FCI Phoenix is a medium-security federal prison for men and women in Phoenix, Arizona, run by the Federal Bureau of Prisons. It's one of the relatively few BOP compounds that houses both male and female populations on the same grounds. Planning for the site dates back to around 1980, when environmental studies were completed for a new prison meant to help ease overcrowding across the federal system, and the institution opened its doors in April 1985 with a fairly modest two-unit design. A minimum-security satellite camp for women was added a few years later, in 1989, giving the complex its current mixed layout. Today it houses well over a thousand inmates when the camp population is included, making it one of the larger federal facilities in the Phoenix area. Because it sits within the city rather than out in a remote area, families often find it more accessible than some other federal prisons, with typical lodging and transportation options nearby for visits. It doesn't have a particularly dramatic backstory compared to some older institutions, but it has been a steady part of Arizona's federal correctional system for close to four decades now.