Locate FCI Thomson Federal Inmates

FCI Thomson Overview

FCI Thomson is operated by the Federal Bureau of Prisons in the North Central Region. Current BOP materials identify it as a low-security federal correctional institution for male offenders with an adjacent minimum-security satellite camp. The facility is physically in Carroll County, but it belongs to the federal prison system. A person held there will not appear through the Carroll County Sheriff's Office or a local jail inquiry.

BOP's facility materials list FCI Thomson at 1100 One Mile Road in Thomson, Illinois, within the Northern District of Illinois. Research also notes the federal mission change: BOP announced in 2023 that USP Thomson would permanently convert to a low-security institution, and current materials use the FCI Thomson name and mission. That current name should be used when searching, writing, sending money, or planning a visit.

The official BOP FCI Thomson page identifies the facility, contact details, and federal custody status.

The BOP facility screenshot keeps FCI Thomson separate from Carroll County jail custody and local sheriff records.

FCI Thomson Population

BOP population data updated June 4, 2026 showed 2,100 total inmates at Thomson, including 1,952 at the FCI and 148 at the camp. The PREA report dated March 8, 2025 listed a designated facility capacity of 1,962, a current population of 1,936, an average daily population of 1,951 for the prior 12 months, and 2,089 admissions in the prior 12 months. These are federal prison numbers and should not be mixed with the Carroll County jail count.

Look Up FCI Thomson Inmates

The correct lookup channel for FCI Thomson is the BOP inmate locator. It searches federal inmates incarcerated from 1982 to present. The locator can be searched by federal number or by name. It is not a mugshot gallery, and it is not a court-docket system. For a person booked on a new Carroll County arrest, start with the county jail instead. For a sentenced Illinois prisoner, use IDOC.

1. Open the BOP inmate locator.
2. Search by BOP Register Number, DCDC Number, FBI Number, INS Number, or by first, middle, and last name.
3. Use age, race, and sex filters if the name search returns too many federal results.
4. Check the location field for FCI Thomson, the satellite camp, release, or another BOP location.
5. If the person is not in BOP custody, check county jail, IDOC, ICE ODLS, or court records based on the case type.

The BOP inmate locator displays the federal search fields used for Thomson inmates.

The locator screenshot shows why a federal number can be more precise than a broad name search.

FCI Thomson Contact

Use BOP facility contacts for federal custody questions, not the Carroll County jail. Public BOP records list the institution phone, fax, executive assistant email, staff mail, and physical freight address. Friends and family should still confirm current BOP rules before mailing, visiting, or sending funds because federal rules and local institution supplements can change.

Visit FCI Thomson Inmates

FCI Thomson visiting regulations dated June 24, 2025 list social visiting for both the FCI and the satellite camp on weekends and federal holidays. BOP general visiting rules require visitors to be on the inmate's approved visiting list. The facility regulations also state that social visits are not processed before 8:00 a.m. or after 1:30 p.m., even though the visiting period runs later.

Federal visiting differs from county jail visiting. The county jail's Wednesday and Sunday local schedule does not apply to FCI Thomson. Visitors should read the BOP visiting rules and the Thomson supplement before travel, especially if the inmate has recently transferred, lost visiting privileges, or is in a housing status that changes access.

FCI Thomson Mail and Money

Federal inmate mail must include the inmate's name and register number. FCI and camp mail both use P.O. Box 1002 in Thomson, with the camp line added for satellite camp inmates. Do not send money to the facility address. BOP directs mailed funds to the national processing center in Des Moines, and it also lists MoneyGram and Western Union options.

Federal Intake at FCI Thomson

FCI Thomson does not perform local street-arrest booking for Carroll County cases. Federal inmates arrive through BOP designation, transfer, sentence administration, or other federal custody routing. The BOP locator result can show a current location, release date, age, race, sex, and register number, but it does not publish county-style arrest charges or a public booking photo. Federal court records are separate from BOP custody records.

When a Carroll County resident is arrested locally, the first custody channel is still the Carroll County Correctional Facility. When a person is held federally at Thomson, the correct route is BOP. If an immigration issue is suspected, ICE ODLS is separate, and the research found no ICE detention facility listed in Illinois during the detention-facility directory check.

About FCI Thomson

The BOP PREA report described seven housing units, six multiple-occupancy cell units, one open bay or dorm unit, and 96 segregation cells. Selected day-one data included 803 limited-English-proficient inmates, 20 transgender or intersex inmates, 63 people with cognitive or functional disability, and several people with physical, vision, or hearing disabilities. Those figures help explain the scale and federal nature of the Thomson population.

BOP release-date information can change, including because of First Step Act recalculations. If a BOP result shows "Released" or "Not in BOP Custody," that does not mean the person has no supervision, court case, immigration matter, or state custody issue. It means the BOP locator is no longer showing an active BOP facility location for that person.