If someone you love is at FMC Devens 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 facility comes from its page on bop.gov, checked October 9, 2026.

We help families with compassionate release requests from FMC Devens.

FMC Devens at a glance

Official name
FMC Devens
Facility type
Federal Medical Center
Security level
Administrative
Population
Male
BOP description
An administrative security federal medical center with an adjacent minimum security satellite camp.
Physical address
FMC Devens42 Patton RoadAyer, MA 01432
Location
Ayer, Massachusetts (Middlesex County) · District of Massachusetts · BOP Northeast Region

Source: FMC Devens facility page, Federal Bureau of Prisons.

The Bureau of Prisons describes FMC Devens as an administrative security federal medical center with an adjacent minimum security satellite camp, and lists its population as male. Its physical and mailing addresses are in Ayer, Massachusetts.

The Justice Department’s Inspector General inspected FMC Devens in 2024 and reported it as Medical Care Level 4 of 4 (OIG report 25-009).

The Bureau lists P.O. Box 880 for mail to staff, including the warden, and P.O. Box 879 for mail to the men held at the medical center and the camp.

What it means that FMC Devens is a medical center

The Bureau of Prisons lists FMC Devens as a Federal Medical Center with an administrative security level. The Bureau says administrative facilities have special missions, including the treatment of inmates with serious or chronic medical problems, and that administrative facilities other than ADX can hold people of all security categories (bop.gov, About Our Facilities).

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). The Bureau's clinical guidance says Care Level 4 patients need services available only at a Medical Referral Center, and gives examples such as cancer on active treatment, dialysis, and high-risk pregnancy (Care Level Classification for Medical Conditions or Disabilities, October 2025).

The Justice Department's Inspector General describes the Bureau's Federal Medical Centers as housing people at all medical and mental health care levels (OIG report 25-009, December 2024).

Being held at a medical center 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)).

How to find your loved one and contact FMC Devens

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).

Fax
978-796-1118
Mail to your loved one
Full name and register numberFMC DevensP.O. Box 879Ayer, MA 01432
Mail to someone at the camp
Full name and register numberSatellite CampFMC DevensP.O. Box 879Ayer, MA 01432
Mail to staff, including the warden
Staff member’s name (for example, Warden)FMC DevensP.O. Box 880Ayer, MA 01432

Source: FMC Devens facility page, “How to send things here.” Addresses can change, so check that page before you mail anything.

How compassionate release works from FMC Devens

  1. A written request to the Warden of FMC Devens. 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 District of Massachusetts, where FMC Devens 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 FMC Devens. 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.

Other Federal Medical Centers

Other federal prisons

Common questions

Where do I mail a compassionate release request to the warden at FMC Devens?

The Bureau of Prisons lists P.O. Box 880, Ayer, MA 01432 for mail to staff at FMC Devens (bop.gov). Mail to the men held there goes to P.O. Box 879 instead. 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 Massachusetts decide the motion?

Only if your loved one was sentenced there. The Bureau lists FMC Devens in the District of Massachusetts, 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).

My loved one is at the camp at Devens. Where does mail go?

The Bureau lists the same P.O. Box 879, Ayer, MA 01432 for the satellite camp, with “Satellite Camp” on the line under the person’s name and register number (bop.gov). A request to the warden still goes to the staff address, P.O. Box 880.

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)).