The Bureau of Prisons runs Federal Medical Centers, administrative facilities whose missions include treating people with serious or chronic medical problems (bop.gov, About Our Facilities). Each page below covers one of them: the official name and address, how to reach the facility, what being at a medical center means, and how a compassionate release request works from there. Every facility fact comes from the Bureau's own facility page.
- FMC ButnerButner, North Carolina · men
- FMC CarswellFort Worth, Texas · women
- FMC RochesterRochester, Minnesota · men
- FMC DevensAyer, Massachusetts · men
- FMC LexingtonLexington, Kentucky · men and women
- FMC Fort WorthFort Worth, Texas · men
- MCFP SpringfieldSpringfield, Missouri · men
Other federal prisons
These pages cover federal prisons that are not medical centers, including prisons that house women, prisons with a detention center, and two complexes with several institutions each. They follow the same format, and every facility fact comes from the Bureau's own facility pages.
- FCI AlicevilleAliceville, Alabama · women
- FCI Butner Low, Medium I and Medium IIButner, North Carolina · men · not the medical center
- FCC ColemanSumterville, Florida · four institutions
- FCI TallahasseeTallahassee, Florida · men and women
- FCI DanburyDanbury, Connecticut · men and women
- FCI EnglewoodLittleton, Colorado · men
- FCI AtlantaAtlanta, Georgia · men · formerly USP Atlanta
- FCI Fort DixJoint Base MDL, New Jersey · men
The same three steps from every federal prison
The steps do not change with the prison. Your loved one, or you on their behalf, writes to the warden of the facility where they are held (28 C.F.R. § 571.61). After 30 days, or sooner if the Bureau's appeals are finished, the motion can be filed (18 U.S.C. § 3582(c)(1)(A)) in the court that imposed the sentence, wherever the prison is. See how the process works.
The request follows the person
Send the request to the warden of the facility that holds the person now. That is true at a medical center, a camp, and every other institution on this list (28 C.F.R. § 571.61). Confirm the facility in the Bureau's inmate locator before you send it. People move, and a letter to the wrong facility may not start the 30 days.
The motion, when it is time to file, goes to the court that imposed the sentence (18 U.S.C. § 3582(c)(1)(A); 28 C.F.R. § 571.60). That court can be in a different state from the prison. The facility page tells you where to write. It does not change which judge decides.
A medical center is not the legal test
The Bureau classifies Federal Medical Centers as administrative facilities and describes their mission as including care for serious or chronic medical problems. The Justice Department's Inspector General has described Federal Medical Centers as housing people at all medical and mental health care levels (OIG report 25-009). Being at a medical center does not by itself show an extraordinary and compelling reason, and being at another prison on this list does not rule a reason out. The judge looks at the person's own situation under U.S.S.G. § 1B1.13(b): a terminal illness, a serious condition that substantially diminishes self-care, age with serious decline, family circumstances, abuse in custody, or another reason of similar gravity. The eligibility guide states each ground. The terminal-illness page and the age page explain two of those grounds in more detail.
Rehabilitation cannot be the only ground (28 U.S.C. § 994(t)). A sentencing change Congress did not make retroactive cannot be a reason, alone or combined with other facts (Rutherford v. United States, May 28, 2026).
What to have ready
The papers are the same from every facility on this list:
- For a health reason, records of the diagnosis and of daily care inside the prison, plus a release plan that names an address and how medical care will be obtained and paid for. See how to get the records.
- For a family reason, proof of the death or the incapacity, and of why no other caregiver is available. The court standards are on the pages for a child's caregiver and a spouse, partner, or parent.
- A dated copy of what the warden received. Thirty days from that date, the motion can be filed even if the warden has not answered.
If you know the facility and you are ready to talk through the file, request a consultation and tell us what happened. We will tell you whether a compassionate release motion is the right next step, or whether the case needs something else.
Request a consultationCommon questions
What is a Federal Medical Center?
It is a Bureau of Prisons facility for people with serious or chronic medical problems; the Bureau classifies Federal Medical Centers as administrative facilities (bop.gov). The Bureau’s highest medical care level, Care Level 4, is assigned to its Medical Referral Centers (Program Statement 6031.06, section 6), and the Justice Department’s Inspector General describes Federal Medical Centers as housing people at all medical and mental health care levels (OIG report 25-009). See Federal Medical Centers.
How do I find out where someone is in federal prison?
Use the Bureau of Prisons’ inmate locator. You can search by BOP register number or by name, and it covers people in federal custody from 1982 to the present. The result names the facility, and each facility’s page on bop.gov lists its phone number and mailing addresses.
Does it matter which prison my loved one is in?
It matters for where the request goes, not for which court decides. The written request goes to the warden of the facility where the person is held (28 C.F.R. § 571.61), and the motion goes to the court that imposed the sentence (18 U.S.C. § 3582(c)(1)(A); 28 C.F.R. § 571.60).
