The Federal Bureau of Prisons (BOP) announced a surprise move to close 6 federal prison camps and permanently close FCI Dublin. FCI Dublin, a troubled women’s prison in California that earned the name “Rape Club” after the warden, chaplain and several staff members were found guilty of federal crimes for inappropriate relationships with female prisoners.
The move caught most everyone in the BOP off guard. AFGE Local 1237 President FCI Mendota, told me in an interview that this was a complete surprise. “As a local union preside and longtime employee, I find it extremely disheartening that the Director blindsided the employees that are affected, “McGlothin said, “ We all are in agreement that there’s some changes that need to be made but there’s been no discussions whatsoever and now they just blindsided hundred of employees just a couple of weeks before Christmas.”
The BOP is permanently shuttering FCI Dublin. Hundreds of prisoners were moved from FCI Dublin and the satellite camp in May 2024 after unsuccessful reorganization of the facility following the scandal. While there have been no prisoners at the facility, one insider told me they had hoped it would reopen. That will not happen. Also closing are the stand alone camps at FPC Pensacola, FPC Morgantown and FPC Duluth. Prisoners will start to be moved within the next few months to other prisons.
Also, satellite prisons, those located on the perimeter of higher security prisons, are closing including FCI Oxford (WI) (actually had already moved many prisoners in the summer of 2024), FCI Englewood (CO), and FCI Loretto (PA). There will be over 400 staff displaced and offered positions at other prisons across the country where staffing levels have been low across the agency. The BOP issued a statement saying, “Many employees affected by this decision will move from one part of a facility to another part of the same facility. The remaining employees will have the opportunity to move to different FBOP facilities. The FBOP is not downsizing and we are committed to finding positions for every employee who wants to remain with the agency.”
L. Cristina Griffith, the BOP’s Assistant Director of Human Resource Management Division, sent a letter for Brandy Moore-White, Council of Prison Locals for the American Federation of Government Employees (AFGE) that outlined the closures. The letter stated that “… we are hopeful that all employees will continue to be employed the Bureau of Prisons with our assistance. If our efforts to place employees are unsuccessful, the agency will have no choice but to complete a formal reduction in force (RIF).” AFGE National President Everett Kelley stated “This announcement jeopardizes the continued employment of 400 federal employees just weeks before the holidays. While the agency says it will attempt to place employees in other jobs, the reality is that most Bureau of Prisons facilities are in isolate locations far from each other, so many if not most employees affected will face disruptive relocations to remain employed.”
McGlothin told me in an interview, “There are not only BOP employees affected by this, but prisoners are now going to be transferred to new locations with some going further from home.”
The BOP hopes that this consolidation will help with its ongoing staffing shortages as some of the displaced BOP employees will find new jobs in other locations. However, the BOP is also suffering from poor morale, ranking last in employee satisfaction among government agencies.
BOP Director Colette Peters has often spoke about the rising costs and struggles of her Agency. Crumbling infrastructure and staffing shortages have been a problem since she took the position in August 2022. The BOP needs $3 billion in needed repairs to bring its facilities up to par, something Congress has just not been willing to fund. In addition, Peters acknowledged that filling the over 7,000 open positions in the BOP has been a challenge. With no money coming from Congress and a lack of staffing, Peters had few choices as a new Trump administration is coming in 2025 with an agenda to cut spending.
The First Step Act, which allows prisoners to earn time of their sentence and also spend more time in the community at the end of their sentence, could play a big role in further reducing costs. Many of those who are eligible for First Step Act are minimum security prisoners but a lack of halfway house capacity has led to many prisoners staying in institutions longer than necessary.
While the BOP is closing prisons, many think that the shortfall in staffing will be made up by the Trump administration using private prisons to do the job of the BOP. January 20 inauguration is just weeks away and many things will be changing. The BOP will be no exception. Stand-Alone camps are vulnerable. FPC Duluth, FPC Morgantown and FPC Pensacola were the first to go but they are expensive as they have their own warden, associate wardens and administrative staff. Those that are satellite camps share these resources. This makes places like FPC Bryan (TX, female prison), FPC Montgomery (AL) and FPC Yankton (SD) as possible candidates for future closures.
The prison camps will close over the coming months and thousands of prisoners will be shipped to new locations. It will put stress on the Agency as it comes to terms that it will be a much small organization under a Trump administration and private prisons may become the new alternative.