Alderson Federal Prison Overview
Federal Prison Camp Alderson is operated by the Federal Bureau of Prisons. The official BOP profile identifies it as a federal prison camp for female offenders in the Southern District of West Virginia. Its public mailing address is Glen Ray Road, Box A, Alderson, WV 24910, and its main phone number is 304-445-3300. It appears in Summers County inmate research because of its location in the Alderson area and because local readers may confuse it with regional jail custody.
FPC Alderson should not read like a county jail. It is a minimum-security federal prison camp for women who are in federal custody, most often after federal sentencing and BOP designation. A person arrested on a Summers County state charge should be searched first through the WV Regional Jail system. County bond, magistrate first appearances, regional jail booking photos, and Southern Regional Jail visitation rules do not control a sentenced BOP inmate at Alderson.
Federal Prison Camp Alderson
Glen Ray Road, Box A
Alderson, WV 24910
304-445-3300
Federal Bureau of Prisons minimum-security prison camp for female federal inmates.
Regional Jail Comparison
Southern Regional Jail and Correctional Facility
1200 Airport Road
Beaver, WV 25813
304-256-6726
Use for Summers County regional jail custody, not BOP sentenced custody.
Alderson Federal Inmate Locator
Lookup for FPC Alderson runs through the BOP inmate locator. The BOP locator can search by federal register number or by name. The locator covers federal inmates from 1982 to the present, with limited earlier data. If a person was recently arrested in Summers County on a state charge, that search belongs in the WV Regional Jail portal. If the person was sentenced in federal court and designated to Alderson, the BOP locator is the right system.
The locator can return a federal custody record, but it is not a county roster and it is not a federal mugshot gallery. It does not replace federal court records or U.S. Marshals information for a pretrial federal defendant. Before a person reaches a BOP prison camp, federal pretrial detention and transport may be handled by the U.S. Marshals Service or by a contract detention site. The U.S. Marshals Service for the Southern District of West Virginia is a more relevant federal custody channel for people awaiting federal proceedings.
The official BOP inmate locator is the federal search route for people assigned to Federal Prison Camp Alderson.
Search by register number when available; name searches work best when the spelling, age, race, and sex filters match the federal record.
| Search path | Fields | Use for Alderson? |
|---|---|---|
| BOP number search | Register number, DCDC number, FBI number, or INS number. | Yes, best when the federal number is known. |
| BOP name search | First, middle, and last name with demographic filters. | Yes, use for sentenced federal inmates. |
| WV Regional Jail search | Last name, optional first name, and CAPTCHA. | No, use for Summers County regional jail custody. |
| ICE detainee locator | A-number or biographical search with country of birth. | Only for immigration detention, not routine BOP custody. |
- Open the BOP inmate locator and choose number search if a register number is available.
- Use name search when the number is unknown, and enter full first and last names when possible.
- Check the returned facility field to confirm Alderson rather than another federal institution.
- For a federal defendant not yet in BOP custody, check federal court records or U.S. Marshals channels instead.
Alderson Federal Prison Population
The BOP does not publish a rated capacity on the public Alderson facility profile. It does publish population figures that change. The official BOP population statistics inspected for this build listed Alderson FPC with 471 total inmates. That count should be treated as a BOP snapshot, not as a fixed capacity and not as a Summers County jail population count. It also should not be mixed with the Southern Regional Jail count because the systems serve different custody levels.
Population figures at Alderson can change as women transfer in and out for designation, program needs, release planning, residential reentry placement, home confinement placement, disciplinary moves, medical needs, or other BOP decisions. A federal sentenced person may disappear from one institution profile and appear at another because of transfer, not because a county jail released them. The official facility profile and BOP population statistics are the right public sources when a current federal facility count is needed.
| Measure | Alderson status | Why it matters |
|---|---|---|
| Security level | Minimum-security federal prison camp. | Federal prison rules apply, not county jail rules. |
| Population held | Female federal inmates. | Not Summers County pretrial detainees. |
| Rated capacity | Not posted on the public BOP profile located. | Do not infer capacity from a population count. |
| Current count | BOP snapshot listed 471 total inmates. | Subject to change with BOP updates. |
The official FPC Alderson facility profile is the BOP source for the institution's public contact and population summary.
The profile is the facility source, while the inmate locator is the person-by-person search source.
Alderson Is Not County Jail
FPC Alderson creates a common local search problem. The facility is well known in the Alderson and Summers County area, but it is not the practical destination for a new Summers County state arrest. Southern Regional Jail in Beaver is the regional jail serving Summers County arrests. FPC Alderson is a BOP prison camp. A person found in Alderson is in a federal prison system with federal communications, federal visiting lists, federal mail review, and a BOP trust-fund process.
