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 people who violated federal law (U.S., Mexico), people considered dangerous (Brazil), or those sen ...

for female inmates in Alabama. It is operated by the

Federal Bureau of Prisons The Federal Bureau of Prisons (BOP) is a Federal law enforcement in the United States, federal law enforcement agency of the United States Department of Justice that is responsible for all List of United States federal prisons, federal prisons ...

, a division of the

United States Department of Justice The United States Department of Justice (DOJ), also known as the Justice Department, is a United States federal executive departments, federal executive department of the U.S. government that oversees the domestic enforcement of Law of the Unite ...

. It is located in unincorporated Pickens County, between Aliceville and Pickensville, and also includes a satellite prison camp for minimum-security inmates. FCI Aliceville is the first federal

women's prison Approximately 741,000 women are incarcerated in correctional facilities, a 17% increase since 2010 and the female prison population has been increasing across all continents.Groundbreaking set for Alabama's first federal women's prison

. ''

The Birmingham News ''The Birmingham News'' was the principal newspaper for Birmingham, Alabama, United States in the latter half of the 20th century and the first quarter of the 21st. The paper was owned by Advance Publications and was a daily newspaper from its ...

'' at

Al.com This is a list of subsidiaries of the American media company Advance Publications Inc. Local media groups The following subsidiaries are owned through Advance Local Advance Media New York *''The Post-Standard'' (Syracuse, New York) **Syracuse.c ...

. 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 The Federal Correctional Institution, Danbury (FCI Danbury) is a low-security United States federal prison for male and female inmates in Danbury, Connecticut. It is operated by the Federal Bureau of Prisons, a division of the United States Depar ...

, 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.

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 county seat of Tuscaloosa County, Alabama, Tuscaloosa County in west-central Alabama, United States, on the Black Warrior River where the Gulf Coastal Plain, Gulf Coastal and Piedmont (United States), Piedm ...

, and southeast of

Columbus, Mississippi Columbus is a city in and the county seat of Lowndes County, Mississippi, 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 ...

. 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 List of capitals in the United States, capital city of the U.S. state of Alabama. Named for Continental Army major general Richard Montgomery, it stands beside the Alabama River on the Gulf Coastal Plain. The population was 2 ...

and

Philadelphia, Mississippi Philadelphia is a city in and the county seat of Neshoba County, Mississippi, Neshoba County, Mississippi, United States. The population was 7,118 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census. History Philadelphia is municipal corporation, i ...

, respectively, worked on the project.

Programs and services

FCI Aliceville offers a literacy program designed to help inmates develop

foundational knowledge Foundationalism concerns philosophical theories of knowledge resting upon non-inferential justified belief, or some secure foundation of certainty such as a conclusion inferred from a basis of sound premises.Simon Blackburn, ''The Oxford Dict ...

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

FCI Aliceville
{{Women's prisons in the United States 2013 establishments in Alabama Buildings and structures in Pickens County, Alabama Aliceville Prisons in Alabama Federal American low-security prisons Women's prisons in Alabama Government buildings completed in 2013 Prisons completed in the 2010s