If someone you love is at FCI Butner Low, Medium I and Medium II and is seriously ill, this page explains the facility in the Bureau of Prisons' own terms and how a compassionate release request works from there. Every fact about the institutions comes from their pages on bop.gov, checked October 9, 2026.

We help families with compassionate release requests from FCI Butner Low, Medium I and Medium II.

FCI Butner Low, Medium I and Medium II at a glance

Complex
FCC Butner
Physical address
FCC ButnerOld N. Carolina Hwy 75Butner, NC 27509
Location
Butner, North Carolina (Granville County) · Eastern District of North Carolina · BOP Mid-Atlantic Region

This page covers the three Federal Correctional Institutions at the Federal Correctional Complex (FCC) Butner: FCI Butner Low, FCI Butner Medium I, and FCI Butner Medium II. The medical center in the same complex, FMC Butner, is a separate institution with its own page and address. Check the inmate locator to see exactly which Butner facility your loved one is in.

In a January 2021 report on the complex’s COVID-19 response, the Justice Department’s Inspector General described the medium security institutions (FCI I, including the camp, and FCI II) and the low security institution as Medical Care Level 3 institutions, and FMC Butner as a Medical Care Level 4 institution (OIG report 21-031).

Each institution has its own post office box. The Bureau lists P.O. Box 999 for FCI Butner Low, P.O. Box 1000 for FCI Butner Medium I and its camp, and P.O. Box 1500 for FCI Butner Medium II, for mail to staff and to the men held there.

FCI Butner Low

Official name
FCI Butner Low
Facility type
Federal Correctional Institution
Security level
Low
Population
Male
BOP description
A low security federal correctional institution.
Fax
919-575-5023
Mail to your loved one
Full name and register numberFCI Butner LowP.O. Box 999Butner, NC 27509
Mail to staff, including the warden
Staff member’s name (for example, Warden)FCI Butner LowP.O. Box 999Butner, NC 27509

Source: FCI Butner Low facility page, Federal Bureau of Prisons, including “How to send things here.”

FCI Butner Medium I

Official name
FCI Butner Medium I
Facility type
Federal Correctional Institution
Security level
Medium
Population
Male
BOP description
A medium security federal correctional institution with an adjacent minimum security satellite camp.
Fax
919-575-2091
Mail to your loved one
Full name and register numberFCI Butner Medium IP.O. Box 1000Butner, NC 27509
Mail to someone at the camp
Full name and register numberSatellite CampFCI Butner Medium IP.O. Box 1000Butner, NC 27509
Mail to staff, including the warden
Staff member’s name (for example, Warden)FCI Butner Medium IP.O. Box 1000Butner, NC 27509

Source: FCI Butner Medium I facility page, Federal Bureau of Prisons, including “How to send things here.”

FCI Butner Medium II

Official name
FCI Butner Medium II
Facility type
Federal Correctional Institution
Security level
Medium
Population
Male
BOP description
A medium security federal correctional institution.
Fax
919-575-8020
Mail to your loved one
Full name and register numberFCI Butner Medium IIP.O. Box 1500Butner, NC 27509
Mail to staff, including the warden
Staff member’s name (for example, Warden)FCI Butner Medium IIP.O. Box 1500Butner, NC 27509

Source: FCI Butner Medium II facility page, Federal Bureau of Prisons, including “How to send things here.”

Addresses can change, so check the institution's page before you mail anything.

Medical care levels at FCI Butner Low, Medium I and Medium II

The Bureau gives every institution, and every person in its custody, one of four medical care levels. Care Level 4 institutions are the Bureau's Medical Referral Centers, where people may need extensive medical and nursing care, including 24-hour nursing care for some (Program Statement 6031.06, Patient Care, section 6, June 22, 2026). None of these institutions is a Federal Medical Center, and their bop.gov pages do not list a medical care level. Where an official report gives one, it is noted above with its date.

Being held at a particular prison is not, by itself, a reason for release. The reasons a judge can rely on are about the person's own situation, such as a terminal illness or a serious condition that keeps them from caring for themselves in prison (U.S.S.G. § 1B1.13(b)). See the Federal Medical Center pages for how the Bureau describes its medical centers.

How to find your loved one and contact FCI Butner Low, Medium I and Medium II

Use the Bureau's inmate locator. You can search by BOP register number (format #####-###) or by name; it covers people in federal custody from 1982 to the present. Write down the register number. You will need it for mail, and the Bureau encourages people requesting records to include it (Program Statement 1351.05).

