The Federal Correctional Institution, Aliceville (FCI Aliceville) is a low security United States

federal prison A federal prison is operated under the jurisdiction of a federal government as opposed to a state or provincial body. Federal prisons are used for convicts who violated federal law (U.S., Mexico), inmates considered dangerous (Brazil), or those s ...

for female inmates in Alabama. It is operated by the

Federal Bureau of Prisons The Federal Bureau of Prisons (BOP) is a United States federal law enforcement agency under the Department of Justice that is responsible for the care, custody, and control of incarcerated individuals who have committed federal crimes; that i ...

, a division of the

United States Department of Justice The United States Department of Justice (DOJ), also known as the Justice Department, is a federal executive department of the United States government tasked with the enforcement of federal law and administration of justice in the United Stat ...

. It also includes a satellite prison camp for minimum-security female inmates. FCI Aliceville is located in unincorporated Pickens County, between Aliceville and Pickensville. It is the first federal women's prison to be established in Alabama.Gordon, Tom.
Groundbreaking set for Alabama's first federal women's prison

. ''

The Birmingham News ''The Birmingham News'' is the principal newspaper for Birmingham, Alabama, United States. The paper is owned by Advance Publications and was a daily newspaper from its founding through September 30, 2012. After that day, the ''News'' and its tw ...

'' at Al.com. April 6, 2009. Retrieved on December 30, 2015.

History

Construction on FCI Aliceville began in 2008. FCI Aliceville became operational in 2013. Aliceville public officials approved the project with the support of residents who hope that the facility would provide jobs and boost local businesses. The town's population is about 2,500, with unemployment near 11 percent, well above the national average. Aliceville officials estimate the facility will generate between 700 and 1,000 trips per day, which will lead to new hotels, restaurants and gas stations being opened. The medium-security prison is expected to house 1,400 female inmates and employ between 320 and 350 people when it reaches full operating capacity. However, 40 percent of those jobs will go to existing federal prison employees. The Bureau of Prisons has already transferred female inmates to FCI Aliceville from FCI Danbury, which is being converted back to an all-male facility. Pickens County, previously losing population, became the fastest growing county in Alabama in 2014 because of the installation of the prison. On February 2, 2016, a tornado caused damage at the prison facility, the extent of which is currently unknown.

Location and facility

The prison is on a plot of land along

Alabama State Route 14 State Route 14 (SR 14) is a major east-to-west state highway in the U.S. state of Alabama. Spanning , the highway begins at the Mississippi state line at the terminus of Mississippi Highway 69 (MS 69) and connects the cities of ...

, in southwest unincorporated Pickens County. The prison is about north of Aliceville, and between Aliceville and Pickensville. The local area is served by the Aliceville post office. It is approximately west of

Tuscaloosa, Alabama Tuscaloosa ( ) is a city in and the seat of Tuscaloosa County in west-central Alabama, United States, on the Black Warrior River where the Gulf Coastal and Piedmont plains meet. Alabama's fifth-largest city, it had an estimated population o ...

and southeast of

Columbus, Mississippi Columbus is a city in and the county seat of Lowndes County, on the eastern border of Mississippi, United States, located primarily east, but also north and northeast of the Tombigbee River, which is also part of the Tennessee-Tombigbee Water ...

. The prison, managed by two construction companies, had a scheduled cost of $185 million. Caddell and W.G. Yates & Sons, of

Montgomery, Alabama Montgomery is the capital city of the U.S. state of Alabama and the county seat of Montgomery County, Alabama, Montgomery County. Named for the Irish soldier Richard Montgomery, it stands beside the Alabama River, on the Gulf Coastal Plain, coas ...

and Philadelphia, Mississippi, respectively, worked on the project.

Programs and services

FCI Aliceville offers a literacy program designed to help inmates develop foundational knowledge and skills in reading, math, written expression, and to prepare inmates for GED classes. Inmates with low-English proficiency are required to take ESL classes. Adult continuing education, college correspondence programs and parenting classes are also available. A Release Preparation Program is geared towards preparing inmates for their return to society. Inmate tutors teach skills including job searching, resume writing, budgeting and buying a home.

Notable inmates (current and former)

References

External links