FCI Thomson has an unusual backstory compared to most federal prisons. The building itself was originally constructed in 2001 as a state prison for Illinois, but budget problems meant it never really opened as intended — for years it sat mostly empty, holding fewer than 200 inmates in a facility built for well over a thousand, before the state moved to close and sell it around 2009. It became a national talking point when it was floated as a possible destination for detainees transferred from Guantanamo Bay; that plan drew heavy political opposition and was ultimately blocked by Congress and abandoned. In 2012, the federal Bureau of Prisons purchased the facility from the state of Illinois for $165 million, and after further renovation and staffing buildup, it was fully activated as a federal institution in January 2019. It's now a low-security prison for men in Carroll County, Illinois, with an adjacent minimum-security camp, housing a total population in the neighborhood of 2,000 inmates. For families, it's worth knowing this is a relatively new federal facility in terms of BOP operation, even though the physical building has existed since 2001.