Federal Correctional Institution (FCI) - Danbury

Federal Correctional Institution (FCI) - Danbury's comprehensive information to help guide you through the federal prison process, specifically on how to remain connected to your inmate while they are incarcerated.

The FCI-Danbury is a federal prison located at 33 1/2 Pembroke Rd in Danbury, CT. This federal low security prison is operated by the Federal Bureau of Prisons (BOP) to hold inmates who have been convicted to and sentenced for a federal crime through the US Department of Justice (DOJ).

Locate all federal inmates here. If you would like to speak with a case manager or counselor, call 203-743-6471.

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 US Department of Justice. The facility also has an adjacent satellite prison camp that houses minimum-security female offenders. FCI Danbury is located approximately 55 miles from New York City, 60 miles from Hartford, CT, and 150 miles from Boston, MA. The facility is accessible to a MetroNorth station fewer than four miles from the facility. Four Amtrak stations are within 30 miles of the facility.

The prison had at one point included athletic facilities such as a running track, a soccer field, handball courts, a baseball diamond, and a handball field, since there is a large amount of outdoor area on the FCI Danbury property.

FCI Danbury was opened in 1940 and was intended for both male and female prisoners. It housed several high-profile political prisoners during World War II. Conscientious objectors, including poet Robert Lowell and civil rights activist James Peck, were housed there for refusing to enter the military draft in the early 1940s. From 1993-2013 it was exclusively for female prisoners.

In August 2013, the Federal Bureau of Prisons announced that FCI Danbury was going to be reverted to an all-male facility to alleviate overcrowding across the entire federal prison system. The female inmate population will be transferred to the Federal Correctional Institution - Aliceville in Alabama, which opened in 2013 and has over 1,500 low-security beds for female inmates. It was estimated that the change would be completed by December 2013. However, female inmates were not transferred to other facilities until April 2014.

FCI Danbury and its camp were the only federal prisons in the Northeast that housed women, and the repurposing would further promote an imbalance of women's prisoner space within the BOP system. In August 2013 11 senators from the Northeast sent a letter to the BOP director criticizing the move since it would mean there would be no facility for female federal prisoners from the Northeast; the move would mean that all of the women would be far from their families and loved ones. In November of that year, several senators announced that at FCI Danbury the BOP would install a new low-security camp for women and convert an existing minimum security camp into a low-security camp for women to remedy the issue.

Notable inmates include leading real estate investor Leona Helmsley (served 21 months in 1993-1994 for tax evasion), leader of the Unification Church Sun Myung Moon (served 11 months for tax evasion), Grammy-award winning singer Lauryn Hill (served 3 months for intentionally failing to file tax returns), and Bravo television star Teresa Giudice (served 12 months for bankruptcy and mail fraud). Piper Kerman (served 13 months for money laundering), authored the book Orange Is the New Black: My Year in a Women’s Prison about her time at FCI Danbury, which is the basis for the hit Netflix series Orange is the New Black.

Housing: Inmates are housed in dormitories or cubicle housing. Inmates at the camp are housed in dormitories.

Health Services: Routine medical and dental care are offered within the Health Services Department at FCI Danbury. Health services include health promotion and disease prevention, annual immunizations/screening, treatment for on-the-job injuries, sick call, dental call, physical examinations, preventive health care, emergency medical treatment, and medications. Inmates are assigned to a specific health care provider who treats them for the duration of their stay.

Psychology Services: The Psychology Services Department offers basic mental health care to inmates. This care may include screening, assessment, and treatment of mental health or drug abuse problems, individual and/or group counseling, psycho-educational classes, self-help, and supportive services, or referral to Health Services for medical treatment of mental illness. Typical groups include anger management, Smart Recovery, and others. Inmates are notified of upcoming groups and other Psychology Department offerings through posted notices. The Resolve Program for inmates who are dealing with mental illness as a result of trauma, and the Skills Program, for inmates with intellectual disabilities and social deficiencies, are also available.

Residential Drug Abuse Program (RDAP): FCI Danbury and the satellite low prison offer a Residential Drug Abuse Program (RDAP). The camp does not house a Residential Drug Abuse Program (RDAP). A Drug Abuse Education Course and the Non-Residential Drug Abuse Program (NR-DAP), Alcoholics Anonymous (AA), and Narcotics Anonymous (NA) are offered. Other non-residential groups are also available.

