Forum:Federal States/Federal Prisons
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Heya. I'm wondering how we want to approach federal prisons.
The US has one "supermax" prison and dozens of other prisons, including medical penal facilities.
Do we want people to vote on federal prison locations, or should every state just get a number they can map? —Unsigned comment by ItsTybear (talk). ItsTybear (talk) 19:43, 27 August 2026 (UTC) (tagging myself now)
- Theres 110-120 federal prisons, so I think there might be many/most states that would get one. I don't think we need to be as strict with selection such as with national parks, but having well mapped facilities and correctly mapped for the type of security is good. In Sierra i mapped 2 for example, a supermax style prison near Holliday, and a low security prison in the montillo area near riopoderos. Brunanter (talk) 21:16, 26 July 2026 (UTC)
In Michisaukee I mapped a crappy supermax-ish prison there a while ago. It's likely most states have at least one federal institution but it depends on level however. I propose we set a limit on how many prisons there can be in a state(with exceptions of course). In the US there are much more institutions east of the Mississippi than west so I think we could change the limit by region. For example a state on the East Coast gets maybe 5 while one on the West only gets 3. I think the best thing right now to do is figure out how the levels are going to work. Pole (talk) 21:47, 26 July 2026 (UTC)
Allocating them to a certain region may work better, especially with the differences between states. A state such as Penquisset may not have space for a large federal prison, while a more rural state such as Ogdalen or the far-flung areas in New Carnaby might be able to sustain more. It appears that's how the US organizes their prison system, so maybe we could divide the FSA into different regions for this purpose, and then each region gets a certain number of each "level" of prison to allocate amongst all the states. In a region with lots of inactive states (such as mine), there could be a certain number reserved for the empty states as well (Maybe we could even develop some sort of multimap with planned prison locations just to make sure they're planned appropriately). And then the supermax prisons could be decided on a national basis instead of a regional basis. Just my idea on how to make this work. PoisonDog522 (talk) 02:30, 30 July 2026 (UTC)
- I like the idea of addressing federal prisoners. As for how to go about it, I have two ideas. A centralized version where a community vote is necessary for designation. Or a decentralized idea where there are no federal prisons and the federal government simply contracts with states to house prisoners. Given the decentralized perception of the FSA, I think the latter would be sufficient. Glauber (talk) 21:19, 3 August 2026 (UTC)
I agree with Glauber's idea of decentralizing the process a bit, but I am unsure if the federal government would fully want to contract to the states. Brunanter brings up a good point in that there will be prisons of various security levels to go around. At the same time, a federal system probably needs only one or two "supermax" prisons, since the US only really has one (Florence). I think the top designation should be more restrictive so that we do not overpopulate the map with them. Beyond that, I do not know that we need to get into a rigid tier of classification and allot so many to different states or hold dozens of votes. Maybe we could allow for every state to have one or two facilities equivalent to a "Federal Corrections Institution" of some type, based on ownership status (individual states get one, collabs get two). If my preliminary browsing through the government websites is correct, most FCIs are medium or low-security facilities even if administrative (medical units, camps, etc.). It is also possible not that all states would want one, but the option would be there. The idea of a collab getting two would give those interested in mapping another place to do it once the one in their state is mapped. Then, if we needed more, we could discuss the cap later. Thoughts on this idea? — Alessa (talk) 12:33, 20 August 2026 (UTC)
- I generally like this plan, though my recommendation would be up to 3 facilities, rather than 2. ItsTybear (talk) 19:43, 27 August 2026 (UTC)
- Since the conversation settled with no further proposals in hand, I am going to take a hybrid of what both I and PoisonDog522 put forward as an official proposal and Glauber's state-oriented idea to be voted on.
Voting
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Initiative: Structure of federal prison system
Please choose one (1) option below.
Decentralized Federal
| The Federal government contracts with states to inter those incarcerated for Federal crimes and only has a few, select "supermax"-style facilities. A limited number of "supermax" prisons must be nominated and voted for approval by FSA state-owners and state-coordinators. |
- Infinatious (talk) 17:38, 31 August 2026 (UTC)
- Jr000 (talk) 21:03, 31 August 2026 (UTC)
- Luciano (talk) 23:29, 31 August 2026 (UTC)
- -TheMayor (talk) 02:44, 1 September 2026 (UTC)
- Mantan (talk) 09:07, 1 September 2026 (UTC)
- Glauber (talk) 19:26, 2 September 2026 (UTC)
- — Alessa (talk) 21:15, 2 September 2026 (UTC)
Permissible Federal prisons
| All state owners are permitted to map one Federal prison facility in their state; collaborative territories will be permitted to have two mapped in the respective state. A limited number of "supermax"-style prisons are not permitted in this allowance unless nominated and voted for approval by FSA state-owners and state-coordinators. |
- Pole (talk) 14:43, 31 August 2026 (UTC)
- CityGuy (talk) 18:04, 31 August 2026 (UTC)
- RhodeIslandWV (talk) 23:23, 1 September 2026 (UTC)
- JustSomeMapper (talk) 22:54, 3 September 2026 (UTC)
- PoisonDog522 (talk) 14:48, 4 September 2026 (UTC)