Federal and state custody can overlap through detainers or warrants, but the records stay separate. A state arrest may later involve federal charges. A federal defendant may have a state detainer. A person may also be listed in court but not in jail because they were released, transferred, summoned, or held by another agency. If a lookup fails, search the custody level that matches the case: regional jail for state arrests, DOC search for West Virginia prison or parole, BOP locator for federal sentenced custody, and ICE locator for immigration detention.
| Custody level | Correct search | What not to assume |
|---|---|---|
| Summers County arrest | WV Regional Jail offender search or daily incarcerations. | Do not assume Alderson holds a new county booking. |
| State prison or parole | WV DCR DOC offender search. | Do not use BOP for state prisoners. |
| Federal sentenced prison | BOP inmate locator. | Do not use county bond or mugshot rules. |
| Immigration detention | ICE Online Detainee Locator. | Do not treat ICE records as BOP prison profiles. |
For a Summers County state booking, the Southern Regional Jail facility page is the more useful local custody path.
Alderson Federal Prison Visits
Federal visiting rules differ from WV regional jail visitation. At Alderson, visitors must comply with BOP procedures, institution schedules, identity checks, dress rules, search rules, and approved visitor list requirements. The FPC Alderson admissions and orientation handbook is a facility-specific source for inmate orientation and institutional expectations. It should be checked alongside the BOP facility page before a visit, because federal schedules and local security rules can change.
Do not apply Southern Regional Jail's non-contact visit rules to Alderson. BOP facilities have their own visitor processing, visiting rooms, conduct rules, minor-child requirements, and denial reasons. Anyone planning a visit should confirm the inmate's current BOP location first, then check whether the visitor is approved. Federal transfers can occur, and a person listed at Alderson in an older note may later be at another federal facility, in residential reentry, or in home confinement.
| Visit item | Federal prison camp rule path | Caveat |
|---|---|---|
| Visitor approval | BOP approved visitor list and institution procedures. | Approval should be confirmed before travel. |
| Schedule | BOP Alderson facility page and handbook. | Holidays, staffing, and security can affect visits. |
| Identification | Current government photo identification is expected. | Additional rules can apply to minors. |
| Security screening | Federal contraband and search rules apply. | Unauthorized items can lead to denial. |
Note: Confirm the inmate is still at Alderson before travel because BOP transfers can change the correct visiting institution.
Alderson Federal Mail Money
Mail and money at Alderson are federal processes. Mail should use the inmate's committed name, register number, and BOP mailing format. The facility address alone is not enough if the inmate identifier is missing or wrong. BOP screens mail and bars contraband, coded messages, unsafe items, and material that violates federal rules. Legal mail has separate handling requirements and should follow BOP legal-mail procedures, not county jail assumptions.
Money is handled through the BOP trust-fund system rather than a county commissary vendor. The research did not identify a local county-style fee schedule for Alderson because federal prison trust accounts work through BOP channels. Phone and email access also use BOP systems and federal rules. Family members should check BOP instructions before depositing money or expecting contact. County bond cannot be posted at Alderson for a state criminal case, and a county clerk cannot change a BOP prison account.
| Service | Alderson rule path | County-jail difference |
|---|---|---|
| Use BOP inmate name, register number, and mailing instructions. | Not the WV regional jail mail format. | |
| Money | BOP trust-fund deposit process. | Not a county commissary payment process. |
| Phone and email | BOP communication systems and institutional rules. | Not a county phone or video vendor. |
| Legal access | BOP attorney and legal-mail procedures. | Separate from social visiting and family mail. |
Alderson Federal Court Links
Alderson custody often starts before a person reaches the prison camp. A federal criminal case may involve arrest, initial appearance, detention hearing, plea, sentencing, designation, transport, and then BOP intake. For the Southern District of West Virginia, federal prosecution information may involve the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Southern District of West Virginia, federal court records, and the U.S. Marshals Service. Those offices are not substitutes for the BOP locator, but they explain why a person may not show at Alderson right after a federal arrest.
If a person was arrested on a state charge in Summers County and later federally indicted, searches may need to move across systems. Start with the custody system that matches the latest fact known. A state roster result points to Southern Regional Jail or WV DOC. A federal sentence points to BOP. An immigration hold points to the ICE Online Detainee Locator. A court record without a custody record may mean release, summons, transfer, or a pending designation.
Alderson Federal Records Limits
BOP records are federal records, not Summers County sheriff records. The BOP locator can confirm a public federal custody profile, but it does not publish routine federal mugshots and it does not show county booking photos. Federal prison records may be limited by privacy rules, security rules, and federal records procedures. Family members seeking medical, disciplinary, classification, or program details may need the inmate's consent, attorney help, or a formal records path.
For state jail records after a Summers County arrest, use the regional jail search and the West Virginia court path. For federal prison location and status, use BOP. For victim notification in West Virginia state custody, VINELink West Virginia can help with state custody notifications, but it is not a BOP institution roster. Keeping those channels separate prevents the most common error: searching Alderson for a person who was booked into the state regional jail system.