Opened: 2013

Supervised by: Warden A. Washington-Adduci

Total inmates: 1,508

Security: Minimum-Low

Prison System: Federal Bureau of Prisons; Southeast Region

Status: Active, opened in 2013

Employees: 320

Offender Gender: Female

Security Level: Low with minimum security satellite camp.

Distinguishing Feature: FCI Aliceville has taken many of the female inmates who served time at FCI Danbury, which has been transitioned back to an all-male facility.  Many of those inmates are featured, under pseudonyms, in the memoir Orange is the New Black, which became a popular television series. 

FCI Aliceville is a low and minimum security facility which houses 1,579 total inmates.  1,390 of those inmates are at the prison, itself, while an additional 189 are at a minimum security satellite camp.  While the prison is a lower-security facility, it would be incorrect to assume that means that the offenders are all non-violent offenders.  FCI Aliceville houses many offenders with violent histories, but their continued stay at a low-security facility suggests that they have not created significant problems for staff or other inmates while incarcerated.

FCI Aliceville is a low security unit with inmates who are considered low risk, but with a prison population whose criminal histories mandate a certain level of scrutiny.  Inmates live in locked cells that surround a central area.  The satellite is minimum security and inmates live in dormitory settings in an unfenced facility.  Satellite camp inmates may even be able to work in the surrounding area.  Generally, FCI Aliceville has low reports of violence and is considered a good institution to serve time.  However, it has many of the same challenges of other federal facilities; inmates report that much of the prison programming is not geared towards an incarcerated population and does not seem as if it will be relevant to them after release.  In addition, inmates at FCI Aliceville report difficulties in access to healthcare resources, from weeks-long delays from initially reporting a health issue until first seeing a healthcare provider to years-long delays in receiving treatment for known problems, suggesting that it can take an extended period of time to get medical care for health problems.

Prison programming is geared towards helping inmates acquire foundation level educational skills, and then directing inmates towards further educational opportunities. Inmates who do not speak English are directed into ESL programs. Inmates who work while in prison may be exposed to vocational-technical training that would provide them for entry-level jobs in fields such as food service, maintenance, and agriculture.  Inmates can take courses for their GED and can participate in correspondence college programs.  Inmates have access to parenting classes.  Tutors also help inmates prepare for life outside of prison by teaching them job searching strategies, budgeting, and how to find housing.  The quality of these programs varies widely because they depend on the quality of the individual tutors involved.  The prison has religious programming available for inmates.  Inmates seeking mentorship about responsible living can apply to be transferred to a Life Connections Program in the last 24 to 36 months of their sentences.

The Federal Bureau of Prisons does not maintain a prison industries program.  However, inmates at FCI Aliceville are assigned to work details and may work in: carpentry, electric, heating, HVAC, landscape, paint, plumbing, utility maintenance, and general maintenance.

Aliceville FCI opened in 2013 and does not have an extensive history.  However, on February 2, 2016 a tornado hit the prison facility, causing some damage. 

There are a number of well-known inmates at FCI Aliceville, and, while it is a low security facility, many of the inmates are there for surprisingly violent and dangerous offenses.  Shannon Conley, one of the first inmates to be sentenced for conspiracy to support ISIS, is there on a four-year sentence.  Jean Therese Brown is serving a life sentence after being convicted of running the Brown Organization, a narcotics distributing operation.  Jordan Linn Graham, who was convicted of second-degree murder after pushing her new husband off a cliff in Glacier Park, is serving a 30-year sentence at the facility.  Domestic terrorist Elaine Brown is serving a 35-year sentence for various charges related to a standoff with the government over a tax dispute.