilities, one low and one medium security. With 2400 inmates, it is the smallest federal prison on our list.

10. Tucson

Number of inmates: 2500

Located in Arizona, FCC Tucson employs 520 staff to take care of 2500 inmates distributed among a medium security facility and a minimum security work camp.

9. Allenwood

Number of inmates: 2900.

FCC Allenwood, Pennsylvania has three facilities, low, medium and high security. Among its inmates,  Allenwood has Tommy Pitera, an infamous hitman of the Bonano family.

8. Terre Haute

Number of inmates: 3000

FCC Terre Haute, located in Indiana, was founded in 1940. Three years later, it was involved in a scandal when inmates were forced to volunteer as subjects in gonorrhea experiment.

7. Pollock

Number of inmates: 3200

FCC Pollock is located in Gran Parish, Louisiana. It houses 3,200 inmates in medium and high-secrity facilities.

6. Petersburg

Number of inmates: 3400

Located in Virginia, FCC Petersburg has two facilities, low and medium security. It was center the of a 2009 scandal, when FBI discovered one of its inmates, John Leighnor, was running an identity theft scheme from within the prison.

5. Lompoc

Number of inmates: 3500

Number 5 on our list of 11 biggest federal prisons in the US is Lompoc, California. It is famous for housing Nixon’s Chief of Staff H.R. Haldeman, sentenced for his role in Watergate scandal.

4. Yazoo City

Number of inmates: 3600

FCC Yazoo City is located 36 miles north of Jackson, Mississippi. It houses 3,600 inmates in three facilities.

3. Beaumont

Number of inmates: 5000

Opened in 1998, FCC Beaumont is one of the newest prisons in the United States. With 5,000 inmates in three facilities, it is the largest prison in Texas.

2. Butner

Number of inmates: 5000

Located in North Carolina, FCC Butner has three prison facilities and the largest medical facility within Federal Bureau of Prisons. It is also a current address of one Bernard L. Madoff.

1. Coleman

Number of inmates: 7200

With 7,200 inmates under its roof, FCC Coleman is the biggest federal prison in the US. It is located in Florida. Coleman houses many infamous criminals, like Leonard Peltier and Whitey Bulger.