Federal Correctional Institution, Pekin
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| Location | Pekin, Illinois |
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| Status | Operational |
| Security class | Medium-security (with minimum-security prison camp) |
| Population | 1,200 (300 in prison camp) |
| Opened | 1994 |
| Managed by | Federal Bureau of Prisons |
The Federal Correctional Institution, Pekin (FCI Pekin) is a medium-security United States federal prison for male inmates in Illinois. It is operated by the Federal Bureau of Prisons, a division of the United States Department of Justice. The facility also has an adjacent satellite prison camp which houses minimum-security male offenders.
FCI Pekin is located approximately 10 miles south of Peoria, Illinois, 180 miles southwest of Chicago, and 180 miles northeast of St. Louis, Missouri. It is located within the city limits of Pekin, Illinois.
Kathy Kelly, who had been incarcerated in the Pekin complex, wrote the book Other Lands Have Dreams: From Baghdad to Pekin Prison.Shon Hopwood, while serving time in FCI Pekin, became an accomplished United States Supreme Court practitioner by the time he was released in 2008.
In 1988 the mayor and four city council members voted on whether to welcome a federal prison that was scheduled to open in the area. 13,665 people had voted in a previous advisory referendum which had seen fewer than 1% of votes in favor of the prison. Therefore, the mayor and two council members who voted for the prison faced political backlash: the mayor and one member were defeated at re-election and another member did not run again. In 1994 the prison opened in land in far southern Pekin that had been newly annexed. The minimum security camp opened in 1994 and previously housed females. In May 2011 the female population was replaced by a male population so the federal authorities could have more space for in-house drug treatment programs for men.
On the 20th anniversary of the prison's opening, Michael Smothers of GateHouse Media Illinois wrote that no significant opposition to the prison remained, and so did Mayor of Pekin Laurie Barra and the Pekin Chief of Police Greg Nelson. Smothers added that there were no protests occurring.
As of 2011 the medium security area housed about 1,200 prisoners while the minimum security facility housed about 300 prisoners.
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