Each institution has its own phone number and mailing addresses, listed above under FCI Butner Low, Medium I and Medium II at a glance. Institutions in a complex may share one email address.

How compassionate release works from FCI Butner Low, Medium I and Medium II

  1. A written request to the Warden of the FCC Butner institution where your loved one is held. The request explains the extraordinary and compelling circumstances and gives a release plan: where your loved one will live, how they will be supported, and, for a medical request, where they will get treatment and how it will be paid for (28 C.F.R. § 571.61(a)). A family member or lawyer can send it, and the Bureau handles it the same way (28 C.F.R. § 571.61(b)). The Bureau counts the request as submitted when the warden receives it (Program Statement 5050.51, section 3), so send it in a way that gives you proof of delivery.
  2. Thirty days, or the end of the Bureau's appeals. Your loved one can go to court after the Bureau's administrative appeals are finished or 30 days after the warden received the request, whichever is earlier (18 U.S.C. § 3582(c)(1)(A)). If the warden denies the request, the appeal runs through the Administrative Remedy Program (28 C.F.R. part 542, subpart B). The Bureau must expedite requests based on a medical condition (28 C.F.R. § 571.62(c)).
  3. A motion in the court that sentenced your loved one. The motion goes to the federal court that imposed the sentence, not to the court for the Eastern District of North Carolina, where FCC Butner is located, unless that is also where your loved one was sentenced (18 U.S.C. § 3582(c)(1)(A); 28 C.F.R. § 571.60). The judge decides under 18 U.S.C. § 3582(c)(1)(A), looking for extraordinary and compelling reasons, consistency with the Sentencing Commission's policy statement, U.S.S.G. § 1B1.13, and the sentencing factors in 18 U.S.C. § 3553(a).

The Bureau's current policy is Program Statement 5050.51, Compassionate Release/Reduction in Sentence Procedures, dated September 3, 2026. It replaced Program Statement 5050.50. We confirmed the number and date on bop.gov on October 9, 2026. Two limits from May 28, 2026, apply in every court: a sentencing change Congress did not make retroactive cannot be the reason (Rutherford v. United States), and claims that the conviction itself is invalid belong in a motion under 28 U.S.C. § 2255 (Fernandez v. United States). See the full step-by-step process.

Medical records to request, and how

When a warden supports a medical request, the Bureau's own referral must include these records (Program Statement 5050.51, section 10). Ask for the same ones:

  • A Comprehensive Medical Summary by the attending physician, including an estimate of life expectancy
  • All relevant test results
  • Consultations
  • Referral reports and opinions

If your loved one asks: they send an Inmate Request to Staff (form BP-A0148) to the Health Services Administrator at their institution. Staff review the records before releasing them, and anything held back can be requested under the Freedom of Information Act (Program Statement 6090.04, section 3; 28 C.F.R. § 513.42).

If you or a lawyer asks: the request goes to the Bureau's FOIA/Privacy Act office, not the prison, with your loved one's written authorization. The authorization must be notarized or signed under penalty of perjury and dated within three months of the request (28 C.F.R. § 513.63; Program Statement 6090.04, section 3). The Bureau's FOIA page explains how to submit it. More on getting medical records.

Federal Medical Centers

More federal prisons

Common questions

Is FCI Butner the same as FMC Butner?

No. FCC Butner is the whole complex. FMC Butner is its medical center, and FCI Butner Low, FCI Butner Medium I, and FCI Butner Medium II are correctional institutions, each with its own address (bop.gov). The inmate locator shows which one your loved one is in.

Where do I mail a compassionate release request to the warden at FCI Butner?

Send it to the staff address for the institution where your loved one is held. The Bureau lists P.O. Box 999 for FCI Butner Low, P.O. Box 1000 for FCI Butner Medium I, and P.O. Box 1500 for FCI Butner Medium II, all in Butner, NC 27509 (bop.gov). Keep proof of when the request arrived, because the 30-day clock runs from the warden’s receipt (18 U.S.C. § 3582(c)(1)(A)).

Will a federal judge in North Carolina decide the motion?

Only if your loved one was sentenced there. The Bureau lists the Butner institutions in the Eastern District of North Carolina, but a compassionate release motion goes to the court that imposed the sentence (18 U.S.C. § 3582(c)(1)(A); 28 C.F.R. § 571.60).

Can prison staff help my loved one write the request?

In some cases the law requires it. If the person has a terminal illness, or cannot submit a request on their own, Bureau employees must help prepare and submit it when the person, their attorney, partner, or a family member asks (18 U.S.C. § 3582(d)(2)).