Bell County Forestry Camp

A minimum-security state camp for men near Pineville, Kentucky — a roughly 300-bed facility, opened in 1962, whose residents provide labor to the Kentucky Division of Forestry.

Overview

Bell County Forestry Camp is a state camp for men operated by the Kentucky Department of Corrections. It is near Pineville, in Bell County, in southeastern Kentucky. The facility houses men in minimum custody and has a capacity of about 300.

Kentucky DOC assigns custody level based on factors that include sentence length, time remaining, and conduct, and a person’s custody level can change during incarceration. The custody class held at a given facility helps determine the arrangements that apply to a visit, so families confirm what applies to the specific person before a first visit.

What Makes the Bell County Forestry Camp Different

Bell County Forestry Camp is a small minimum-security facility rather than a walled prison. It opened in 1962 and holds roughly 300 men. Its defining feature is its work mission: residents provide labor to the Kentucky Division of Forestry, including wildland firefighting and clearing firebreaks, along with work details for other governmental agencies. Because it is a minimum-custody camp, the population is generally limited to people classified for that custody level, and a person’s assignment here can change if their custody level changes.

Visiting

The statewide KY DOC rules above — the approved visitor list, the dress code, ID, and item limits — apply at the Bell County Forestry Camp. The facility’s own arrangements:

Getting There and Parking

Bell County Forestry Camp is at 560 Correctional Drive, near Pineville, in Bell County in southeastern Kentucky. The area is in the Cumberland Mountains and is reached by way of US Highway 25E and the nearby state routes; Pineville is south of Middlesboro and southeast of London. Roads into the camp are rural and mountainous, so visitors allow extra travel time.

Visitors confirm current entry procedures, the visitor-processing location, and what may be brought onto the grounds with the facility before arriving, because electronic devices and personal items are generally not permitted inside — visitors may typically bring only identification, a car key, and coins for vending machines.

Nearby Services

Pineville and the surrounding Bell County communities have limited lodging and dining, with additional options in Middlesboro and a wider range along the Interstate 75 corridor near London and Corbin to the northwest. Emergency medical care is available locally, with larger hospitals in the surrounding region. Visitors traveling a long distance generally find the most options for fuel, food, and overnight stays along the Interstate 75 corridor.

Mail

Incoming personal mail goes directly to the facility, addressed to the person by their committed name and Kentucky DOC number, followed by the facility’s mailing address. Mail is opened and inspected for contraband before delivery; under Kentucky Corrections policy, correspondence is delivered to the person within 48 hours of receipt on normal workdays.

Legal and other privileged mail — from a licensed attorney, a court, a government official, the Department of Public Advocacy, or Corrections officials — is opened only in the person’s presence and should be clearly marked as legal mail.

Books and magazines must be shipped new, directly from a publisher or an approved retailer; items sent by individuals are refused. Verify the exact mailing address, current mail rules, and any approved package vendor with the facility before sending anything, because procedures change.

Learn More

• Visiting a Kentucky prison — approved visitor lists, scheduling, dress code, and what to expect at the gate.
• Sending mail in Kentucky — how to address mail, what is allowed, and how books and packages are handled.
• Phone calls and video visits — setting up calls, video visits, and messaging with someone in a Kentucky prison.
• Sending money — how to deposit funds to a person’s account and what the money can be used for.
• Medical care — how health care works in Kentucky prisons and how to raise a medical concern.
• Intake, classification, and transfers — where people enter the system, how they are classified, and why some state inmates are held in county jails.