Education Services: FCI Danbury provides literacy, GED, and English-as-a-Second Language (ESL) programs. Incentive awards are utilized to recognize inmates making satisfactory progress and successfully completing the literacy program. Inmates may also receive incentives for progressing to various levels in the GED or ESL Programs. Graduation ceremonies recognize GED, ESL, and Occupational Education completions. Adult Continuing Education (ACE) classes and a parenting program are also offered. High school diplomas and post-secondary programs are available through paid correspondence programs.

Vocational Training: FCI Danbury offers vocational training in Culinary Arts and Horticulture. The camp offers Puppies Behind Bars.

Apprenticeship: FCI Danbury and the satellite facilities offer apprenticeships in Baker, Carpenter, Chaplain Service Support, Cook, Dental Assistant, Education and Training, Electrician, Horticulturist, Housekeeper (Commercial, Residential, or Industrial), Landscape Management Technician, Legal Secretary, Material Coordinator, Office Manager/Administrative Services, Painter, Plumber, Quality Control Inspector, Recreation Assistant, Teacher Aide, and Tool Machine Set-Up Operator. FCI Danbury offers apprenticeships in HVAC, Meat Cutter, Peer Specialist, and Stationary Engineer. The camp offers Animal Trainer, Baker, Career Development Technician, and Undercar Specialist.

Library Services: The leisure libraries at FCI Danbury and the adjacent facilities offer inmates a variety of reading materials, including periodicals, newspapers, fiction, nonfiction, and reference books. The institutions also participate in an interlibrary loan program with local, state, and college libraries and available bookmobile services. Inmates are provided access to legal materials and an opportunity to prepare legal documents through the use of the TRULINCS Electronic Law Library. A copying machine is available to reproduce materials needed for research. Typewriters are also available.

UNICOR: The FCI Danbury UNICOR facility produces electronics and plastics.

Commissary: Inmates at FCI Danbury may use funds in their account to purchase items at the institution commissary, place funds on their inmate phone account, purchase TRU-Units for their TRULINCS account, or send funds in another manner. Commissary and validation schedules are posted on the TRULINCS bulletin board. Funds are withdrawn after positive identification by commissary card or fingerprint identification. It is the inmate’s responsibility to know the amount of money available in his or her account. Inmates must have their commissary card in their possession at all times for identification purposes.

Recreation Services: The FCI Danbury Recreation Department consists of indoor and outdoor areas, including leisure, wellness, sports, and music programs. Structured Sentry classes include a wide variety of hobby craft and music programs. Non-structured leisure activities include checking-out puzzles, dominos, cards, board games, and billiard equipment. Art activities include oils, pastels, crayons, pencils, inks, and charcoal. Sentry-based hobby craft classes include art, plastic canvas, origami, crochet, knitting, and others. Wellness programs are offered, such as circuit training, aerobics, over 50 fitness, nutrition, yoga, and others. An annual Health Fair is held to provide services and information to the inmate population. Indoor and outdoor intramural sports leagues are offered year-round. Basketball, softball, volleyball, soccer, and racquetball leagues are offered seasonally. Music programs such as music theory concepts and how to play an instrument are available.

Admissions and Orientation (A&O) Handbook - This document provides you with general information about the institution, programs, rules, and regulations that you will encounter during your confinement. Familiarizing yourself with this information and knowing your responsibilities will help you to adjust to institutional life.

• FCI Danbury Admissions & Orientation Handbook

• Also available in Spanish: FCI Danbury Guía de Admisión y Orientación

Commissary List - In 1930 the Department of Justice authorized and established a Commissary at each Federal institution. The Commissary provides a bank-type account for your money & for the procurement of articles not issued regularly as part of the institution's administration. Funds deposited by your family, friends, or other sources are stored in your commissary account that we maintain.

• List and prices of items sold at the commissary in FCI Danbury

Legal Activities - This document outlines the procedures for access to legal reference materials and legal counsel and the opportunities that you will be afforded to prepare legal documents while incarcerated.

• Inmate Legal Activities